The Avatar Series

"Avatar Series" redirects here. For the media franchises, seeAvatar: The Last Airbender (franchise)andAvatar (franchise).For the novel series, seeAvatars (series).For other uses, seeAvatar (disambiguation).

The Avatar Series,originallyThe Avatar Trilogy,is a series ofDungeons & Dragonsfantasy novels in theForgotten Realmssetting, covering the event known as theTime of Troubles.

The Avatar Series

Shadowdale Tantras Waterdeep Prince of Lies Crucible
Author	Richard Awlinson (pen-name forScott CiencinandTroy Denning),James Lowder
Cover artist	Jeff Easley,Clyde Caldwell,Brom,Alan Pollack
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Fantasy
Publisher	TSR
Published	1989, 1993, 1998
Media type	Print (Paperback)
No. of books	5

The books were:

1. ShadowdalebyScott Ciencin—originally under thepen-name'Richard Awlinson' (April 1989)
2. Tantrasby Scott Ciencin—originally under the pen-name 'Richard Awlinson' (June 1989)
3. WaterdeepbyTroy Denning—originally under the pen-name 'Richard Awlinson' (August 1989)
4. Prince of LiesbyJames Lowder(August 1993)
5. Crucible: The Trial of Cyric the Madby Troy Denning (February 1998)

Novels

The covers of the novels were painted byJeff Easley(Shadowdale),Clyde Caldwell(TantrasandWaterdeep),Brom(Prince of Lies), andAlan Pollack(Crucible).

The first three works center on the remaining members of the "Company of the Lynx" and the search for theTablets of Fate,divine tablets that hold a listing of the Gods and their roles in the balance of Law and Chaos, during the Time of Troubles. The theft of these tablets was the actual cause of the Time of Troubles as all the gods with the exception of Helm were cast to Toril and faiths and magic ran wild.

The Company of the Lynx, as it was, consisted of Kelemvor Lyonsbane,AdonofSune,Midnight(whose true name was Ariel Manx), andCyric.

The last two books in the series account for what occurred after the Tablets were returned toAo,including the aftermath of the ascension of several Company members to godhood (Midnight took the mantle ofMystra,Kelemvor became god of the dead, and Cyric took several vile deities' portfolios and went mad).

Role-playing modules

The original trilogy had its counterpartAD&Dadventure modules, even though these three adventures did not aim to be a precise retelling of the novels and could also be played individually instead of in sequence.These were written byEd Greenwood,the original creator of theForgotten Realmsline. The published adventures were:

1. Shadowdale
2. Tantras
3. Waterdeep

The objective of this trilogy was to transition the Forgotten Realms scenario from the first to the second editionAD&Drules, much as theFate of Istusadventure did with theGreyhawkcampaign setting.To accomplish this objective, the writing of the modules and novels was being done simultaneously, supposedly to allow their publication at the same time the core rules transitioned to the second edition. The final format of the three-part adventure would be more plot-driven than those of the previously traditionaldungeon crawlingmodules but this would end up becoming more common in published material from here onwards.