apos;Krondor' is the city that this series revolves around although not all events in this story are directly related to it. 'The Betrayal' is a phrase that sums up the events of the book in just two words. They refer to a dark elf's treachery against his warlord in an attempt to save his people from the menacing dictator. This action triggers a chain of events that make up the rest of the story so 'The Betrayal' is essentially what this book is about.
             The dark elf who committed treason by trying to escape from his warlord, Delekhan, in an attempt to save his people. His plan was to carry word to the Krondor (capital of the Western Realm of the Kingdom) of Delekhan's military buildup and gain enough military support from the Kingdom to overthrow Delekhan and free his people from Delekhan's tyranny. Although Gorath was able to escape from Delekhan's camp, his whole clan was annihilated in the process and for a time, it seemed that he would be forced to undertake the journey alone. Gorath is a powerful, broad shouldered dark elf and is about three hundred years old. At the beginning of the story, he firmly believed that humans, light elves and dwarves were malicious creatures who where created to be killed by him and his kin. However, as the story progressed and he experienced first hand acquaintance with the humans, light elves and dwarves, his views of these three neighboring races changed dramatically. He no longer saw them as enemies and after giving them a chance to prove their integrity, Gorath discovered that his neighboring races were in fact very similar to his and from that point onwards, he became determined to reconcile his people (the dark elves) with the rest of the world. This issue of race relations is not unlike that which flourished in Australia less than fifty years ago.
             Owyn is the son of the Baron of Timons (a minor noble) who initially chose to study magic at a ma...