Book 1:  Sheepfarmer's Daughter, ©1988
Book 2:  Divided Allegiance, ©1988
Book 3:  Oath of Gold, ©1989

Single Trade Edition:  The Deed of Paksenarrion, ©1992

Published by:  Baen Fantasy

These books roll a...

Readability		Inspiration Factor
16		18

Synopsis:

The tale of Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter, affectionately known as 'Paks' to her friends begins with her humble roots as a betrothed sheepfarmer's daughter. She runs away to join the army and there she grows into a more than capable soldier. Mystical and odd events keep happening to her, much to the dismay of herself and her commanders.

She eventually receives the call to seek training in order to become a paladin. Even then, Paks continues to have strangeness follow her and finally becomes a very atypical paladin.

Following the calling of the gods she befriends clerics & druids, dwarves & elves, nobles & commoners, and thieves & mercenaries - all of whom help her, wittingly or not, on her final quest.

Role-Playing Inspirations:

• Material for paladins and clerics
  
  

  First and foremost is the study of the main character as she is tempered by events into a very unusual Paladin. There are many wonderful scenes that demonstrate how to play a lawful good paladin without being a naive, foolhardy zealot. Paks also meets quite a number of paladins and lawful good clerics (called Marshalls) who have a wide array of personalities.

  Also, the paladin's powers are interesting to see used: healing, calling holy light and an amazing prowess in combat. Though the coolest of all is perhaps the best example of a paladin's special mount that I've ever seen in a novel.

  Finally, the structure of Gird's faithful is very interesting. Everything from the pomp of the cathedral to the disillusionment of a bitter Marshall of a frontier town.

• An interesting pantheon. Of note are:
  
  The High Lord, who oversees all;
  Gird, patron defender of the weak and of good soldiers;
  Falk, a war god that has a prestigious order of knights;
  The Kuakkgani, (singular - Kuakgan) very interesting druids who really do seem neutral in their outlook;
  Liart, a god of pain, torture and fear;
  Achrya, the webmistress, who spins not only flesh-burning webs, but foul plots that takes years to play out;
  and a number of minor deities and patrons.
  
  
• Combat and Training

  Everything you could want. Formation fighting, the tactics of using infantry/archers/calvary in large combats, fighting wild beasts from horseback, sieges of cities, one-on-one battles with magic spells & weapons, gladiatorial contests and the rigorous training that both common formation soldiers and holy warriors must endure to hone their very different combat skills.

• Interesting demihumans

  Fairly typical dwarves, very atypical magical elves who live partly in our world and partly in another and very humorless gnomes who are all about laws, etiquette and contracts.