[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-323533-105":59,"doc-detail-323533-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","so-high-a-price-ed-greenwood-story","So High a Price - Ed Greenwood - Story","","“So High a Price” follows Manshoon in Zhentil Keep as political ambition and arcane menace collide behind courtly surfaces. On a blazing Mirtul day, a ledgebird’s doom and a concealed servant lead to a tense meeting with a mysterious “kind” embodied by a horrifying, living eye. A magical ambush is narrowly averted, and the visitor warns of coming harm unless both sides exercise restraint. The story then shifts to Lord Chess and other nobles debating threats from Zhentarim and upstart mages.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":10,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/so-high-a-price-ed-greenwood-story/323533/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/so-high-a-price-ed-greenwood-story/323533.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Riley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":44},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What triggers the deadly encounter in “So High a Price”?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"A ledgebird’s carefree flight leads to its immediate destruction by Manshoon, followed by a clandestine guest meeting arranged behind tapestries. The situation escalates into an ambush and confrontation with a monstrous presence.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How does the servant Taersel end up affecting the meeting?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Taersel hides and later crossbows toward the chamber, but magical force diverts the bolt’s impact. He is then revealed sprawled after the unseen intervention, yet Manshoon notes the servant remains useful.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What warning is given to Manshoon at the council meeting?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The eye tyrant warns that unless Manshoon and his minions take greater care, “a day of harm” may come to them all when they next speak in council.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},323533,1790821671,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":8,"category_name":10,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":44,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1374391975076,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/14000253ca4ec9f6853?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1783305029341752051","CONTENTS  \nSO HIGH A PRICE  \nEd Greenwood  \nTHE MORE THINGS CHANGE  \nElaine Cunningham  \nTHE MEANING OF LORE  \nBarb Hendee  \nRAVEN'S EGG  \nElaine Bergstrom  \nTHE THIRD LEVEL  \nR. A. Salvatore  \nBLOOD SPORT  \nChristie Golden  \nGALLOWS DAY  \nDavid Cook  \nA MATTER OF THORNS  \nJames M. Ward  \nSTOLEN SPELLS  \nDenise Vitola  \nTHE GREATEST HERO WHO EVER DIED  \nJ. Robert King  \nTWILIGHT  \nTroy Denning  \nTHE WALLS OF MIDNIGHT  \nMark Anthony  \nAND WRINGING OF HANDS  \nJane Cooper Hong  \nTHIEVES' HONOR  \nMary H. Herbert  \nLAUGHTER IN THE FLAMES  \nJames Lowder  \nVISION  \nRoger E. Moore  \nCONTRIBUTORS' NOTES  \nSO HIGH A PRICE  \nEd Greenwood  \nSo high a price  \nSo willingly paid  \nHot blood flows  \nAnd a ruler is made.  \nMintiper Moonsilver  \nBallad of a Tyrant  \nYear of the Turret  \nSunlight flashed from the highest towers of Zhentil Keep and flung dazzling reflections through nearby windows. It was a hot Mirtul day in the Year of the Blazing Brand.  \nA ledgebird darted past one window, wheeled on nimble wings, and called like a carefree trumpet. But then, it did not know how little time it had left to live.  \nManshoon smiled slightly and crooked a finger. The bird exploded in a puff of green flame. Humming the latest minstrel tune, the wizard watched scorched feathers drift away. Trust a bird of Zhentil Keep to fly unwittingly to its doom, singing off-key. Well, things might not be that way much longer    \nThe first lord of Zhentil Keep smiled as he caught sight of himself in an oval mirror floating upright in a corner. The image, jet-black hair gleaming, returned the expression. Its robes were of the finest purple silk, worked with rearing behirs in gold. The sleeves were the latest flaring fashion, and the upswept collar was cut in the style of city lords.  \nWith the faintest of rustlings, Taersel drew a hanging tapestry aside and murmured, \"The one you expected is here, Lord.\"  \nManshoon signaled for his servant to bring the guest and withdraw, but then to wait unseen behind a tapestry. To show he understood, Taersel touched the hilt of the throwing knife hidden in his ornate belt buckle.  \n\"Arglath,\" Taersel announced, then bowed out. The cloaked guest moved forward with a strange gliding motion, as if his feet didn't quite touch the floor.  \n\"Yes?\" Manshoon asked coldly.  \nHis guest shrugged off his cloak and replied in tones just as glacial, \"Ipresume you're finally ready to move?\"  \n\"I believe so,\" Manshoon said flatly.  \nHis guest had soft, unfinished features. On second glance, most folk would have guessed him a mongrelman—something not quite human—and have drawn back, muttering and reaching for weapons. They'd have acted rightly.  \nHair melted and fell away as the man's features swam, glistened, and split to reveal a single green, liquid eye. That unblinking orb grew until Manshoon looked into a giant eye that swayed at the end of a long, snakelike neck. The body beneath hung shrunken and empty, like discarded clothes drooping from a wall peg.  \n\"Speak, then,\" the strange visitor's cold voice came again. \"I've little patience for humans who enjoy being mysterious.\"  \nManshoon gave his guest a wintry smile. \"There will be open slaughter atthe next council meeting. Those who oppose me will die there. When Zhentil  \nKeep is mine, your kind will have what they desire: a powerful city full of hands to do your bidding, fresh meat to feed you, and men who fear and kneel before you.\"  \n\"Do not presume to understand my kind so well,\" the creature responded, drifting slightly nearer. \"More than that, Manshoon, do not presume to understand—or imagine that you can command—me. \" Writhing worms of flesh sprouted from its spherical body.  \nA gasp of horror came from behind a nearby tapestry. Then a crossbow bolt burst out of that same curtain, whipped across the chamber, and was driven sharply aside by an unseen magical force just in front of the floating eye. The bolt ended its flight in a splintering crash against a wall.  \nEyes opened in the","cbCaill6PpOPAeuc","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaill6PpOPAeuc","pdf",740263,200,"English","# Contents\n## So High a Price\n## The More Things Change\n## The Meaning of Lore\n## Raven's Egg\n## The Third Level\n## Blood Sport\n## Gallows Day\n## A Matter of Thorns\n## Stolen Spells\n## The Greatest Hero Who Ever Died\n## Twilight\n## The Walls of Midnight\n## And Wringing of Hands\n## Thieves' Honor\n## Laughter in the Flames\n## Vision\n## Contributors' Notes","[{\"question\":\"What triggers the deadly encounter in “So High a Price”?\",\"answer\":\"A ledgebird’s carefree flight leads to its immediate destruction by Manshoon, followed by a clandestine guest meeting arranged behind tapestries. The situation escalates into an ambush and confrontation with a monstrous presence.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the servant Taersel end up affecting the meeting?\",\"answer\":\"Taersel hides and later crossbows toward the chamber, but magical force diverts the bolt’s impact. He is then revealed sprawled after the unseen intervention, yet Manshoon notes the servant remains useful.\"},{\"question\":\"What warning is given to Manshoon at the council meeting?\",\"answer\":\"The eye tyrant warns that unless Manshoon and his minions take greater care, “a day of harm” may come to them all when they next speak in council.\"}]","So High a Price - Ed Greenwood - Story | PDF",1789965463,308]