Story 5 Overview
Volume 5, "Death Gate Cycle"
**The Hand of Chaos**
by Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman
published by Bantam Spectra
cover art by Keith Parkinson, designed by Jamie Youll

Treachery and Deceit, the Workings of the Hand of Chaos...

Although Haplo and Dog find themselves in a less than desirable
predicament at the end of Volume 4, at least they know who and
where the REAL enemy is, or do they? Haplo soon discovers,
however, that perceived enemy, the dragon-snakes, have escaped
Chelestra through Death's Gate.

The dragon-snakes, long kept imprisoned on Chelestra, make
good use of their escape. The snakes visit Lord Xar, talking in half
truths and casting doubt in Xar's mind as to whom he can trust
and who his enemies might be. The dragon-snakes do not make
the Nexus their only stop, as Haplo soon finds out.

Despite his doubts, Xar sends Haplo and Bane back to Arianus
on a mission to discover the hidden purpose of the gigantic Kicksey
Winsey. But something is very wrong with the complex machine.
The Kicksey Winsey has become ominously quiet. The Gegs, never
before faced with this situation, sit horrified and paralyzed by the
deafening silence.

The Gegs, however, are not the only ones with problems. The
elven royalty have recently begun to die of unnatural causes at an
alarming rate. Rumors of lethal shadows are rampant among the
elves causing widespread panic throughout the empire. The Matriarchs
and humans are also dealing with dramatic, unexplainable changes in
their realms on Arianus. And everywhere, the red-eyed dragon-snakes
can be found, in various shape shifted forms, with their hands deeply
thrust in the midst of the chaos.

Are the realms marked for extermination now that Death's Gate has
been breached by the unholy dragon-snakes? Or will the trapped Mensch
become fodder for the evil serpents' pleasure, forever sentenced to fear
and paranoia? Has Haplo's bond with his Lord Xar been severed and
the Patryn's mission fouled?

Find out in volume 5, THE HAND OF CHAOS.