The captain of the Dragon Guard, Karsas Goldenscale is deeply troubled by the madness affecting the Royal Court of Avareen in general and Queen Arwanna in particular. He is torn between his deep sense of duty and doing the right thing. He knows that if he acts rashly, not only will his own life be forfeit but possibly that of every other dragonkin in the realm. Thus he grits his teeth, executes even the most unpleasant orders, and hopes that an opportunity will arise which will allow him to dispose of the queen without endangering the members of the Dragon Guard.
To help him with his goal, he has encouraged the dragonkin who leave the realm in search of a mate to study magic in foreign realms, and he questions all returnees throughly of what they have learned. Ostensibly this is done to gather intelligence of the lands beyond, but in truth he hopes that this will one day uncover something that will give him an advantage over the queen. Until this day comes, he shares his counsel with no one.