The Master of White Storm

From the front flap of the HarperCollins UK first: "Everyone knew there was no escape from the slave galleys of the Murghai: once chained to an oar a prisoner's only release was death. But Korendir, a man whose past was shrouded in mystery, recognized no impossibilities in life. Leading a desperate and successful revolt, he frees the prisoners and set off on a series of extraordinary quests: battling the sorceress Anthei to lift the curse from the blighted land of Torresdyr; challenging the elemental Cyondide to win the lost horde of the dragon Sharkash; travelling to far Northengard to free its people from the plague of poisonous wereleopards that are decimating its population... Aways Korendir's goal was treasure: but never for its own sake. A driven man, Korendir determines to build a fortress at Whitestorm impregnable against all comers, be they human or supernatural, to protect himself - its Master - from the dark secret of his ancestry."