The world gathers on a precipice over chaos: In the West, the God-Emperor Cardolyn Tyier broods over his vast conquests and plots the subjugation of all other kingdoms. To the South, the Kalvonder plutocracy continues their bloody entertainments, too invested in small schemes, transient vices and petty ascensions to notice one of their own has a far grander design. From the East, a legion of paladins embarks on a crusade of holy conquest against the secluded Northlands, intent on supplanting the land’s sovereign deity and crushing it beneath their pantheon. But these are children’s squabbles, for a forgotten evil hides behind these conflicts, amassing power and guiding humanity toward the precipice. The world has had many names for it, but men always called it the Muntalabacs: Dread Lords. The Avenar know one has resurfaced. They can feel his quiet footsteps resounding across the world and heralding the renewed conflict between their families. The Avenar are spent, though, and will need whatever help they can find, be it from eccentrics, outcasts or madmen