Black clouds gather, and the heavens rumble with a dark fate. Embroiled in the foolish machinations of a lustful, adolescent king, and compounded by economic depression, war, and disease, the lands become ripe with unrest. Assassinations rip through the Great Houses, but the architects behind the murders remain at large. Accusations fly. The guilds draw lines in the sand. Rebellion and civil war seem unavoidable. All the while, no one knows the true threat that lurks deep in the shadows of the world around them. It is ancient, sordid, and foul. Its eyes are set on a young man named Aerandor,...