Tales of Pannithor

The invasion of Vieshlar has begun. As the elves of the southern kindred retreat to the city of Callenspire, the halflings of Ej, led by Aeron Cadwallader, come to their aid. But will even his strategic genius be able to counter a foe whose might is enough to humble one of the greatest empires in the world? Or will Aeron and his allies succumb to enemies without – as well as within? Elsewhere, though the amphibious tribes of the riverguard stir to readiness deep in the humid jungles, their allies, the Neriticans, remain strangely silent. Can the gillkin mage, Axel Tricklebrook, rouse the armies of Medu'Syth to war against an invader who threatens all the folk of Mantica – or are his efforts doomed to failure? For if not, the fate of Vieshlar – and the rest of Mantica – is surely sealed…

The West tells a different story. Scarcely noticed by the Lady's alliance, a massive orc invasion surged across the Ardovikian Plain. Against this green tide, the men and women of the Successor Kingdoms stood alone (with the exception of a little hired help). Rising boldly to the challenge, they united in the construction of a Great Wall along the Southern Plain, from which their armies decisively drove the orcs out of Ardovikia. It was a grand victory, and in its wake are those who talk of a new and glorious age in the West. Standing at the precipice of a new era is little comfort to Uslo Dargent, general of the mercenary company Dargent's Claws. Known to his men as 'the Silver Cat', Uslo's posting was uneventful during the war, and now, eight months after its end, it is nothing less than utter tedium. Denied a place in the defining conflict of his lifetime, Uslo itches for glory. Not everything about the war was quite so enviable. The Young Kingdoms of the Plain are devastated, unaided or exploited by the Successor Kingdoms; the roaming Plainsmen of Ardovikia, having fled south to escape the orcish swarm, find themselves trapped beyond the Wall, forced into serfdom for Southern Lords. In a stroke of mutual good fortune, Uslo and the Ardovikians discover that their desires are aligned. The indentured Plainsmen wish for a return to their northern home and will need help crossing the Wall. In exchange, they promise to lead Uslo to something far more valuable than the glories of war – treasures from the age of Primovantor! However, events in the east are not as distant as they might seem. Another has his eyes on the Plain and, with an army of the dispossessed at his back, would set his claws upon it.

Perhaps life was fairly simple beforehand, after all… Jaymes Ellias has been promoted to captain and is now responsible for a thousand-tonne warship and its crew of nearly three hundred souls. He is committed to a relationship where the reality is far more complicated than the romance of the idea. He is learning that a junior leader's relaxed and approachable nature does not always work as a senior commander. And that was before the East Infant Sea was threatened by another fleet of violent and deadly enemy warships, intent on causing a tidal wave of destruction across Basilean territories. Caithlin Viconti had her initial successes as a privateer captain. Now, she and her ship are well known to the pirates she hunts down, and the prizes are fewer and further between. The money is no longer rolling in, and she has debts to pay off and a crew's wage to honor. If that was not enough, her father's sudden appearance criticizing her recent decisions and actions - professionally and personally - is less than ideal. And, like Jaymes, this was all before the appearance of a major Ahmunite bone fleet led by a deadly and remorseless high priest from the Empire of Dust. Jaymes, Caithlin, and their friends and comrades are again propelled into action across the turquoise waters of the sun-drenched East Infant Sea, sailing and fighting beneath the Basilean flag as they face the threats of the Ahmunite undead and pirates in the defense of the Basilean Hegemony as they face the notorious Empire of Dust High Priest T'mork and his fleet of undeath.