Synopsis: Valley of the Damned

Lady Fierine Cheraville Calloun is one of many of the small kingdom of Elanthine's nobility sent to learn the Arcana from the magi of the Silver Dawn. As the daughter of the late Archmage Dufresne Calloun, the Silver Dawn expects phenomenal works from her when her training concludes. Even though peace has graced Elanthine for the past eight hundred years, and their alliance with the Elvarin of the northern isles is strong, sea raiders are always just over the horizon. The darkness in the mountains threatens to break free and only the strongest of magi can hold it back without succumbing to its taint. The Dawn needs new talent with bold ideas to replace the failing old ways.

But there are other forces at play within Elanthine, ones that threaten to destroy the privileged life Fierine has always enjoyed. Peasants riot in the fiefdoms; the cities swell with factory workers and sub-magi clamoring for rights and social justice. The Justicars of the Three Truths grow ever more audacious in their determination to keep the Silver Dawn in check. Support for Emperor Nylaris reaches an unprecedented low as he botches a 'quick and painless' war against the raiders and fumbles through unsuccessful reforms, and many nobles whisper their aspirations to the throne.

As the mountains' shadows call out, Fierine turns to darker, forbidden magics in search of a solution meant to preserve Elanthine's glory and the society she loves. But the cure... may be worse than the disease.