• Prologue – Volume 1

Book One – What Fresh Hell

Evil is rising.

In an isolated frontier town, a group of new students arrive at the University which will train them to fulfill their heroic destinies.  Unfortunately, they quickly prove to be more of a threat to each other than the machinations of the resurgent Demon Queen.

In Tiraas, the Imperial capital, that same queen’s schemes spark off confrontations between the powers of the Empire, the Universal Church, and multiple other factions, each plotting for a slice of the pie.  Where all these powers meet, one man is positioned to be crushed beneath them, or to seize the ultimate advantage–if he proves capable.

Evil is rising, and no one is ready…

• 1 – 1
• 1 – 2
• 1 – 3
• 1 – 4
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• 1 – 19
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• 1 – 21

Book Two – Spacious Skies, Amber Waves

As a training exercise, the freshman class embark from their University into the endless depths of the Golden Sea, to test their ability to survive and succeed in the wild.  Unfortunately, this also requires them to work together, which is not their strong suit.  When their class trip becomes a battle for survival against an unexpected and deadly enemy, they must pull together, or fall apart–quickly.

Meanwhile, Bishop Darling’s quest to ferret out Elilial’s secrets takes him to the frontier in the service of the Church, where a surviving cell of the Black Wreath may be hiding.  Separated from his own support network in Tiraas and with only a fractious and unreliable group of fellow Bishops for help, he quickly finds that both he and the Church have underestimated the strength of the Wreath, and what they are willing to risk in order to shut down his quest…

• 2 – 1
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Book Three – A Fistful of Blood

A new revelation throws Trissiny’s world into disarray, the Thieves’ Guild finds itself tricked into setting its own against each other, the Black Wreath themselves have been manipulated and deceived, and meddling fingers interfere in even the plots of the Universal Church.  Behind all these seemingly disparate intrigues stands a single figure, who had made an art of being underestimated–until she was finally ready to make her move.

As her own designs begin to fall into place, all the players of the great game, from priests to thieves to the very gods, will find themselves wondering who Principia Locke truly is, and what she ultimately plans…

• 3 – 1
• 3 – 2
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• 3 – 4
• 3 – 5
• 3 – 6
• 3 – 7
• 3 – 8
• 3 – 9
• 3 – 10

Book Four – This Town Ain’t Big Enough

The stakes escalate for the University students when they are sent to resolve a crisis in the frontier town of Sarasio–where their class exercise will have serious, far-reaching consequences for the lives of real people.  The task pushes their skills past their limits, for the group has to not only stifle their own infighting, but bring together enemy factions and organize them against a crafty and persistent enemy…or watch as Sarasio dies.

Terror reigns in Tiraas, where an elusive killer has been striking down priests who should have been untouchable behind temple defenses.  Bishop Darling is appointed part of the team sent to hunt this and other elusive foes in the streets of the capital–which positions him perfectly to advance his goals, as he is the only one who knows the truth of the matter.  But he and his fellow Bishops have been deceived, and it is one of their very targets who holds the key to their salvation–if they are willing to risk becoming pawns in her plans…

• 4 – 1
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• 4 – 3
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• 4 – 6
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• Epilogue – Volume 1

• Prologue – Volume 2
  

Book Five – The Streets Where You Live

All roads lead to Tiraas.

Plans and agendas collide when Tellwyrn arrives in the Imperial capital with her students in tow, seeking to remedy an escalating crisis in Lor’naris, a district of the city whose mostly drow occupants have begun clashing with the city guard.  Predictably, the efforts of Trissiny and her friends to defuse the situation backfire, turning a potential problem into a looming crisis.

In addition to preventing the University kids from starting a conflagration in his city, Darling has his own problems.  The Archpope still expects results with his adventurer initiative, while also working behind the scenes to trip up Darling’s real plans.  When the dangerous former master of his two apprentices begins sniffing around, threatening dire consequences if they are not returned, Darling must make a desperate gamble and set his various problems against each other, hoping they don’t manage to bring him down first…

• 5 – 1
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Book Six – Crawling Chaos

What begins as a traditional dungeon-crawling exercise for the University students turns nightmarish when they run afoul of hidden politics in the depths.  Below the campus itself lies the Crawl, a vast network of tunnels filled with traps, enemies and the promise of loot–but this is not the Age of Adventures, and even here, the forces of change are stirring.  Caught between demons, drow explorers, the looming influence of Professor Tellwyrn herself and even the long-lost queen of the Crawl, the students will be brutally tested by an exposure of all their own secrets before they can strike back at their foes, much less escape.

Simmering tensions erupt into outright war when the Black Wreath goes on the offensive, attempting to assassinate Darling’s entire cadre of Bishops and staging demonstrations in the streets of Tiraas.  Before he can intervene, the Thieves’ Guild and the Sisters of Avei strike back at the Wreath–playing right into their hands.  Darling is left with few options, and must call on every remaining trick and ally he can muster to stymie the Wreath’s assault, all the while painfully aware he doesn’t know their true objective…

• 6 – 1
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Book Seven – Hath No Fury

Over the last year, schemes and plots have abounded, but all that slams to a halt when a hellgate suddenly opens above the University at Last Rock.  Facing an imminent demon invasion, forces of every available faction cease their conniving and deploy to meet the threat.

At the command of their gods, the paladins of the Class of 1182 defy evacuation orders and stand in the face of the hellish assault.  Meanwhile, in Tiraas, Bishop Darling takes advantage of the crisis to launch a bold plan that could mean the total destruction of the Black Wreath–if he is willing to embrace the bitter price his city will pay in the process. 

But even in this darkest hour, ulterior motives abound.  As mortal and divine forces battle demonic invaders above Last Rock and in the streets of Tiraas, hidden agendas reach their culmination.  Those who survive the night will see their ambitions fulfilled, and change the struggle over the Empire’s fate forever…

• 7 – 1
• 7 – 2
• 7 – 3
• 7 – 4
• 7 – 5
• 7 – 6
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• 7 – 12
• 7 – 13

• Epilogue – Volume 2

• Prologue – Volume 3

Book Eight  – The Mind and the Sword

A new year sees the arrival of new faces at the University–and being the kind of institution it is, some of the incoming students are exceedingly dangerous individuals, and waste no time in proving it.  For the returning Class of 1182, however, there are still unaddressed repercussions of the hellgate crisis, as well as new problems, which threaten to weaken and drive them apart.

In Tiraas, Principia has resurfaced in the most unlikely of places: as an enlisted private in the Silver Legions.  Even here, though, plots and politics follow her, as she and her new squad find themselves victims of political machinations from far above them.  But Principia Locke is no one’s victim and no stranger to scheming.  The question is not whether she will survive the attentions of her new enemies, but how much damage she is willing to cause in throwing them back…

• 8 – 1
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• 8 – 25
• 8 – 26

Book Nine – Draw

Something terrifying has surfaced.  The oracles refuse to speak of anything but the danger looming, and Darling, finding his own research obstructed by their warnings, is forced to address this threat–and the fact that Archpope Justinian has almost certainly moved to meet it first.  Their long-running game continues, this time with a source of unimaginable evil as the prize in a game no one can truly win.

The world is paying little attention to this, however, being distracted by the sudden arrival en masse of dragons in the Imperial capital, demanding to be recognized and accepted by mortal society.  This world-shaking event has thrown all political calculations into chaos, but the much lesser concerns of Principia and her squad are quickly dragged into the mix as they are once again singled out for an unknown purpose by a power well beyond them–this time, one even she cannot easily outmaneuver.

The assignment of the Class of 1182 to address comparatively minor problems in a quaint border city seems relatively idyllic in comparison, at least at first.  As usual in their presence, matters start to unravel almost immediately.  Before long, it becomes clear that all of these events are tied together, and that the various parties working toward their own ends in distant parts of the world will affect one another’s fates in ways none can imagine…

• 9 – 1
• 9 – 2
• 9 – 3
• 9 – 4
• 9 – 5
• 9 – 6
• 9 – 7
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• 9 – 35
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• 9 – 37
• 9 – 38

Book Ten – And Justice for All

Brother Ingvar is plagued by nightmares of his god, Shaath, in desperate need of aid.  Strange elemental creatures begin to arise around Viridill, the ancient homeland of the Sisters of Avei, wreaking havoc and vanishing with no trace.  The University at Last Rock comes suddenly under attack from the unlikeliest source: in the court of public opinion, at the instigation of the Universal Church. 

In these suddenly dangerous days, dangerous people will rise to the challenge.  Basra Syrinx, the disgraced Bishop of Avei, sets out to redeem herself by saving her country; the unfolding drama around Last Rock draws the interest of both Imperial Intelligence and the Black Wreath, engaging in a deadly game of chess, while the enigmatic kitsune Ekoi Kaisa plays her own game.   And Ingvar is joined in his quest to aid Shaath by the unlikeliest allies he could have imagined–and pointed toward the most stunning revelations he could possibly have feared.

• 10 – 1
• 10 – 2
• 10 – 3
• 10 – 4
• 10 – 5
• 10 – 6
• 10 – 7
• 10 – 8
• 10 – 9
• 10 – 10
• 10 – 11
• 10 – 12
• 10 – 13
• 10 – 14
• 10 – 15
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• 10 – 17
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• 10 – 48
• 10 – 49
• 10 – 50
• 10 – 51
• 10 – 52

• Epilogue – Volume 3

• Prologue – Volume 4

Book Eleven – If You Can Make It Here

In progress – description to come!

• 11 – 1
• 11 – 2
• 11 – 3
• 11 – 4
• 11 – 5
• 11 – 6
• 11 – 7
• 11 – 8
• 11 – 9
• 11 – 10
• 11 – 11
• 11 – 12
• 11 – 13
• 11 – 14
• 11 – 15
• 11 – 16
• 11 – 17
• 11 – 18
• 11 – 19
• 11 – 20
• 11 – 21
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• 11 – 23
• 11 – 24
• 11 – 25
• 11 – 26
• 11 – 27
• 11 – 28
• 11 – 29
• 11 – 30
• 11 – 31
• 11 – 32
• 11 – 33
• 11 – 34
• 11 – 35
• 11 – 36
• 11 – 37
• 11 – 38
• 11 – 39
• 11 – 40
• 11 – 41
• 11 – 42

Book Twelve – Sleeper

• 12 – 1
• 12 – 2
• 12 – 3
• 12 – 4
• 12 – 5
• 12 – 6
• 12 – 7
• 12 – 8
• 12 – 9
• 12 – 10
• 12 – 11
• 12 – 12
• 12 – 13
• 12 – 14
• 12 – 15
• 12 – 16
• 12 – 17
• 12 – 18
• 12 – 19
• 12 – 20
• 12 – 21
• 12 – 22
• 12 – 23
• 12 – 24
• 12 – 25
• 12 – 26
• 12 – 27
• 12 – 28
• 12 – 29
• 12 – 30
• 12 – 31
• 12 – 32
• 12 – 33
• 12 – 34
• 12 – 35
• 12 – 36
• 12 – 37
• 12 – 38
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• 12 – 40
• 12 – 41
• 12 – 42
• 12 – 43
• 12 – 44
• 12 – 45
• 12 – 46
• 12 – 47
• 12 – 48
• 12 – 49
• 12 – 50
• 12 – 51
• 12 – 52
• 12 – 53
• 12 – 54
• 12 – 55
• 12 – 56
• 12 – 57
• 12 – 58
• 12 – 59
• 12 – 60
• 12 – 61
• 12 – 62
• 12 – 63
• 12 – 64

Book Thirteen – From Sea to Stormy Sea

• 13 – 1
• 13 – 2
• 13 – 3
• 13 – 4
• 13 – 5
• 13 – 6
• 13 – 7
• 13 – 8
• 13 – 9
• 13 – 10
• 13 – 11
• 13 – 12
• 13 – 13
• 13 – 14
• 13 – 15
• 13 – 16
• 13 – 17
• 13 – 18
• 13 – 19
• 13 – 20
• 13 – 21
• 13 – 22
• 13 – 23
• 13 – 24
• 13 – 25
• 13 – 26
• 13 – 27
• 13 – 28
• 13 – 29
• 13 – 30
• 13 – 31
• 13 – 32
• 13 – 33
• 13 – 34
• 13 – 35
• 13 – 36
• 13 – 37
• 13 – 38
• 13 – 39
• 13 – 40
• 13 – 41
• 13 – 42
• 13 – 43
• 13 – 44
• 13 – 45
• 13 – 46
• 13 – 47
• 13 – 48
• 13 – 49
• 13 – 50
• 13 – 51
• 13 – 52
• 13 – 53

• Epilogue – Volume 4

• Prologue – Volume 5

Book Fourteen – Themselves Contend

• 14 – 1
• 14 – 2
• 14 – 3
• 14 – 4
• 14 – 5
• 14 – 6
• 14 – 7
• 14 – 8
• 14 – 9
• 14 – 10
• 14 – 11
• 14 – 12
• 14 – 13
• 14 – 14
• 14 – 15
• 14 – 16
• 14 – 17
• 14 – 18
• 14 – 19
• 14 – 20
• 14 – 21
• 14 – 22
• 14 – 23
• 14 – 24
• 14 – 25
• 14 – 26
• 14 – 27
• 14 – 28
• 14 – 29
• 14 – 30
• 14 – 31
• 14 – 32
• 14 – 33

Book Fifteen – The Fae, the Fell, and the Holy

• 15 – 1
• 15 – 2
• 15 – 3
• 15 – 4
• 15 – 5
• 15 – 6
• 15 – 7
• 15 – 8
• 15 – 9
• 15 – 10
• 15 – 11
• 15 – 12
• 15 – 13
• 15 – 14
• 15 – 15
• 15 – 16
• 15 – 17
• 15 – 18
• 15 – 19
• 15 – 20
• 15 – 21
• 15 – 22
• 15 – 23
• 15 – 24
• 15 – 25
• 15 – 26
• 15 – 27
• 15 – 28
• 15 – 29
• 15 – 30
• 15 – 31
• 15 – 32
• 15 – 33
• 15 – 34
• 15 – 35
• 15 – 36
• 15 – 37
• 15 – 38
• 15 – 39
• 15 – 40
• 15 – 41
• 15 – 42
• 15 – 43
• 15 – 44
• 15 – 45
• 15 – 46
• 15 – 47
• 15 – 48
• 15 – 49
• 15 – 50
• 15 – 51
• 15 – 52
• 15 – 53
• 15 – 54
• 15 – 55
• 15 – 56
• 15 – 57
• 15 – 58
• 15 – 59
• 15 – 60
• 15 – 61
• 15 – 62
• 15 – 63
• 15 – 64
• 15 – 65
• 15 – 66
• 15 – 67
• 15 – 68
• 15 – 69
• 15 – 70
• 15 – 71
• 15 – 72
• 15 – 73
• 15 – 74
• 15 – 75
• 15 – 76
• 15 – 77
• 15 – 78

Book Sixteen – Bishop, Queen, and Pawn

• 16 – 1
• 16 – 2
• 16 – 3
• 16 – 4
• 16 – 5
• 16 – 6
• 16 – 7
• 16 – 8
• 16 – 9
• 16 – 10
• 16 – 11
• 16 – 12
• 16 – 13
• 16 – 14
• 16 – 15
• 16 – 16
• 16 – 17
• 16 – 18
• 16 – 19
• 16 – 20
• 16 – 21
• 16 – 22
• 16 – 23
• 16 – 24
• 16 – 25
• 16 – 26
• 16 – 27
• 16 – 28
• 16 – 29
• 16 – 30
• 16 – 31
• 16 – 32
• 16 – 33
• 16 – 34
• 16 – 35
• 16 – 36
• 16 – 37
• 16 – 38
• 16 – 39
• 16 – 40
• 16 – 41
• 16 – 42
• 16 – 43
• 16 – 44
• 16 – 45
• 16 – 46
• 16 – 47
• 16 – 48
• 16 – 49
• 16 – 50
• 16 – 51
• 16 – 52
• 16 – 53
• 16 – 54
• 16 – 55
• 16 – 56
• 16 – 57
• 16 – 58

Book Seventeen – A Great Doom

• 17 – 1
• 17 – 2
• 17 – 3
• 17 – 4
• 17 – 5
• 17 – 6
• 17 – 7
• 17 – 8
• 17 – 9
• 17 – 10
• 17 – 11
• 17 – 12
• 17 – 13
• 17 – 14
• 17 – 15
• 17 – 16

Bonus Chapters!

Glimpses into the origins and histories of various contenders for the fate of Tiraas!

Bonus chapters are posted in small groups between books in the archives.  Here they are collected separately and in order, but will appear in their original positions when one reads through the archived chapters sequentially.

• Bonus #1: Captain’s Orders
• Bonus #2: All Those Who Serve
• Bonus #3: Hero
• Bonus #4: Heart of the Wild
• Bonus #5: Of Which Reason Knows Nothing
• Bonus #6: A Light in Dark Places
• Bonus #7: Songbird
• Bonus #8: On Being a Man, Part 1
• Bonus #9: On Being a Man, Part 2
• Bonus #10: Along Came a Spider, part 4
• Bonus #11: Along Came a Spider, part 3
• Bonus #12: Along Came a Spider, part 2
• Bonus #13: Along Came a Spider, part 1
• Bonus #14: Judgment and Justice, part 1
• Bonus #15: Judgment and Justice, part 2
• Bonus #16: Judgment and Justice, part 3
• Bonus #17: Judgment  and Justice, part 4
• Bonus #18: Heavy is the Head, part 1
• Bonus #19: Heavy is the Head, part 2
• Bonus #20: Heavy is the Head, part 3
• Bonus #21: Heavy is the Head, part 4
• Bonus #22: Toujours, part 1
• Bonus #23: Toujours, part 2
• Bonus #24: Scion, part 1
• Bonus #25: Scion, part 2
• Bonus #26: Scion, part 3
• Bonus #27: Scion, part 4
• Bonus #28: Life’s Work
• Bonus #29: Deathspeaker, part 1
• Bonus #30: Deathspeaker, part 2
• Bonus #31: Deathspeaker, part 3
• Bonus #32: Deathspeaker, part 4
• Bonus #33: Mister Nice Guy
• Bonus #34: Divine Right, part 1
• Bonus #35: Divine Right, part 2
• Bonus #36: Divine Right, part 3
• Bonus #37: Divine Right, part 4
• Bonus #38: Curse the Darkness, part 1
• Bonus #39: Curse the Darkness, part 2
• Bonus #40: Curse the Darkness, part 3
• Bonus #41: The Audit, part 1
• Bonus #42: The Audit, part 2
• Bonus #43: The Audit, part 3
• Bonus #44: The Masks We Wear, part 1
• Bonus #45: The Masks We Wear, part 2
• Bonus #46: The Light of Dawn, part 1
• Bonus #47: The Light of Dawn, part 2
• Bonus #48: Lightning in a Bottle, part 1
• Bonus #49: Lightning in a Bottle, part 2
• Bonus #50: Lightning in a Bottle, part 3
• Bonus #51: Lightning in a Bottle, part 4
• Bonus #52: Lightning in a Bottle, part 5
• Bonus #53: Lightning in a Bottle, part 6
• Bonus #54: Lightning in a Bottle, part 7
• Bonus #55: Accursed, part 1
• Bonus #56: Accursed, part 2
• Bonus #57: Accursed, part 3
• Bonus #58: Accursed, part 4
• Bonus #59: Accursed, part 5
• Bonus #60: Coming to Dinner, part 1
• Bonus #61: Coming to Dinner, part 2
• Bonus #62: Coming to Dinner, part 3
• Bonus #63: Coming to Dinner, part 4
• Bonus #64: The Girl from Everywhere, part 1
• Bonus #65: The Girl from Everywhere, part 2
• Bonus #66: When the Student is Ready, part 1
• Bonus #67: When the Student is Ready, part 2

Please refrain from posting spoilers in the comments.