The Heretic's Communion

Simultaneous demonic eruptions from below collapse all three eastern front positions in a coordinated gestation attack planted weeks earlier. Ren uses smoke and flash compounds to save retreating soldiers from a flanking ambush but cannot save two of his own scouts: Fennick and Tersen die at...

Ren follows guild trail markers and disarms three lethal guild-design traps adapted with boneglass into demon territory. He discovers the entity campsite beneath a ruined farmstead wall, arranged with Tik sleeping position and sorted boneglass fragments.

Lord Vasserine arrives with three thousand professional soldiers, disrupting the camp political dynamics. He contacts Ren before meeting Lethane, inviting him to a private meeting in his well-appointed tent where he offers wine, political analysis, and an implicit alliance - positioning Ren as...

Ren assembles nine field reports revealing a demon on the eastern supply corridor is conducting raids using Harrowfeld guild methods, the exact techniques taught by his dead mentor Tik.

Ren leads his twelve scouts in a flawless smoke-and-misdirection ambush killing seven demons in a ravine, returning to camp with zero casualties. Over morning tea with Nella, Harsk, and Fossick, they discuss the branded observers watching their operations and the political friction as common...