Serpent Ascending

As the head of House Blackhand, Arwynn is a master of disguise and espionage. While his federation of assassins works in the shadows, he and his three lieutenants devise strategies, manage alliances, and most importantly, manipulate information-the key to their power. When the Sathiian priest Welbley Blaythe requests an alliance, Arwynn is as intrigued by the cult's possible motives as he is unsettled by the mysterious floral smell of Blaythe's peculiar messenger.

As Arwynn seeks to divine and derail Blaythe's agenda, others are fashioning alliances and betrayals of their own. Princess Selene of Dûhr is quietly positioning her resources to take advantage of a power shift, her broken mind perfectly piecing together fragments of plots and possibilities. Kaleena, the Crimson Witch and Eater of Children, lives up to her villainous reputation by aiding the Sathiians in their underhanded dealings, knowing that as long as she's maddening her nemesis, no one will question her motives. Meanwhile, the Temple of Wargrum has gone rogue in its zeal to thwart the Sathiians and protect the realm from an insidious threat coiled beneath the obvious.

At his full mental acuity, Arwynn knows that he could untangle these threads. But sleep eludes him...