01Chapter 1 · The Blood Court
The Vampire
Night and Blood
Their law
The blood of the fallen runs through channels to his fortress and keeps him alive; cut the supply and he can be killed.
Sign: A bat over a drop of blood
The twenty Generals
Twenty Generals hold the fragments of King Valor's Eye. Each rules a land of their own and fights by a law of their own: learn it, and they fall.
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02Chapter 2 · The Moon Forest
The Werewolf
The Moon and the Beasts
Their law
While the full moon touches him he cannot die; the pack is strong in moonlight and exposed in shadow.
Sign: A wolf before the full moon
03Chapter 3 · The Storm Laboratory
The Lightning Revenant
Lightning and Flesh
Their law
Lightning gives him back his life: coil bearers raise the fallen once; three rods round his keep must be grounded before the storm raises him.
Sign: A heart split in four, sewn with rope and bolted
04Chapter 4 · The Burning Land
The Demon
Fire and Destruction
Their law
Fire does not hurt him, it feeds him: the more of the field burns, the stronger he is; put the fires out and cool the land.
Sign: Horns ringing a black flame
05Chapter 5 · The Erased City
The Phantom
Shadows and the Unseen
Their law
What is not fully in our world cannot be killed in our world: light the lanterns to hold the ghosts in the material plane.
Sign: A face without eyes inside a veil
06Chapter 6 · The Necropolis
The Ghoul
Hunger and Decay
Their law
Every dead thing feeds him if it is eaten: burn the bodies at the grave braziers before the devourers and carts reach them.
Sign: An open jaw
07Chapter 7 · The Hoard Mountain
The Dragon
Tombs and Treasure
Their law
He cannot die while the treasure he guards is untouched: push the hoard carts away from the road, and kill the keepers who haul them back.
Sign: A crown over a treasure
08Chapter 8 · The Sand Palace
The Djinn
Wind and Smokeless Fire
Their law
The body you see is not his true body: find the vessel that anchors him as it moves, pin it and break it.
Sign: A spiral of wind round a flame
09Chapter 9 · The Badlands
The Ogre
Strength and Hunger
Their law
The more damage he takes, the stronger he gets: provoke his blows onto the bait pillars, and let his own strength bring his fortress down.
Sign: A hammer with a bone for a haft
10Chapter 10 · The Living Mountain
The Troll
Earth and Regrowth
Their law
He heals as long as he touches the earth: raise the lift platforms under his trolls to stop it and tear them from the ground; root weavers drag the platforms back down.
Sign: A root gripping a stone
11Chapter 11 · The Hexwood
The Shtriga
Fate and Curses
Their law
Her witches tie their curse to your towers with thread: light a ritual doll to take the threads and turn the curse back on the one who cast it.
Sign: A red thread tied round a spindle
12Chapter 12 · The Dream Palace
The Succubus
Desire and Illusion
Their law
She and her charmers march as three; only the true one puts out the lanterns she passes. Unmask her, and the illusions fall.
Sign: A mask with a rose behind it
13Chapter 13 · The Moor of Bells
The Banshee
Mourning and Doom
Their law
She and her keeners wail in three pulses and silence the towers in the marked zone: ring a counter-bell on the third pulse to cut the wail off.
Sign: A cracked bell
14Chapter 14 · The Sky Aerie
The Griffin
Sky and Speed
Their law
In the air he and his flyers take half damage and come straight down the air corridors: arm a harpoon ballista as they pass over to net them and drag them into reach of every tower.
Sign: A feather crossed with a spear
15Chapter 15 · The Stone Temple
The Basilisk
Sight and Stone
Their law
His gaze turns towers to stone along a charging ray: turn a bronze mirror as it charges and the ray comes back at him, stunning him and cracking his scales.
Sign: An eye carved in a mirror
16Chapter 16 · The Labyrinth
The Minotaur
Force and Direction
Their law
He declares his road and charges down it — faster, half damage: swing a labyrinth gate across it after he commits and his charge breaks, leaving him stunned and exposed.
Sign: A horn wound with a broken thread
17Chapter 17 · The Sunken Fortress
The Kraken
Sea and Depth
Their law
The water stands in one of two basins: the sea-born are submerged and hard to hurt there, stranded in the other. Turn the sluice to move the sea; deep priests jam it and the kraken pulls the tide back.
Sign: A tentacle wrapped round an anchor
18Chapter 18 · The Lagoon of Song
The Siren
Song and Longing
Their law
Her song charms our hero and soldiers off the line and lulls the towers: light a recall lantern to free them and bring them back, briefly immune.
Sign: A shell with a crown inside
19Chapter 19 · The Rune City
The Golem
Order and Obedience
Their law
Three tablets show the order his constructs run next — Shield, March or Repair: rewrite them so Repair, the open core, runs inside your kill zone.
Sign: A stone tablet with one word carved on it
20Chapter 20 · The Sealed Court
The Jiangshi
Hunger and the Seal
Their law
He and his qi eaters feed on the living near them: raise the ritual barriers to cut them from their escorts, let their reserve run dry, and set the seal — a seal set stays set.
Sign: A yellow talisman with a red seal