Tain – the crow master of Dun Seren. Son of Alcyon.

Varan – a giant of Dun Seren.

BEN-ELIM

Adonai – a Ben-Elim of Drassil.

Israfil – the Lord Protector of the Land of the Faithful. High Captain of the Ben-Elim.

Kol – one of the Ben-Elim of Drassil. One of Israfil’s captains.

Kushiel – one of the Ben-Elim of Drassil. One of Israfil’s captains.

Meical – once High Captain of the Ben-Elim. Now frozen in starstone metal, sealed with Asroth in Drassil.

KADOSHIM

Asroth – Lord of the Kadoshim. Frozen within starstone metal in the Great Hall of Drassil.

Gulla – High Captain of the Kadoshim.

Rimmon – a Kadoshim.

Map

Epigraph page

‘Like one, that on a lonesome road

Doth walk in fear and dread,

And having once turned round walks on,

And turns no more his head;

Because he knows, a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread.’

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

EXTRACT FROM: The Book of the Fallen

EXTRACT FROM

The Book of the Fallen

A tattered extract discovered upon the corpse of a Kadoshim demon, the Year 131 of the Age of Lore:

They think we are broken.

We are not.

They think we are defeated.

We are not.

For over two thousand years, my brothers, we have fought our noble war, against Elyon the Great Tyrant and his servants, the Ben-Elim. Two thousand years our battleground was the Otherworld, that place of spirit, where all things are eternal. And then, little over a century ago, we saw the fulfilment of our long-crafted plan, to break into this world of flesh, to become flesh, so that we might wage war upon Elyon’s creation, mankind; to conquer and rule, or destroy, as we see fit.

But we were betrayed, my brothers, and lured into a trap of the Ben-Elim’s making. On that day we fought like warriors-born, shaming the heroes about whom the people of this world tell tales. On that dread day of tribulation we fought with sharp iron, tooth and claw. Blood was spilt in rivers, but alas, we were outnumbered by the Ben-Elim and their allies, who were led by a maggot that men called a hero, Corban the Bright Star.

Pah, I say to that, for Corban is long dead, and yet we are still here. One day I will spit on his grave, dig up his corpse and feast on his bones, for it was Corban who dared raise a blade to our master, our great Lord, Asroth, and it was Corban’s kin, Cywen, who cast the spell that entombed Asroth within a prison of iron.

We fought on, long after that day, a hundred years of war, but always they were too many, and our numbers dwindled.

And now the Ben-Elim hunt us, as do the followers of long-dead and thrice-cursed Corban.