A Scattering of Skulls

De: D.A. Madigan

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

A WORLD HAS NO NAME

The longest Summer in the history of Newlandos has finally ended, and a brutally vicious Winter descends. The followers of Frost have once more awakened... and they march south, towards the Great Moat. And if the Long Stand that guards the Moat should fall... who, then, will ward the Mortal Realms from the choking grasp of final Frost?

JANUS FROST, outborn son of High Lord Ibraham Grimm, has taken the Grey and risen to the post of High Commander of the Long Stand. But extraordinary times require extraordinary measures, and by throwing open the ranks of the Stand and lowering the Black Bridge across the Great Moat to the endangered wilders, Janus has enraged many of his men. Lured now into a treacherous ambush by those same men, he lies in the bloodstained snow. His life, or rebirth, may well depend on...

SALMORAJAM, the Woman in Red, Daughter of the Sun, High Priestess of the Holy Fire. Mistress to LANDIS, the only of the many contenders for the Firedrake Throne who has chosen to answer the pleas for support from the Long Stand, she has mysterious powers over life and death. But who, or what, does she truly serve?

Jeered at all his life as "Fat Freddie", FRED "THE FROST FIST" FAREDGE has found friends and a purpose in the Long Stand, and even managed to be the first mortal man in generations to slay an Undead Frost follower, using an ancient chimeric iron spearpoint. Dispatched by Janus to the Citadel of Scrolls to become a Savant, Fred finds himself bewildered by the viper's nest of intrigue and corruption he has found in what he had thought would be a haven of study and scholarly pursuits.

LORD BYRON BASTARDLY, dwarf and exile, lurks outside the walls of the Hwarkish city Jaraal with a young female dwarf named Shilla and the surly YELLATH NORCOTT, another exile who seeks to regain the favor of

RADARYS GARTHARIAN, the FIREDRAKE QUEEN - betrayed by her new husband, his followers, and her own adolescent infatuations, she has fled attempted assassination on the back of her black drake Draconis, only to be abandoned in the desolate Grassy Wastes and recaptured by a hostile tribe of Rashaka, the savage horsemen of the wilds. Can she survive long enough to be found by

WENSES, THE WIZARD, the only Savant in the Citadel of Scrolls who has noted the sudden increase in sorcerous power in the world, catalyzed by the young Firedrake Queen's mystical rejuvenation of ancient drake ashes into living, firebreathing mythical beasts. He plans to seek out an ancient Temple and re-activate the legendary moon gates of the ancient Primal Men, to take himself quickly across the world to Radarys. But the best laid plan of Savants and...

THE CHURCH MOUSE, humble High Prelate to the Hand of God, oft go astray. Having wrested the rights of judgment, and carrying arms, away from a foolish QUEEN BREANNA BASTARDLY, he now plans to make the Tabernacle the most powerful force in Newlandos again, through negotiations with SEVERUS, the eunuch spymaster.

Meanwhile, ROBIN OF RATH has been diverted from her quest to find the missing daughters of Bloodline Grimm, by threat of death at the hands of the undead MOTHER GRIMM. Now she must find and betray the man she loves, BLACK BELLION BASTARDLY, the Crown Killer, into Mother Grimm's vengeful hands, or her young apprentice Thad will be murdered.

While SASHA GRIMM plots her escape from Speartip Keep, fleeing the lecherous wiles and amoral schemes of LORD TEPYR LAVARISH, her sister ERIKA has abandoned the Nameless Men and is traveling back to Newlandos to re-unite with whatever survives of her scattered Bloodline.

Elsewhere, LORD SAVADOS, the "TURNIP CHAMPION", is traveling to SKULOS ISLE, in search of the lost HEARTHEN GRIMM.

Against a richly detailed backdrop of medieval politics and magical intrigue, a complex cast wages the ultimate war of Life vs. Death, with all existence hanging in the balance.