Jackal Among Snakes

In the blink of an eye, a wiki editor’s deep and somewhat unhealthy understanding of a game becomes useful, usable knowledge when he inexplicably replaces the once-cruel royal bastard. Before he can start to push his frail body to use his deep understanding of the lore to handle the imminent apocalypse, or go off to stop an invasion, there’s a more personal task he needs to handle first. His cousin has a knife in her hand, and death in her eyes.

The bastard’s more royal sibling and their deranged father are struggling to tether a kingdom on the brink of civil war. Necromantic atrocities free of their long-dead creators and the order of knights meant to contain them veritably compete to prove which one can be a deadlier obstacle to Argrave’s plans. But he knows something that they don’t, something that will make him grimly move forward no matter the cost.

Argrave's harrowing journey to the Burnt Desert left him at death’s door, but breathed new life into his group by adding a fresh face to the party… if a severed head on a stick can be considered a proper companion. His goal is in sight within this foreign land with a tradition of hostility, and the royal bastard stands at the cusp of becoming black-blooded. All of the magic, components, and requisite skills are close at hand.

After clashing fiercely with Fellhorn's followers, Argrave has been forever altered by the desert's crucible. Awaiting him as he makes his way back to his homeland are faces from the past – friends and foes, all unprepared for his transformation. Argrave now ventures into the core of a land besieged by plague, forced to ally with his unpredictable, fervently passionate brother: Orion. Wielding strength that borders on the mythical, Orion might just hold the key to quelling the foul force spawning the unnatural pestilence.

After one of the deadliest family reunions imaginable, Argrave finds himself becoming ever more entwined in the civil war engulfing the kingdom. With a steeled heart, he must plunge headfirst into this cloudy whirlpool of grudges and allegiances. His father the king remains undefeated in battle, though the rebels have come further than any before them. However the dice land, he doesn't intend to join this fight without allies.