Lord Mithraelfast calls his cousin Ironfist to take command of the capitol, while he leads his personal guard against the traitor, Lord Mackelroy, in Fallcrest. The city's militia yields when their old liege arrives, but many of the lord's men in the keep die bravely protecting Mackelroy before he finally yields. Ironfist learns that the Iron Circle captured Mackelroy's eldest son, who was studying with the swordmages in Rethmil. His son was being held at the Iron Citadel to guarantee his allegiance. Lord Mithraelfast showed mercy, confining the Mackelroy's to their own dungeons until he could determine how to justly punish their treachery.
The milita's of Therund were called to Nera, where they joined the armies assembled there under the command of Laralove Dewshining and Xanroar Carter. From the Stonemarch, the riders who guard the passes and plains from the Bloodspear Orcs rode down to Therund to guard against incursion from the Trollhaunt Warrens.
On the Eastern front, Dolranth, the Templar of Light gathered his host to assault Blisterforge. He rode at the front of his ranks, leading the footsoliders, some trained, others green slaves risen from the ashes of Karkoth's conquered lands. Beside him four magic users, the Crow Shaman, the Priest of Light, the Lunarmancer, and Ella the Enchantress wove spells onto the dreaded minions of Blisterforge, blasting the thousands of skeletons and the storm elemental that guarded the pass through the mountains.
When Dolranth and his men crashed into the ranks of the Darkranger and Ebek the Drow's spider riding minions, Nerath's five great dragons swooped down to strafe the lines of the foe. A Dracolich wheeled overhead, drawing the dragons away, while Nerath moved in Mammoths to crush the Darkranger and his evil mercenaries. When the Dracolich was finished, the dragon returned to finish burning away the last of the drow and spiders. A cheer went echoing through the pass from the Nerathi forces, and the day was won.
Dolranth rode ahead with several knights to claim Slaughterguarde, who's defender slunk away when the servants of light approached. Everywhere he rode he saw that the Karkothi had set loose a foul plague among their own people in all of their lands to weaken the slaves that thought of revolt. Many of Dolrath's men died on the march through Slaughterguard from the plague called Soul Rot, their very spirit drifting away until they were nothing but pale shells of their former selves without joy, and upon death, no spirit remained to resurrect or to pass onto the next world.
Word spread that the plague had spread to the south. Magus Greycloak nursed the necrotic wounds of the dragon in Brandil who had caught "the rot" as it had come to be known. On the central isle all of the iron circles fighting legions who assembled along the border of Amil Forest died of the rot, leaving the lands in chaos without a governor. The Karkothi's revenge spread to all the lands on their borders, and touched all their enemies.
