Into the Mire

“They call it meldwood because it’ll meld with anything it touches. Other trees. Animals. Men.” In the first years following a brutal war, residents of the Deel Valley struggle to recover. They rebuild their homes, replant their crops, and attempt to reconcile the past they long for with the reality they’re stuck in. Most of them seek, above all, a return to some semblance of “normal.” Others seek profit and adventure. Mercenary boss Riss Chou finds herself in prime position for both, summoned by the local Baron to work a job so dangerous his own men—including his heir—vanished at the scene. Calay Maunet ran the streets of Vasile once, a charismatic lord of the slums—until he was betraye...