In a gloomy corner of the city of Valgaast stands Malveil’s house. A dark place whose halls throb with a sinister history. Its rooms are full of spite. Its walls echo with pain. But now it has gone still, lying in wait, anticipating the arrival of an old heir—Colonel Astra Militarum Mason Strok, who is returning to the manor of his ancestors. The colonel is completely broken—by the horrors of war and by the weight of personal loss—yet he has come home to take up the mantle of the governor of the planet. He hopes to cleanse his home world of political corruption and to rebuild relationships with his abandoned children. He is full of hope for restoring his life.
Malveil will dine on these dreams. Strok is convinced he has seen the worst the galaxy has to offer. Malveil will show him just how wrong he is.