Sir Hamral, Valerius, Mendelor, Vandoren, Owen, and Dominic gather in Upchurch after the latest excursion to Langdale Hall. Sir Hamral meets with his man Oswald, and orders the construction of a watchtower at the highest point in Upchurch. The assembled consortes also consider the latest information from Sir John the Bastard, who asserts that he does not know whether Hecatesseus has successfully completed his mysterious project.

After some debate, the group decides to visit Nestor at the Shrine of the Ebon Quill. There they find that approximately 400 converted ruck-men have gathered to join Nestor's new army. In attendance is Argus's deposed captain, Phoebus, and the ruck-wife Devorah.

Hamral asks Nestor and his officers about any secret entrances into Utterbol Castle, and learns that a hidden passage from Cacus's cave had led into the main keep, but Sarpedon has probably either blocked up or trapped this passage. Vandoren sings an inspirational song to the assembled rucks of Luke and Mark.

Valerius finds two ruck-men deserters that had served at Derwich under Prince Busirane, Garg and Lurd. The rucks reveal that Hecatesseus is extremely unpopular among the rank-and-file troops at Derwich, and that he is rumored to have a secret cave near the castle where he conducts many magical experiments. Garg and Lurd also report that Hecatesseus has been personally overseeing some strange and urgent work near Derwich, where ruck-slaves are excavating a great square pit.

Sir Hamral then begins preparations for an assault on Utterbol, which he hopes to capture while Sarpedon's garrison is reduced. Nestor suggests that Sarpedon is a ruck of great honor and would never convert to the Five; he will only be removed from Utterbol by force. Several possible diversions are considered to lure out Sarpedon and allow Nestor to bring his army to bear. In the end, it is decided that Vandoren will use a cunning glamour to assume the form of Prince Busirane himself and lead Nestor's troops straight into Utterbol Castle, pretending to be an urgent mission from Derwich. Meanwhile, Valerius will use eldritch means to place himself, Hamral, Mendelor, and Owen within Briareus's old chamber. Meanwhile Dominic will assume the shape of a small bird to infiltrate the castle on his own.

The group waits at the Shrine for several days during terrible winter weather; on the first day that the storms relent, the plan unfolds. Nestor's army begins to march upon Utterbol and surprisingly, no ruckish patrols are encountered until the host is well within sight of the castle's towers.

Vandoren uses his magicks to assume the semblance of the Prince, and bravely leads Nestor's army up to the very gates of Utterbol. Using a charm of glibness, Vandoren convinces Sarpedon's sentries that he really is the son of Tereus, and the frightened guards quickly throw open the gates. Vandoren marches his entire force into the outer ward of Utterbol, and then demands to be taken to Sarpedon himself. The garrison, terrified of Busirane, hastens to oblige.

Meanwhile, Valerius and his group magically appear within the great Keep of Utterbol, where they last fought Briareus. The infiltrators immediately begin searching for Sarpedon.

Back in the outer ward, Sarpedon's garrison begins to realize that there is something amiss with "Busirane's" troops. Soon the ruse is discovered, and a pitched battle develops. Dominic, flying above the fray, conjures a wall of fire to hedge Sarpedon's troops from the Keep.

Inside the Keep, Valerius and his group encounter a couple of veteran Black-Blade officers, who have heard the commotion in the outer ward and are ready for battle. The officers prove to be skilled warriors, and put up a tough fight. Both Hamral and Mendelor are badly hurt, but Valerius summons a series of air-sharks, a creature of ice, and a towering water elemental who help turn the battle.

All of this commotion draws the attention of the ruckish magician Narl, as well as four black-blade guards, who arrive shortly after the officers are dispatched. Narl tosses in a fireball and turns invisible, but Valerius' air-sharks have exceptional senses and quickly locate the invisible magician. So located, Owen springs to attack, while Valerius call up a swarming mat of beetles to engulf Narl. Between Owen and the bugs, Narl is quickly slain.

The Black-Blade guards offer Mendelor and Hamral another hard fight, and one of the guards is able to get off a blow that would have felled Sir Hamral. But before the ruckblade can strike home, Hamral experiences time wondrously slow to a crawl and the room bloom into white light. A gleaming silver blade interposes itself between Hamral and his doom. And Hamral beholds a wondrous sight: his dead friend, Marcus Atwater the Lamarite, stands before him now, dressed all in shining armor. Marcus repels the ruck's attack long enough to allow Hamral to stagger back out of harm's way.

None of the other combatants evidently see what Hamral sees, but soon the tide turns in the favor of the consortes, and the remaining guards are killed. Marcus turns to Hamral, and with a wave of his hand both Mendelor and Hamral find some of their wounds miraculously healed. Marcus tells Hamral where Vandoren is, and describes the quickest way to reach the minstrel. And with that, the Lamarite vanishes.

Meanwhile, Vandoren is brought before Sarpedon. The minstrel attempts to use magick against the captain of Utterbol, but Sarpedon is quick on his feet, and grabs a light pick to ward off an assault. Vandoren uses his charms to convince Sarpedon's own bodyguards to apprehend their captain. But Sarpedon, with a dazzling series of strikes from his pick, easily rebukes this threat.

Just then, Hamral and the rest of the consortes arrive, along with several terrible creatures conjured up by Valerius. Dominic launches a bolt of lightning at Sarpedon, but the captain dodges the deadly blast. Then the magician in black sends his largest water elemental in against Sarpedon, but the captain of Utterbol tumbles out of the watery monster's grasp and attacks Dominic.

Swiftly, Sir Hamral reaches Sarpedon and the two mighty warriors engage in a fierce melee. With one great blow, Hamral brings down Legrand on the Sarpedon's pick, and the ruck's treasured weapon shatters in his hand. Undaunted, Sarpedon continues to fight, even spitting in Hamral face. And then, with one more stroke of Legrand, the proud Captain of Utterbol is slain.

Outside the Keep, the group finds that Nestor's troops have overwhelmed the castle's defenders, and Utterbol is now under Sir Hamral's control. The once sizable garrison, it turns out, had largely been recalled to Derwich to assist Prince Busirane. Some of Sarpedon's rucks reveal that while Utterbol was being attacked, Busirane was launching his own surprise assault on Antace . . . from the east, across the frozen Lorn Pond.

The Roleplaying Award (RP) includes PBM responses as well as participation in the live session.