Brothers in Arms

The snowstorm has lifted, but life at the small farmstead in the foothills of the mountain is far from normal. Why have Tevar Longsword's battle wounds, obtained thirteen years ago in a fateful raid on an evil temple, reopened? Does some malevolent god require vengeance?

Miriel, Tevar's adopted half-orc daughter, tends her ailing father and mentor. How long can Tevar hold out? Minor healing spells and potions seem to have aided him not at all.

Young druid Lilly Peascod heads out to into the forest with her love, the elven ranger Nimros. They hope to replenish their supplies of healing herbs and to find some joy in its less oppressive atmosphere. Lilly's family and friends remain concerned about her increasing distance, and about the elf who has stolen her heart.

What of Nimros, this nomadic elf who has disobeyed his family's wishes by pursuing a relationship with the human woman he has known since she was a girl? Can he be trusted? He is, after all, older than Miriel's grandfather.

Tevar's son Roland is a troubled young man who has recently and somewhat painfully discovered his sorcerer's powers. He now takes advantage of the storm's respite, and continues to practice his magic in the family barn with a determination born of unrequited love. Have the weeks of solitary toil brought his abilities under control?

As Tevar's condition worsens and the weather briefly improves, surely the time has come for the four young friends to take Tevar's magical sword, brave the cold and whatever evils may lurk within it, and seek aid in the nearby village of Pied Fletching?