Chapter Ten: Squatter's Paradise edit

Exiled at Noduhom Manor amid Rot quarantines, Lôdumâ Ar-Bdêin plays Battlefield with scarred Gimin, lamenting isolation and purposeless luxury. Gimin reports the Bishop of Sin Medor's consolidations (executing Duke Nevrin, installing child duke under holy regency), Bdein's dwindling population, and rumor of the Sword of Bdein's return to Lady Stôltmor—possibly via Diunmo of Reshu from Ivin Choerkin. Defying risks from patrols and plague, Lôdumâ resolves to leave for Bdein in three days to reclaim his heirloom.