The game world is burning and the forests are on fire…

Newly promoted ranger, Barcud, provokes the anger of the evil city of Horrabia, and rumours of war abound. In a race against time, Barcud must found a village at a strategic river crossing, level it and defend it against the oncoming threat.

But the Rangers Guild can't fight a whole city on their own, and they must seek allies among the unwilling, the unreliable and the wicked in order to survive.

A story set in a virtual reality MMO where PVP is universal and heavy griefing is allowed by the developers to make the stakes ever more real for players.

Elements of city building and strategic total war bring this conflict alive and force Barcud to the limits of his abilities as he faces loyalty, loss and likely destruction.

Set immediately after A Player in the Greenwood, war is now brewing between the evil city of Horrabia and the city of Vinab for Vinab's part in the humiliating raid by the Rangers Guild and their Vinab allies on Horrabia.

Horrabia is raising troops and preparing armies. The ranger Barcud is in the Forest of Nightmares picking poisons when he observes a meeting meant to be secret. He is sure that it is something to do with the impending war.