Take note, traveller—there be spoilers ahead for The Raincatcher’s Ballad. If you’ve yet to read the books, I strongly recommend that you do so before venturing any farther. Symphony of the Wind can be purchased right here, you can grab Wrath of Storms here. The Fury Yet To Come is available free to subscribers to my mailing list.
Here follow spoilers—continue at your peril…
Symphony of the Wind
Serena
Taking refuge in Myriel’s home as Prime Councillor Pyron Thackeray illegally seizes power, Serena discovers the reason that the City Watch and crime boss Farro Zoven want her: Her ability to manipulate the minds of others, which mimics the effects of a synthetic drug utilised by Pyron Thackeray.
After foiling an attempt on her life by an officer of the Watch, Serena interrogates him and finds out that Junior Councillor Enfield was the one who ordered her death. As enemies close around her, Serena chooses to confront Enfield and Prime Councillor Thackeray by sneaking into Dalthea’s Opera House during a concert performed by Genevieve Couressa. However, Enfield commands a unit of undead Wraith warriors—and the Royal Sky Fleet’s capital warship, Schiehallion—to strike the opera house in order to kill Serena. Working with Tyson Gallows and the strange, stone man Enoch, Serena escapes to Dalthea’s underground, where she discovers that Enfield is in fact working with the Idari Empire to destroy her.
A tense chase throughout Dalthea follows, culminating in the Siege of the Musicians’ Guild, where Gallows, Serena and their allies hold off Thackeray and Zoven’s forces long enough for Serena to escape.
However, during her escape attempt, Serena encounters Korvan, a monstrous man with a connection to Enoch. Korvan is immune to Serena’s powers and delivers her to Pyron Thackeray, where he intends on administering his mind control drug to command Serena’s more powerful ability to lead an army of Wraiths to fight the Idari, who have their own mind-controlling capabilities.
In a test of her powers, Thackeray has Serena kill Harvel Roarke, a former Raincatcher and crew mate of Serena’s. After administering the drug to Serena, a force led by Tyson Gallows storms his stronghold to rescue her—Serena commands Gallows’ allies against him, and almost succeeds in penetrating Gallows’ own mind, which is resistant to her powers.
Pyron Thackeray is arrested, and Serena, Myriel, Enoch and Gallows resolve to help Serena find out more about her lineage as a Siren by travelling to Tarevia, said to house an old temple dedicated to Musa—the first Siren.
Tyson Gallows
After a routine “hunt” where he apprehends the scuzz addict Buzz Fitangus, Gallows and Damien then encounter a giant snake terrorising a small community outwith the city limits.
During Dalthea’s Remembrance commemoration, Pyron Thackeray is murdered by Liberty Wind First Mate Tiera Martelo. During his attempt to apprehend her, Tiera reveals that she was manipulated by Eun-til Ra, a black market weapons dealer in the employ of Farro Zoven and Pyron Thackeray. She reveals that she was drugged with a mind-control agent, which prompts Gallows to assist her against two watchmen sent to assassinate her. Tiera escapes and Gallows brings his findings to Commander Rowena Lockwood of the Royal Sky Fleet, revealing his own experiences of having his mind enslaved at the hands of Perceptor Nidra, an Idari agent who had his comrades killed and used her abilities to interrogate him. Lockwood reveals that the Night of Amberfire wasn’t caused by an Idari weapon of mass destruction, but a Dalthean one.
Seeing Buzz Fitangus back on the streets sends Gallows into a deeper depression. At Lockwood’s behest, Gallows joins in an expedition with his former commanding officer Major Aramon Fallon, and a squad including Lance-Corporal Nyrita Valentine, into the depths of a hidden laboratory in Dalthea’s desert region. There, Gallows uncovers Outpost One Three Seven, a laboratory within which hideous experiments take place—including mutating animals and reanimating the dead. He surmises that this is where the giant snake emerged from.
Gallows also finds out the truth about his fiancée Sera, who didn’t die during the Night of Amberfire, but was murdered by Confessor Lenis Cronin while Gallows was held in captivity in the Sanctecano Islands.
Returning to Dalthea to find Thackeray has seized control by capturing Fallon, Gallows, Valentine and Damien plan a strike against him at Genevieve Couressa’s Remembrance concert. The plan goes awry when the Schiehallion destroys the opera house and Damien’s bloodlust takes over.
Escaping with Serena and rendezvousing with Valentine, Damien and Genevieve Gallows fortifies the Musicians’ Guildhouse as enemy forces lay siege. He helps Serena escape, but not without cost: Leader of the Hunters’ Guild, Sheva Kirivanti, dies in the attack, and others are injured.
Serena is captured, and Gallows—with help from the Raincatchers’ Guild—allies with Rowena Lockwood to infiltrate the Schiehallion. He takes the warship to Thackeray’s desert laboratory, where it comes under attack from a Lightning Spire. Gallows, Valentine and Damien fight through One Three Seven, where Gallows confronts Confessor Cronin and kills him, before going onto rescue Serena and apprehend Pyron Thackeray.
Following this, Gallows resolves to keep living his life and agrees to accompany Serena, Enoch and Myriel to Tarevia, leaving Dalthea in the hands of now-General Fallon and Nyrita Valentine.
Damien Fieri
Following a meeting with Gallows and Valentine, and seeing their proof of a kingdom-wide conspiracy recovered from Outpost One Three Seven, Damien requests authorisation to infiltrate Genevieve Couressa’s Remembrance concert. Officially, Kirivanti declines, but she invites him as a guest in order to give Damien access to his target, allowing Gallows to act as bodyguard for Genevieve Couressa.
Damien—fighting against his urges to kill—apprehends Pyron Thackeray and delivers him to Valentine. However, when the Schiehallion attacks the opera house, Damien realises that his prisoner “Thackeray” is, in fact, a body double. He returns to the opera house to rescue Tyson Gallows, but seeing his ally in danger prompts Damien to use lethal force, resulting in the deaths of several officers of the Watch.
Escaping the carnage at the opera house, he liaises with Valentine and Kirivanti to rescue Gallows and Serena during the city-wide hunt for them, led by criminal forces.
Damien rescues a former scientist named Catryn,whose work was instrumental at One Three Seven. Catryn now works at Serena’s orphanage; as Thackeray’s forces tie up his loose ends, Serena urges Damien to bring Catryn to safety. Damien does so, but not before an encounter with Korvan that almost kills him. The orphanage is destroyed in the process, and Damien’s life is saved by Constable Waltham of the City Watch.
Following the Siege of the Musicians’ Guild, Damien assists Gallows and Lockwood in their mission to infiltrate the Schiehallion, where he almost succumbs to his urges once again. Gallows shoots Damien with a non-lethal shot before he can kill again.
During the battle in Thackeray’s stronghold, Damien again encounters the monstrous Korvan, who has Enoch held captive. They battle, Enoch and Damien emerging victorious—but Korvan’s body is not recovered.
After Thackeray is apprehended, Damien resolves to tackle his bloodlust. With the voice in his head telling him he’ll never be free, Damien travels by train to an undisclosed location.
Tiera Martelo
Under the influence of this drug, Tiera sees a vision of her younger self. The weapons dealer Eun-til Ra forces Tiera to first kill a corrupt watchman, then Pyron Thackeray.
During the Remembrance commemorations, suicide bombers planted by Eun-til Ra launch an attack, utilising tactics employed by the Idari. When the drug wears off, Tiera fights her way through the incomplete Remembrance Tower and War Memorial Museum, alongside Tyson Gallows. She escapes Gallows’ custody and goes to ground and infiltrates the Rainctachers’ Guildhouse. It’s here she learns of Fitz’s death and Guildmaster Roland’s dismissal. Captain Vaughan now runs the Raincatchers’ Guild, winning over the other captains—except Anton Tugarin, captain of the Tugarin’s Talon.
When Sky Fleet Commander and renowned pirate hunter Rowena Lockwood captures Tiera, she reveals that she is aware of her real name—Yulia—and her history with the notorious pirate Helena tal Ventris.
Following the Siege of the Musicians’ Guildhouse, Lockwood—at Gallows’ behest and with the proof from Outpost One Three Seven—allows Tiera to assist in the mission to retake command of the Schiehallion and rescue Major Fallon. Tiera enlists the help of Captain Tugarin, then embarks on a mission to the Gravehold with Nyrita Valentine. Tiera liberates her former crew mates Stanley Drimmon and Clara Godfrey, who reveal that Fitz’s corpse is in their cell with them. When she sees it for herself, Tiera loses control and abandons the mission, letting Valentine and the prisoners fend for herself. She is drawn to the cell in the centre of the Gravehold, which houses a figure from her past. Her whereabouts after this event are unknown.
Nyrita Valentine
When Thackeray reveals that he faked his death, he sends troops after Fallon and captures him. Valentine escapes with the files from Outpost One Three Seven and goes to Tyson Gallows, the only person she can trust. Together, they and Damien plan a raid during Genevieve Couressa’s concert to capture Thackeray and force him to admit his crimes. However, the plan fails and a tense chase throughout the city in one of the military’s armoured personnel carriers follows.
Nyrita plans the defences during the Siege of the Musicians Guild while she and her allies wait for Dalthea’s skyport and train station to re-open. After the siege, she embarks on a rescue mission to the Gravehold, where she liberates Major Fallon.
She assists Tyson Gallows in rescuing Myriel an tal Lo and Serena from Thackeray’s stronghold. However, disillusioned that her commanding officer knew of the Gravehold and Dalthea’s horrific experimentation, Valentine secretly releases the files of One Three Seven to Dalthea’s newspaper, the Viator. She hopes that this will prevent more deaths like that of Sturrock.
Serena
However, the local criminal element closes in on Serena and attempts to capture her and her friends for unknown reasons. At the same time, apocalyptic visions invade Serena’s mind.
Just as all seems lost, acquaintance Genevieve Couressa comes to the rescue and secures passage aboard the luxury airship Queen of the North.
Captained by Vabrizio Inganarré, the Queen is scheduled to stop off in Rhis, the capital city of Ryndara. To keep her allies safe, Serena reluctantly makes a deal with Vabrizio to use her mind control abilities to influence gamblers and foreign dignataries… Much to the chagrin of Gallows.
However, during the journey, sky pirates led by the infamous Helena tal Ventris strike the Queen of the North – among their number is Tiera Martelo, a former Raincatcher of Dalthea and crewmate of Serena’s.
Believing the pirates are there for her, Serena surrenders herself – but not before the pirates kill Vabrizio and seize the airship.
Travelling under assumed identities, Serena and her friends are brought before the cruel and calculating King Arnault of Ryndara, who escorts her to the Gods’ Challenge, a traditional gladiator spectacle. Horrified to see that Tyson Gallows faces a fearsome enemy, Serena again risks her identity to assist him win the battle.
But it transpires that Serena was never the prize.
King Arnault’s agents in Dulwin heard of Tyson Gallows’ presence and brought him to Rhis in order to draw out Gallows’ former partner, Damien Fieri – Arnault’s son and the famed Lost Prince of Ryndara.
Escaping with the aid of Tiera and Morton Brunswick – leader of the Stormrider Merceneray Corps – Serena and her friends battle Ventris and her pirates. They apprehend the pirate queen, but Myriel is injured, King Arnault perishes and his youngest son, Prince Garald, inherits the throne.
With Garald’s blessing, Serena continues her mission to uncover the mysterious temple in Tarevia, travelling by train to Frosthaven, a diplomatic no-man’s-land straddling the border of Tarevia and Ryndara. Before she leaves, she hears news of Helena tal Ventris escaping custody.
Alongside Gallows, Serena leaves Frosthaven and finds the mysterious temple. There, she uncovers Musa’s remains – and that of several children known as “sirenborn”, individuals with the same power as Serena.
Clues inside the temple point to the destroyed “Scholar City” Palthonheim, not least of all the presence of ignerium – rare stone with incredible power.
Serena takes one of these mystical stones and reveals to Gallows the apocalyptic visions she’s been suffering. They resolve to investigate Palthonheim together to uncover the mysteries surrounding Serena – but when they reach Frosthaven, they find it under attack by Helena tal Ventris, who has again seized the Queen of the North along with other Ryndaran military assests.
A bloody battle ensues but Serena uses her powers to halt the slaughter, stopping only when Ventris reveals she is immune, like King Arnault before her. Serena surmises this is due to the influence of the Orinul, mythical demons who once battled the Gods.
Ventris reveals that Python Thackeray had once employed her to retrieve ignerium and uncovered the same temple that Serena and Gallows had investigated. Upon her’ return to Dalthea, Thackeray locked Ventris up, utilising the ignerium in his own forbidden experiments. To reach Palthonheim and finally get answers, Serena must join forces with Ventris.
Sailing aboard a damaged Queen of the North, Serena and her friends land in the ruins of Palthonheim, where they encounter strange phenomena. Magic permeates the city but with the help of Enoch, Serena delves deeper. She encounters The Ageless, Palthonheim’s last surviving inhabitant. He reveals the strange magic within the city has kept him alive for decades. He brings Serena and Enoch into his laboratory – where it’s revealed that he is in fact Sul, a consort of the Gods, and an individual Serena recognises from her apocalyptic visions of the past.
Sul uses his powers to manipulate Enoch, who learns he was created in Palthonheim alongside Korvan. Enoch attacks Serena; only by connecting with the stone man’s humanity is she able to escape – but not before Enoch perishes.
Serena uses her siren-song against Sul and glimpses the being feeding him power – the Orinul, living, breathing and amassing an army in far-off Idaris.
Serena’s ignerium calls out to another of the mystical stones in Palthonheim – this second mystical stone powers Schiehallion, the mythical ship said to belong to the God of War Belios. Retrofitted with modern technology and tuned into Serena’s siren-song, she uses the airship to rescue Gallows and Tiera as Palthonheim crumbles behind them.
With two pieces of ignerium at her disposal and her powers growing stronger, Serena resolves to travel to Idaris and confront the Orinul once and for all…
Tyson Gallows
A confrontation ensues, during which Gallows and his friends are rescued by famed musician/philanthropist Genevieve Couressa, currently performing aborad the airliner Queen of the North.
Aboard the ship, Gallows and Couressa have a heart to heart where Gallows internally acknowledges his feelings for the singer, but is unable to communicate them due to his experiences with loss – and as a prisoner of war in the Dalthea-Idaris conflict.
To prevent putting his operation at risk, Captain Vabrizio almost jettisons Gallows and his friends, but is persuaded by Serena to keep them aboard. In return, Serena agrees to utilise her siren-song to influence the games taking place aboard the airship’s casinos. Gallows doesn’t approve, but before he can do anything about it, Helena tal Ventris‘ pirates attack the ship – with former ally and Raincatchers’ Guild member Tiera Martelo among their number.
The pirates bring Gallows to King Arnault of Ryndara, who places him in the Gods Challenge – a gladiatorial battle popular in Ryndara. Serena aids Gallows’ victory in the arena, but Arnault’s plan works – Gallows’ presence draws Damien Fieri out of hiding.
Damien rescues Gallows and reveals that he is Prince Arros, Ryndara’s lost heir. Together, they hatch a plan to escape the castle and flee Ryndara.
Gallows fights through enemy forces and rescues Enoch from Arnault’s horrific experiments. With the help of Genevieve, Morton Brunswick and a reformed Tiera, Gallows and his friends survive the battle. After she kills King Arnault, Helena tal Ventris and her crew are apprehended.
Safe once more, Gallows travels with his friends to Frosthaven, where he says farewell to Genevieve, who embarks on a mission to Tarevia in order to brook a deal with Taliana Konstantin. She believes that Taliana and Crown Prince Garald need not make the same mistakes as their forebears – Gallows is sceptical but hopeful.
When Serena attempts to flee Frosthaven in order to keep everyone around her safe, it is Gallows who tracks her down. Together, they uncover Musa’s temple, secrets to Serena’s past, and a mysterious substance known as ignerium.
But upon his return to Frosthaven, Gallows finds the town in flames. Almost dying during the battle and saved only by Serena’s mystical powers, Gallows reluctantly follows her lead and agrees to letting Helena tal Ventris take them to Palthonheim.
The trip is costly – Enoch perishes at the hands of Sul, an ageless man in league with the demonic Orinul, but during the trials and tribulations, Gallows realises that his own life has meaning. He pledges himself to Serena’s cause and promises not to waste his life when the final conflict is over, hoping to reunite with Genevieve…
Damien Fieri
Here, Damien spends his days meditating and reading in an effort to control the impulses, but it comes at the cost of blunting his sharp skills – skills he requires when bandits raid the nearby village of Hawthorn Gnarl.
Damien dispatches the bandits, but not as easily as he once would have. He questions why anyone would raid a village with next to nothing – the answer reveals itself in the form of Azima, Damien’s former lover and fellow pupil of Cleric Adravan.
Long thought dead, Azima and Damien battle. She matches him blow-for-blow, but she reveals that she has poisoned a young girl named Zofia with Musa’s Bane, a debilitating yet highly addictive dysphoric drug. Azima reveals that Damien’s father, King Arnault, sought her services to draw Damien back to Ryndara. She urges Damien to kill the girl and spare her a life of suffering, and to take his place as the head of Ryndara’s armed forces. Damien instead kills Azima and lets Zofia live, vowing to find a cure.
His first stop: Rhis, the capital of Ryndara.
Damien plans to interrogate Arnault for information on a cure, as he is the one who made a deal with Azima. But before he can, he discovers that Tyson Gallows and his friends are in Rhis. Damien mounts a rescue and confronts King Arnault, who reveals he is dying and plans to utilise Helena tal Ventris’ pirate army to invade Dalthea, Ryndara’s bitter enemies. He also reveals that he worked with the Idari during the Dalthea-Idari war, betraying the Imani Peace Treaty. Thus, Arnault is indirectly responsible for Tyson Gallows’ capture and experiences as a PoW.
Before Damien can find out more, Helena tal Ventris assassinates Arnault. She battles Damien, who escapes with his brother Prince Garald in tow. Together, they navigate the royal castle and join with Gallows and Serena. Together, they emerge victorious.
When Ventris escapes custody, Damien – unable to find a cure for Zofa and knowing Ventris has a vendetta against Pyron Thackeray – volunteers to travel to Dalthea to warn Valentine and Aramon Fallon of a potential invasion, holding out hope that the forbidden laboratory Outpost One Three Seven will hold the secrets to Zofia’s cure.
Without transport, Damien travels to Dulwin, where Serena’s airship Liberty Wind is still situated. Alongside Morton Brunswick, Damien reaches Dalthea and finds it in turmoil. General Fallon has been executed and Pyron Thackeray’s plan to launch a coup has ended in his death. Instead, Korvan – One Three Seven’s most heinous creation – has seized power.
Damien battles the monster, sensing the power of life of over death, preservation over destruction – but Korvan proves too powerful. He defeats Damien and unleashes the power of the Lightning Harness, a portable, smaller version of Dalthea’s fearsome lightning spires.
The result is devastating.
Fires rage through Dalthea, thousands die, and Korvan’s Wraiths – undead soldiers – scour the streets. Damien, bleeding and dying on the ground, glimpses one thing before he blacks out – Nyrita Valentine, who vows revenge…
Tiera Martelo
When she accompanies a raid on the Queen of the North, Tiera discovers that her fromer crewmate Serena is aboard, alongside Tyson Gallows, Enoch and Myriel An tal Lo. Distrusted by Ventris’ second-in-command, Marie-Aman Solassis, Tiera must prove her loyalty by killing her former friends.
Armed, Tiera approaches Serena, but she is no longer the cut-throat she once was. Instead, she betrays Ventris and assists Serena and her friends escape the castle. Afterward, she joins them on their way to Frosthaven.
But it’s not long before Ventris tracks them down. With Frosthaven in flames, Tiera turns her weapons against the pirates she once called friends.
With no more family and no-one else to turn to, Tiera agrees to accompany Serena to Palthonheim. During an investigation the Scholar City’s ancient library, inhuman monsters attack, forcing Tiera to once again fight alongside Ventris. Together with Gallows, they survive the encounter – however, Tiera plunges a blade into Ventris’ gut after the battle, knowing that neither she nor her new crew will be safe while the pirate draws breath.
Serena utilises the power of a mystical airship to save Tiera and Gallows, and together, the three leave a disintegrating Palthonheim behind them. Aboard the newly-christened Crimsonwing, Tiera agrees to accompany Gallows and Serena on a voyage to Idaris in order to reconcile demons both figurative and literal…