The Mertí Revolution

After being rescued by Captain Crispino from Shipwreck Island, the companions are brought to Mertí on a ship mysteriously full of Eisen mercenaries. Rather than delivering them to Port Imperiale, Crispino instead apologetically drops them off in Marbey, a village on the far side of the island.

The Viscomte du Marbey's Panic

Marbey is in an uproar; the Vicomte is returning to Montaigne; he has heard that the Comte du Bearn has been gathering support among the landholders against the governorship of Louis Blanchard, and there are also rumors that the Maroons are raising an army of the dead in the Look-Behinds and will sweep over the island in an orgy of blood and fire.

Also in Marbey is the pregnant Jem Berdan, one of Marie-Celeste's cousins; she is pregnant with the Vicomte's child, and Marie-Celeste purchases Jem's freedom from the man with some of Aleksei's gold.

The heroes resolve to head to Port Imperiale to link up with Louis Blanchard, the former Rose + Cross knight who is now Governor of Mertí.

Across the Island; An Unfortunate Encounter

As they journey across the island, the heroes encounter a number of plantations and towns with barricades set up against the fear of slave rebellion and civil war. At one, they learn that the Comte du Bearn has taken Port Imperiale with a force of Eisen mercenaries; the same mercenaries, the heroes surmise, that Crispono's Il Falco transported to Merti. Louis Blanchard is said to be dead or disappeared, and there is fear that a general chaos is about to descend on Merti -- a fear heightened by the distant smoke-signs of burning plantations.

It takes several days to travel to Old Town, and on one of the last days of travel the companions encounter a man on foot being pursued by a troop of Eisen mercenaries and local slave militia. A battle ensues; the Eisen mercenaries are subdued, the slaves dispersed and the plantation owner who lead them - an Olivier du Rey - is left eventually unconscious on the road.

The pursued man is a Knight of the Rose + Cross, Alain du Toille, and he has dark news: he knows that Louis Blanchard is in hiding in Old Town, but has come from Blanchard's estate in Martise. Blanchard's wife Simone and son Cedric have been been taken.

Old Town

With Alain joining their little party, now sailors, slaves and more, the companions reach Old Town. They make their way into the city to the hospital, and beneath it meet Louis Blanchard, wounded in the fight for Port Imperiale.

He hears Alain's news and pleads with Aleksei and Marie-Celeste to rescue his family; at the same time, he asks Sebastien to investigate whether Rogier Mornay, captain of the gendarmerie, supports du Bearn or Blanchard.

The heroes split apart and set off to their separate tasks; away also goes Julien, who has some private enterprise.

Paths Diverge...

The companions ride north separately, but all see the same sights: a burned Merti as the slave rebellions begin in earnest. Plantations have been slaughtered to the man, with women and children taken as prisoners or violated to death. Piles of headless corpses make grim totems in the front yards of farms, and crows circle to make a grim harvest in town squares.

The Knights' Story

Aleksei and Marie-Celeste encounter Marie-Celeste's mother, Justine, while riding north - she's hidden out in a distant part of Suisse Plantation, where she was a slave, with an old slave named Henri. She tells them that Marie-Celeste's sister Emily has been missing; she had been taken to Port Imperiale by the Comte du Bearn.

Eventually reaching Martise, they discover that Simone Blanchard has escaped with her son, but is now holed up in the belltower of a church in the center of the town, surrounded by Eisen mercenaries. She has a stock of muskets and powder and has been shooting mercenaries who approach, but as the heroes arrive the orders go out to storm the chapel and kill her.

The knights devise a plan to distract one set of guards, sneak in, get Simone out, and then escape - and their plan largely works. Aleksei leads Hermann Steuber, who has come to personally oversee the assault, on a merry chase as Le Weasel while Marie-Celeste gets a wounded Simone and her son out of the church. Thus successful, all four begin their ride back to Old Town.