The Rai are the ruling warrior caste of Crua, bonded with cowls which live beneath their skin and allow them to steal the lives of others to fuel their own power. The strongest of all cowl users is the Cowl-Rai, who comes into existence only once in a generation and brings a new god, to whom all others must bow.
Or so it is believed.
Cahan Du-Nahere was the Cowl-Rai, the chosen one destined to remake his world in the image of a god named Zorir, but he was a gentle child and unsuited to the cruelty of the Rai. He only managed to wake his cowl through killing when his sister was murdered, and the murderer was brought before him.
Before Cahan could fully embrace his power, however, another Cowl-Rai rose and took his place. Cahan was abandoned by the monks who raised him, left alone and unwanted, an inconvenience to be wiped out by this new, unnamed ruler. In his confusion and rage, his new power overwhelmed him, destroying his pursuers and anyone caught between them.
Since then he swore never to use his power, and he became a hermit, living in anonymity on the edge of Crua’s huge and alien forests near a small village named Harn.
Named “the forester” by the villagers, he spends his life farming; fighting against a hard land and the bluevein which sickens crops. The forester is the only one who can navigate Wyrdwood, a dark and deep forest filled with volatile plants, dangerous wildlife, monsters from the land’s darkest folklore… and worse.
The new Cowl-Rai has taken most of Crua for Tarl-an-Gig, beating back the forces of the old god, Chyi, they seem set on wiping out servants of all the old gods. And another Cowl-Rai cannot be allowed to exist. The county’s capital city of Harnspire sends assassins to kill the forester. Cahan escapes death by a stroke of luck, and though others died in his place he believes himself safe.
The world has other ideas. Strange undying warriors, the Reborn, seek him out convinced he can free them from the curse of eternal life. Cahan wants nothing to do with them. Believing his only option is to escape he leaves Harn but is arrested as a vagrant and offered as sacrifice to wake the cowl of a trion, one of Crua’s third sex, named Venn. Unknown to Cahan, Venn is the child of the ruler of Harnspire, and the only trion with a cowl. Venn’s tormentors had reckoned without Cahan. Unable to give in to death, his cowl wakes, killing two of the Rai accompanying Venn and stripping the third, Sorha, of her cowl and her power. Doing this almost kills Cahan but Venn saves him, by giving themselves back to the warriors sent to find them, allowing Cahan to escape even though it may cost Venn dearly.
Unknown to Cahan, the Rai Sorha survives having her cowl burned from her, usually this is a death sentence for the Rai, but she has become a null spot that negates the cowls of those near her. This makes her a pariah among her own people and she becomes obsessed with Cahan, vowing vengeance.
With the Rai once more believing he is dead, Cahan returns to his farm with the idea of again becoming anonymous. But even Cahan cannot be completely alone, and must trade with his nearest village for necessities. Little by little he is pulled into the lives of Harn’s villagers. His knowledge of Wyrdwood means he is called upon when Issofur, the child of the village’s Leoric, Furin, has strayed into the dark and strange forest where most fear to go. Accompanied by Udinny, monk of a forgotten god called Ranya, Cahan journeys through Wyrdwood searching for the lost child.
There he comes into contact with the Forestals, outlaws of Wyrdwood who rebel against the cruel Rai, and he finds the boy Issofur in the company of the Boughry, strange and vicious gods of the deep forest. The Boughry allow Cahan and Udinny to reclaim the boy, but only after Udinny promises to serve them. They also find out that one of the great cloudtrees, the unfathomably huge trees of Wyrdwood, has fallen. Such a thing is rare and can make people rich beyond imagining, though it also brings dangers.
As does Cahan’s existence.
The Rai Sorha comes for Cahan, taking over Harn and demanding his life in exchange for the villagers. With her she brings the trion, Venn. Cahan is forced to choose whether he flees, leaving the villagers in Sorha’s cruel hands, or finally makes a stand and accepts that his power allows him to help others, not to simply destroy. He chooses to help the village, and together with Venn and the Reborn he frees the village, but Sorha escapes.
The people of Harn rejoice in their victory but Cahan does not. He knows the Rai will return; they cannot leave an insult to their power unanswered and it is not long before Sorha returns, as part of a large army intent on the destruction of the village.
Faced with overwhelming odds, the village of Harn, assisted by a small group of Forestals led by a woman called Ania, stand against the might of Harnspire’s army. It is a battle they cannot win even though Venn has discovered an ability to heal, and the Forestals reveal they have cowls and can work together to create shields. Little by little the defenders are whittled down. Cahan refuses to kill to feed his cowl, even though it would give him more power.
In the end, Cahan’s decision is taken out of his hands. The wounded and dying of the village sacrifice themselves, forcing their lifeforce onto Cahan. The fact that it is given freely and not forced magnifies this power into something Cahan can barely hold. It is then that the Boughry of Wyrdwood make their claim on Udinny. Cahan, Venn and Udinny join, Venn channelling Cahan’s power to Udinny, and the monk, with the guidance of the Boughry, assists Cahan in growing a forest, a vicious and hungry one that slays the attacking army, saving Cahan, Venn and the people of Harn – though it costs Udinny her life and the village is destroyed.
Once more, Sorha escapes. Her vengeance thwarted and her life forfeit for failure she knows she cannot return to the Rai without something on this new enemy or her quest for vengeance will be over.
In Tilt, the central county of Crua, an old secret awaits. The real ruler of Crua is Saradis, the high priest of Zorir, the same woman who raised Cahan, to make him Cowl-Rai. Now she is Skua-Rai, high priest of Tarl-an-Gig, and she keeps the Cowl-Rai of her god in a cage, imprisoned to protect everyone from the twisted power of the bluevein sickness. And this Cowl-Rai, this new chosen one?
It is Cahan’s sister. She did not die as Cahan was told, but she is changed.