Lethean and Euliae work a strange and dangerous job: exhuming the cursed dead and interring them in secure grounds, namely the Duns. But when they learn that Crypt Dun has been so compromised, their entire organization contracts on itself and must reevaluate careful years of planning. Their goal of propping up the remnants of dying civilization is at risk of total failure.

With this ambition now upended, Lethean and his partner are sent to fortify a distant city that has all but fallen off the map. If they can create the foundation of a massive corpse road network, linking the entire province, all control may not be lost. Much can change in the span of a single year, however, and adventuring out into the unknown can be lethal for those not prepared.

It becomes increasingly evident that no one can be prepared. Specialists though they are, Lethean and Euliae are both forced to admit that a new generation of Executioners must be trained and taught to fend for themselves. Undersupplied and undermanned, they must shoulder the unending and unenviable task of reburying a world alive with death.