Arn of Blackleg is slain! According to the current Regent - Baltzer the Bold, a knight and adviser foisted on Arn by Bishop Notker the Unshaven - a member of the pagan rebel group called the "Yimslians" entered Arn's room at night and light his bed aflame. Why he burned too quickly for anyone to help is, as yet, a mystery. Arn's pregnant wife has been taken into protective custody by Baltzer, and the regent has begun a series of hangings meant to punish the guilty and dissuade potential rebels.
The lost army of Ulrich von Lichtenstein has returned from the Witchwood, or what's left of it anyway. Only 88 men of the original army of 1500 have survived. Ulrich himself is not among them. They are shocked to find out how much time has passed but admit that the Witchwood seem eternally autumnal in a way that made the passage of time difficult to tell. They also tell stories of man-eating deer, rabbits which burrow into corpses, trees that grow out of people, and the dangers of eating pig-men.