Never Leave Your Monastery, Book II: Against The Archons

Brother Jacob and the band of Valraphs set out for the Whitehawk Continent, together with Arizel the Egyptian Sorcerer. They first traverse the shores of the Long Valchines and find themselves going knife to knife with an angry band of pirates. Of course its not long before they are arrested and brought before the sea-king, His majesty Graham of Ael's Lot, Maceonid King of all Kiluria, Brother Jacob's own Sovereign, and the only monarch to stand against the Dire Of Melancholy. 

The King wines and dines the reckless crew, and instructs them in the lore of the Nazageist, whom men call the Northing, the Dire of Melancholy. The story of resistance against that creature goes back into the time of the ancient world, and the rebellion of the Nephilim in the First Age who fought against the Ancientmost on Mt Argunizial in order to seize the Sapphire throne of the Universe. King Graham provides an eyewitness account, and invests the crew with chivalric commission granting them provisions to trek all the way into cold Bardelith and Nzul, to find the Arc du Baffay, the impregnable fortress of the Dire. They must scale those walls and infiltrate the halls of Melancholy, and so confront the Chamberlain of Darkness. 

Yet locking the creature back into the Voraganth will not be enough. Many political allies of the Dire hold power and influence throughout all the Whitehawk Continent. In order to restrain the power of good, the creature keeps within his lair the staff of prophecy, the ancient relic of Moses. If Jacob could obtain it, he might use it to dispel the kingdoms from the false philosophy of Melancholy which the creature has spent centuries spreading to every royal court and university under the benign guise of "Professor Naza."

So they set out on their quest and traverse the northern landscape to find the Arc du Baffay. One night they wake up to find themselves in the midst of a vast horgoth army. Fleeing, the Valraph are scattered. Jacob learns that Arizel has not been forthright. There are other monsters which must first be confronted. The monk will need to swallow down one of the Sorcerer's horrific potions or else be captured. 

When Jacob awakens, he finds himself in the prison of the Northing...