Hidden deep within the Alazar mountains lies the County of Rigel, a secluded valley where light barely pierces the canopy. Its people whisper of the Weald, an ancient forest so dense that no sunlight ever reaches the ground, warping the minds of those who enter. For months, strange attacks have spread across the land, villagers torn apart, hunters vanishing among the roots, and the howls of beasts echoing through the dark.

By the King’s own command, his knights have already ventured into Rigel, seeking the source of this terror. As the corruption deepens and fear takes hold, your troop joins the campaign, offering its aid to cleanse the land, uncover the truth behind the horror, and face the darkness stirring within the Weald.

The Weald dominates Rigel, an endless forest drowned in shadow, where no path remains the same and no traveller returns unchanged. Step beneath its twisted canopy, where the world itself seems to fade away. Your compass falters, time dissolves, and every flicker of light becomes a fragile refuge against the dark.

There, light is life. Your lantern cuts through the gloom, its glow revealing the remnants and traces of something unnatural spreading through the woods. Yet the deeper you venture, the more the darkness presses in, gnawing at the edges of sanity as your companions glimpse shapes whispering just beyond sight. The forest hungers for those who linger, but the bold may find rewards hidden where no light dares to reach.

In the depths of Rigel, the corrupted emerge from the Weald, once-human creatures, their howls echoing through the trees as the forest itself seems to breathe with them. Each encounter is a battle not only for survival, but for the fragile humanity that still clings to your troop.

Those who survive these creatures may carry more than scars, but a fragment of the Weald’s strength. Harness their graft-born power or resist the feral force that claimed so many before you. The line between hunter and prey grows thin in the Weald’s darkness, and before the end, you may find the beast no longer hiding in the woods, but within yourself.

Within your camp, the pursuit of knowledge fuels new experiments, attempts to comprehend the Weald and the strange grafts uncovered within its depths. Through study and alchemy, uncover their properties and unlock new paths of research to strengthen your mercenaries.

Emerging from the laboratories of Alazar, the Thaumaturge wields science as both weapon and salvation. With an incense burner in one hand and a vial in the other, they manipulate fumes and concoctions capable of twisting the course of any battle. By inhaling their own vapors, they risk their life to amplify their power, bolstering allies, weakening foes, and walking the fine line between mastery and madness.

*The new Thaumaturge class is also available in the base game for all players.