After months away, attending to family matters in a distant city, Olaf is grateful to at last be returning home. Rochdale is a small village, and life as a ropemaker is simple and unexciting, but it's a life Olaf deeply treasures—especially his son, Lukas.

Instead of a warm welcome, however, he's greeted by screams and nightmares, people who are clearly dead walking around feeding ravenously on the living, and nothing remains of the home he loves so dearly. Fleeing for their lives, Olaf, his son, and their few companions make for the next village over, praying for the nightmare to end.

Stopping the Risen Dead is not a simple matter, however. Even the might of holy magic wielded by priests is not enough to do more than hold them back. To end the nightmare once and for all, Olaf will have to travel through dangerous territory to find a nigh-legendary necromancer, who gain their power over death by consuming their masters...