He is left with no choice but to fly home and unleash his full abilities to wipe out the assassins. While he is distracted with the offensive, a Temple Loyalist coup at home is detected in progress. Merlin eventually guides the Charisians around it, forcing the encircled enemy to surrender. The Charisians retain the advantage, but the Corisandians regroup at a strategic redoubt. Amid a catastrophic rout, quick thinking and heroic leadership saves part of the Corisandian Army.

The defenders underestimate the threat and offer battle on an open field. The Imperial Marines, the first Safeholdian ground force to deploy rifled muskets, artillery and commandos on a strategic level, establish a beachhead on the namesake island of the League of Corisande. There, he warily accepts the surrender and fealty of its chief noble, who is known for treachery. In the holy city of Zion, the Group of Four engage in their own machinations after the setback in Ferayd.Įmperor Cayleb Ahrmahk, with Seijin Merlin Athrawes at his side, gathers support in Chisholm before embarking for Zebediah. In Charis and Chisholm, a plot against imperial leadership slowly builds. The leaders quietly agree to continue trading with the new empire, against Church orders. The Kingdom of Chisholm has aligned itself with the rebels via political marriage to form a new superpower, the Empire of Charis. Mercantile and political leaders gather in seclusion in the Republic of Siddarmark to contemplate recent events: The Charisians have unilaterally thrown off the Church's oppressive yoke and destroyed every force sent against them. Irrefutable proof the Inquisition orchestrated and celebrated the murder of innocents is published worldwide. Ferayd's waterfront district is burned to the ground, with residents allowed to salvage only what they can carry, before clergy of Mother Church are hanged by secular powers for the first time in known history. The captives include priests of the Inquisition of the Church of God Awaiting. The Imperial Charisian Navy, having overpowered the defenders of Ferayd, Kingdom of Delferahk, has captured the ringleaders of a massacre of Charisian merchantmen and their families. Together, Books 2 and 3 cover only 15 months, a much shorter period than book 1. īy Heresies Distressed picks up exactly at the end of Book 2. It debuted at number 11 on the July 17, 2009, New York Times best-selling hardcover fiction list, number 25 on the July 24, 2009, list, and number 30 on the July 30, 2009, list. It is the third book in the Safehold series. By Heresies Distressed is a science fiction novel by American writer David Weber, published by Tor Books.

Off armageddon reef by david weber