96 pages, 2008, $19.99
Story	5
Enjoyability	4
Adaptability	4
Intelligibility	4.5
Overall 4.5 Excellent
Review Scoring

   In the previous chapter of Curse of the Crimson Throne, the players were charged with rescuing some important non-player characters from Old Korvosa, and then escaping themselves. Chapter four, A History of Ashes, takes the game out of the city and into the wilds of the Shoanti tribal lands in an attempt to find the secret knowledge they need to save Korvosa from pending doom.

The adventure is written for a party of tenth level characters, and throws challenges of every sort imaginable at the players. Surprisingly, this mish-mash of challenges works well together and creates a game that is well balanced, challenging, and most importantly, fun to play. A History of Ashes is perhaps the best balanced of the Pathfinder Chronicles adventure path chapters to date, providing the thrills to make players sweat, but not the point of frustrating them.

The Cinderlands and People of the Storval Plateau, accompanying articles that describes the plateau and the Shoanti tribes that live there, are a boon for Game Masters looking for a slightly different twist on the normal barbarian lands. This can be easily dropped in any existing game world to spice up an existing campaign with some new, exciting dangers and potential allies.

Eando Kline, Pathfinder, delves deeper into the orc lands, discovering more about them than even he ever wanted to know. Game Masters and players alike can glean tidbits about the orcs of Varisia, information that can be used to add more realism to campaigns or player characters. Rounding out this chapter is the bestiary featuring four new monsters and a random encounter chart for the Cinderlands. The monsters are an interesting mix, including the unnerving (and undead) Bonestorm, the blackened Cinder Wolf, the tentacled, bizaare and best left alone creature known simply as the Havero, and finished off by the Red Reaver, a powerful cousin of the Gray Render.

A History of Ashes provides plenty of challenges for players and new information for Game Masters looking for a different twist on Barbarian lands, making it a useful addition to groups playing the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path and those not playing it as well.