Faith of the Fallen begins where Soul of the Fire leaves off.

Richard is taking
Cara and injured Kahlan to the high mountains of his homeland, Westland. At the
end of the Soul of the Fire Richard realizes that he cannot win against Emperor
Jagang until the people themselves want to fight for freedom. Because of this mi
ndset Richard isolates himself in the woods, to allow Kahlan time to heal, and r
efuses to give orders to the D'Haran army. After Kahlan has made a significant r
ecovery, Nicci arrives and captures Kahlan by using a maternity spell, linking h
erself to Kahlan and enabling herself to kill Kahlan at any time. Richard is for
ced to go with Nicci into the Old World, leaving Kahlan, Cara, and the The Sword
of Truth to rejoin the D'Haran army.
Shortly afterward, Prelate Ann and the reformed Sister of the Dark Alessandra vi
sit the camp, looking for Richard, claiming his need for the people to prove the
ir worth is pointless and that the prophecy dictates his required actions. This
enrages Kahlan, and she threatens to murder Alessandra unless Ann destroys her j
ourney book, which will prevent her from coordinating with Verna and the D'haran
army. Kahlan and Cara, despite knowing Richard's objections, leave the Upper Ve
n in search of help from Zedd and Sister Verna. Seeing the plight of her troops
fighting against the Order, Kahlan takes command of the combined armies of D'Har
a and the Midlands in a desperate attempt to halt the Order's advance into the N
ew World.
Following Nicci, Richard is put to work in the Old World capital of Altur'Rang,
finding work as a delivery man of steel and timber for construction, as Nicci's
only requirement is that he care for her and himself, expecting the conditions o
f life among the poor will crush Richard's spirits. Richard also meets Brother N
arev, a sorcerer who is constructing a spellform for the Imperial Palace that wi
ll effectively make Emperor Jagang immortal. As Richard becomes successful and r
elatively happy, even turning around the deplorable conditions of the neighborho
od despite the conditions, Nicci begins to doubt her position, and finds she is
viciously hated by her neighbors for her treatment of Richard. She attempts to s
educe Richard but fails, and gives herself to a local thug, Gadi, who brutally a
ssaults her, thinking that Kahlan will believe Richard finally fell for her char
ms. Richard is approached to lead a peaceful protest against the Order but he re
fuses and begs his friends to stay away, knowing it will be a wholesale slaughte
r. Hundreds are killed, and hundreds more are hung and tortured. Richard is even
tually turned in by Gadi as a collaborator. Nicci spends a fortune in gold she f
inds Richard has hidden to set him free, finding he has been severely beaten.
Richard, as punishment for his "civil infraction," is commanded to erect a disgu
sting sculpture glorifying human suffering for the center of the New Palace. Sec
retly, Richard works tirelessly to create his own statue of a noble man and woma
n out of a block of flawed marble he purchases from a local quarryman. It is of
such beauty that a huge procession is lead through the city to view it.
Brother Narev, when he finally arrives to see the statue, orders Richard to dest
roy it. Richard takes up the hammer and points to the crowd, telling them that t
he Order only wishes to destroy beauty, only wishes to enslave humanity under th
e doctrine of faith unsupported by the true value of life. He swings the hammer
and shatters the statue in one blast. The people are outraged, and immediately r
evolt, proclaiming that the Order will not enslave them any longer. They attack
the Imperial Order, and Altur'Rang falls to the hands of the rebels. Richard fin
ds a group of his friends overseeing the execution of the Order governing counci
l.
After fighting many battles against the Imperial Order, overseeing the wedding o
f Verna to the Wizard Warren, the subsequent death of Warren at the hands of Gad
i, Kahlan and Cara leave to find Richard, learning from Gadi's interrogation tha
t he is in Altur'Rang. They enter Altur'Rang in time to see the statues destruct
ion. As the rebellion begins, Richard enters the palace to find Brother Narev. W
hile working his way through the dark corridors, he encounters Kahlan, the Sword
of Truth over her shoulder. He attacks her and engineers the fight so that Kahl
an runs him through. This forces Nicci to choose - to sever the maternity spell
and save him or let him die and continue serving the Order. Nicci, wholeheartedl
y converted to Richards cause after seeing his sculpture, removes the maternity
bond to Kahlan and heals Richard. Altur'Rang is free, for a time, from the grasp
of the Order, and the people have found a determination not to serve the system
as slaves. The epilogue ends with Kahlan shyly staring at a massive statue of S
pirit, a model Richard had carved with her face, being erected in the center of
the newly free Altur'Rang