The exiles have returned. Breaking seemingly endless cycles of war, the remnants of the Great Houses of Ancient Syrscian have set aside their differences in an uneasy alliance. They've met the criteria to return to their home world against the Ban, but the World of Origins is not quite as they remember. The dying empress has awakened. The prophecy was fulfilled, and the return of their long-dead empress has ignited political strife within the priesthood of a regime that has ruled Syrscian for a thousand years. The scattered people brace for war. The Towers are stirring. Stone artifacts granting powers to rule the World of Origins have been divided among beings called Towers, who fight one another and the empress for rule of her divided realm. The heroes from the Blue World have begun their quest. A power in the north revives after ages of sleep. Scientists Seijung Ford and Hannah Aston race to locate their displaced companions while struggling to survive in a world where the laws of physics are strange, and where dark spiritual beings have raised strongholds against the dominion of mankind. Will the Banner of the Blue World advance to vie with the legendary Destroyer of Kutha, or will humanity fade forever into darkness?