"The Sleeper has awakened, hear the call " "Houses, witness the breaking of the seal." "To part his flesh, the edge of doom shall fall, " "And spill his blood, his purpose to reveal." Their origins lie in a distant and almost forgotten past. Though humanity refers to them as vampires, they have long had another name for themselves. The Breed. Since the days of Coloque, the Separation, they have dwelled among us (but not of us), hidden by a protective cloak of ignorance and superstition which has shielded them as their wealth and power have grown. Their society is represented by twelve Great Houses, each a law unto themselves, answering to no one outside of their own familial walls for untold centuries. Those days are no more. For a hidden terror has surfaced, threatening Breed and human alike. One by one the scions of House Ember have vanished, swallowed by a secret and frigid darkness now threatening those Houses which yet remain. And their last hope has lain somnolent for decades within the shimmering clouds of a silver dream. Until now. For the Sleeper has awakened.