The Kingdom of the Vale... ancient, powerful, and rotting from within: beset on all sides by rivals, pretenders, and rebels who would bring centuries of peace crashing down. King Grett... the last of the great old kings: greedy, corrupt, and fearful as the end of his days draws near. Prince Alexi... strong, wise, and wild young adventurer: the only son of the King, and the last hope for the Vale. My father... a peasant farmer with just enough learning to read and write: brought to the Capital to sell his wares at the Autumnal Markets. Fate... that inexorable force that draws all strange things together. By her design, my Father was sent north by the King to scatter Alexi's ashes, when the only hope for the Vale fell before his time. Herein find my Father's own words... the journal of a simple man drawn into a game of kings, priests, and ancient magyk. This is no tale for the fainthearted. The stout and true - may they read, and understand.