An aging, and suspicious, Emperor desperate to hold on to power; A Dynasty at risk. A Civil War threatening. A Barbarian shaman who can seemingly command dragon's fire with the wave of a hand in league with a traitor in the Court who will do anything to become the power behind a new throne. And an inflexibly loyal and traditionally ethical servant to the Emperor, forced to risk everything on the talents and luck of two young and inexperienced intellectuals better suited to the scholar's desk than the swordplay, intrigue and assassination attempts they must face to solve.