Prologue

With the passing of time, fog has clouded the many events which have led us to Galgaron. It is I, Stragius, at the ripe age of one-hundred-and-twelve years, who have taken it upon myself to stare back into the mists and remind the stubborn and often foolish folk of the Holy Kingdom and the Glorious Empire of their humble origins, as well as to remind them of the footsteps in the dark which have lead them here, away from the tempest and back into the gale, with a stark warning: A storm is coming.

I dare not claim to speak the Truth of the Gods, inerrant and complete, but can merely state that these are the truths I have heard from the mouths and read in the words of trustworthy men of conscience. And if thereupon my faith has been misplaced, I ask merely that my reader ignore my erring ways and in doing so forgive a foolish old man.