Like many of the heroic legends that echo throughout the annals of Exandrian history, this tale begins in peace—or what passes for peace in Jigow at festival time. Goblin children run through the streets, screaming with mirth, while orcs, humans, drow, and people of countless other folk clink tankards, hurl hatchets at targets, stuff their faces with meat pies, and plunge into the frigid waters of the Ifolon River—all in the name of friendly competition.
The characters are in Jigow during the city's annual Festival of Merit. Though they are the protagonists of this story, today they are but a small handful of excited festivalgoers amid a merry throng. Many of the Xhorhasians present are famed warriors, skilled athletes, cunning con artists, and talented arcanists. Among those taking part in the festivities are the characters' rivals, another group of adventurers whose fates are entwined with the characters.