War between the Sovereign Empire and the people of the Carthagian Badlands is imminent. Amidst the escalating tensions, Sovereign Emperor Frederick III dispatches newly-appointed ambassador Polonius Neathergarden and the Emperor's Gifted cousin, Lady Penelope Philpott, to the northernmost reaches of the Empire to retrieve a diplomatic pouch whose contents may only be revealed to the Emperor himself. Safeguarded by members of the Order of the Crimson Meridian, the package awaits Polonius and Lady Penelope in the Order's mountaintop citadel for transport back to Capitol City.

Thrown into a deadly game of intrigue, misdirection, and competing interests, Polonius and Penelope must elude ruthless assassins, the Achaemeni Corsairs of the Northern Marches, a mysterious masked and hooded figure who seems to know their every move, and deliver the package safely to the Emperor.

Every story has a beginning and for Polonius Neathergarden and Lady Penelope Genevieve Philpott, this is where their journey together starts.