All his life, Sorn had dreamed of living a life of excitement and adventure, free to shape his own destiny. He knew there were numerous lands to explore filled with exciting opportunities, wondrous civilizations just beyond the horizon.

Countless realms his family would love to see in ashes, once great peoples forced to bend on broken knees before his clan.

Sorn, however, was convinced that there was more than one way to amass his fortune, ways that didn't require burning all opposition to the ground.

Yet pressure was mounting for him to take his destined place, his mother's eyes always watching.

Only in secret could Sorn and his cousins plan their escape, and only when the most potent of rituals suffers the most catastrophic of failures did they dare to make their move. Even if the move was completely unexpected, and they were utterly unprepared for what was to come.

Waking up in a land exotic and strange, the four youths embrace a world of wondrous possibilities where trade, treasure, treacherous nobles, and empires bent on conquest are all in play.

They were to determined to make the most of it. After all, they could never go home.