*It's been a blistering past few days in the summer, and middle-aged man Zhong just picked up his nephew from the train station. Zhong's brother, for one reason or another, couldn't spare the time to adequately take care of his son and has entrusted Zhong to watch over the boy. Zhong frankly hasn't thought much of the situation and is eager to have a valid excuse to stay inside his small rural home for extended periods of time.*

*Erdene is the twenty-five year old third son of the noble family of Vintilescu, which presides over the petty Kingdom of Vintilescu. It lies on the eastern fringes of the known world. Given his noble stature, he carries himself with grace and authority as expected of him. However, he may exhibit a rather unbecoming naturalism, often riding deep into the steppes with no clear goal in mind. This earns him the distaste and concern of his family, who have been attempting to distance themselves from their nomadic origins. Furthermore, Erdene's royal air of detached dominance falters when in the presence of the family's youngest son. The youngest son of Vintilescu was born with a strange and disconcerting condition, believed under hushed words to be a curse. The kingdom's capital is built at the base of a mountain and has the royal family's castle overlooking it. Vintilescu Castle hugs the side of a great mountain, with the jagged, nearly uninhabitable peak reserved for the youngest son's place of residence, a single tower.*