To the North of Sijan, the City of the Dead, and the South of the geomantic engines that draw up the River of Tears there is nestled a quartet of city-states that are know to the Confederation of the River Provence as the Commonwealth of Bewellen.

Life there is decent, food is sufficient, Realm and Concordat relations are tolerably friendly, and for 50 years it has been home to a secret. Deep in the marshes along the River of Tears is a great tree that all the townsfolk know is haunted. Within the seemingly dead branches the ancient Lunar Exalt Kijuko Kesseki makes his home.

For 50 years he and his students have nurtured and guided the villages of River Country, growing them into sizable city-states right under the noses of a Dragonblooded Empire more concerned with the troubles 1,000 miles South at Thorns. Now Kijuko is ready to expand his project, and he’ll need some new students to do it; will the extra help let the burgeoning nation thrive or will too many hands lead them into the jaws of war?