Journey to the Island Kingdom of Bizantium, situated at the far northern peak of the Palladium World. Its vast fleets of merchant vessels and warships travel the high seas and bring untold wealth back to the kingdom, as well as exotic goods, people, customs, weapons, and foreign magic. With rich, ambitious Merchant-Princes all around him, Bizantium's colonies on the Shadow Coast in a state of near-revolt, and powers from the Western Empire to the Eastern Territory trying to exert their influence on the throne, the oblivious King Raedaen IV is in troubled waters - and the sharks are starting to gather.