You met Gronput the troll peddler years ago during a particularly harsh winter when ice winds descended from Mount Ulgas. The old chief, believing the village to be cursed by a nymph, ventured into the forest and died, crushed by a falling pine branch. Although your parents taught you well, you are not a hero like them and you made a mistake as a boy that nearly killed you.

You fought as best you could, but Laikan was five years older and, as the youngest of seven siblings, feared nothing. Especially after you insulted your mother, father and Pellocuno, you useless dog.

They didn't like you, and when the blacksmith's son left you, no one from the village showed up. But finally the troll peddler Gronput has found you. He carried him to his fire in an old ruin and warmed his frozen limbs. You still have a scar on your cheek from Laikan's beating, but you've kept all your fingers and toes and regained your strength.

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But Gronput did more than save his life. He introduced you to the wonders of Nepherine, the Impossible Empire. They are scattered throughout the Northern Forest.

But the ruins are nothing you can recognize. That empire of philosophers and miracles must have lived in houses, worshiped the gods in temples, supplied their cities with aqueducts and wells, but none of that remained. Only strange piles of rubble, sometimes marked with images or abstract designs, litter the Three Nations. Seeing these ruins for the first time as Gronput's fire warmed your exhausted body, you marveled not only at the strange mosaics and broken writing, but how none of the remaining pieces made any sense to you.

The remains of the Impossible Empire still make no sense, years later. When you reach the outskirts of the ruins, you slow down and pull your blue-gray cloak close to protect you from the cold wind.

Nobody comes here anymore. No one cares anymore about a civilization that fell centuries ago. Just you and Gronput, and he only visits once a year, when his family drops by Hetch to do business.

"The first!" Gronput yells after you. "The first - do you remember the vision?"

You remember the first mosaic that interrupted you.