Once, there was a shining civilization grounded on magic, with sorcerers, flying cities, iron ships, and castles in the clouds, and wonders beyond the dreams of mortal men. And then, in a single cataclysmic moment fifty years ago, magic flared and the wondrous world came to an end. What few who survived are struggling to reclaim what they lost, while darker forces plot to shape the future to something more to their liking. John, a young magician, is expelled from school after a disastrous experiment scarred his girlfriend and sent to join a band of adventurers in the Wildlands, the rough and twisted lands on the edge of the civilized world. Their first mission: defeat an evil sorcerer and liberate his thralls before he becomes a threat to all. But it may already be too late...

It’s not just a box, it’s an ancient weapon capable of destroying entire cities. Deep within the badlands, warped and twisted by tainted magic and weirdlings, a box was discovered by archaeologists, secret wisdom lost in the Cataclysm. Those who found it are selling it to the highest bidder. If it falls into the wrong hands, their fragile civilization’s uneasy peace will be shattered once and for all. John, along with his fellow adventurers, are hired to steal this ancient artifact so it can be safely destroyed. But stealing it is one thing, surviving it is another. Everyone is after them, and they’re on the run, a bounty on their head so large every mercenary, rogue, and even old friends are willing to risk death to claim it. And nothing is quite what it seems.