PART I

THE COMING OF THE GREFFYN

THE YEAR 2,223 OF EVERON
THE MONTH OF TERTHMEN

O what has form like to the lion
Yet visage and an eagle's mien
And what has venom for its blood
And eyes no living man hath seen?

—FROM A RIDDLE SONG OF EASTERN CROTHENY

The blood of regals shall run like a river.
So drowndeth the world.

—TRANSLATED FROM THE Tafles Taceis, or Book of Murmurs