The sun languishes lazily on the edge of the horizon, the first rays of morning beginning to spill out onto the purple canvas of the sky. The last hint of a few stars begins to fade, and in the distance dark clouds loom ominously. A new day has arrived.

Fort Washington is a moderately-sized town straddling the Potomac River, notable primarily for the great keep from which its king rules -- built, it is said, atop the ruins of yet another different fort long abandoned. In the shadow of the keep sit a number of farms and villages, making do off the fertile soil of the river and travelers passing from north to south or south to north.

The day's curiosity, however, is situated inside of the keep, where the important and the simply interested alike have gathered to see off a party of adventurers who have volunteered to travel westward across the continent in search of great fortune. To the gathered villagers, the group is unimpressive: a coarse older man smelling sharply of dog; a lanky, snakelike youth; a soldier in plate and in possession of a warhorse; and a young student of medicine. While initially the fort was abuzz with vague rumors of gallant knights and mysterious sages headed to discover a paradise beyond the wastes, now the gossip is mired with disappointment.

The sun is higher in the sky, and the king's steward low on patience, by the time that negotiations for the journey have been completed. In addition to what they have on their person, the group is supplied with a mule laden with several months' worth of salted beef and dry bread. Additionally, each party member is given a bag containing fifteen thin silver coins -- a modest sum, but perhaps enough to purchase a few odds and ends should the need arise.

When the theatrics are complete the group is ushered to the keep's courtyard, where several merchants and captains have come to offer their services to the king (no doubt for a price). One, a seaman, suggests the commandeering of a boat to sail southwest along the coast of the Hundred Realms, where in just over a month they might be able to make landing on the eastern coast of the border realms of Tejas. The second, a merchant who allegedly made the trip westward himself (and who brought the first rumors of unimaginable treasure when his cart returned laden with gold), advises that the party travel due west along the crumbling wide roads of the Predecessors. The third, a grizzled mountain-man, also advises a boat -- but northwards, just under a month's time to the city-state of Kebek, where the party might seek their road west in the frigid forests of the far north. Each offers its own benefits and downsides -- the first will see the party a significant distance more quickly than travel overland, but brings with it the dangers of the open sea; the second is most direct, but the wide roads are plagued with outlaws as one travels westward; the third is slowest, but the wilderness offers an ample source of food and shelter with little risk of human danger provided one can withstand weather and wildlife.

In the end, however, it is up to the party to decide among themselves -- and to get to know one another, of course, for the long journey ahead. Regardless of what is chosen, the King of Washington insists that they set off by midday.