Six hundred years past, High Queen Boudicca united the three great peoples of the south and fought the Roman Empire to a standstill, forcing Nero's retreat from the land once called Brython by some and Prydein by others. Thus was the Great Kingdom of Tethera founded. Tethera now lies in ruins a century old. The lesser kingdoms, fragments of what was, are failing. The wilderness grows, the barbarians press, the warlords feud, the Fae grow bolder, and the sea itself has become lethal, but the greatest fear is Annwyn. The Land of the Dead creeps forth upon the world, a dreadful blight growing ever larger and stronger, its only intent to crush all and end everything. Yet all hope is not lost, if the great kingdom can be restored and a new high king found, it might not be too late, even now. Yet this is Tethera, where nothing is ever quite as it seems, and Prince Llew of Gwent, the only possible claimant for the high king's throne, is no longer quite as he seemed.