Introduction: It is said that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Perhaps this does not matter if the world itself is corrupt. Change, then, is to be feared only by those who are themselves corrupt. The first chapter is an extended prologue that sets the scene of a riparian frontier of an alternate world, somewhere between medieval and the pre-industrial age, during an era of turmoil and possibility. A mysterious man is summoned to bring forth a new kingdom, but does he bring hope or calamity?...