The Great Turtles formed the lands of the world and gave rise to a powerful and advanced civilization that flourished across the three realms of Life, Death and Dreaming. This world fell out of balance due to the influence of Malicant, the Dark Enemy, until the very Planes themselves fractured. A war was waged across centuries and lands until finally the Enemy was defeated by a group of brave Foreigners, pulled from other realms. But the aftereffects of that terrible conflict left the surviving heroes of stranded in the Dreaming for a year. Now Tu Vishan, known to its residents as 'Asti', drifts between the Planes. Those who still live in the city Keeliai upon its back no longer know if it’s alive or dead, or where they will end up when--if!--it ever makes landfall.

In the wake of Malicant's defeat, the kedan have taken back both their identities and the city of Keeliai in the merged Dreaming and Life Planes. The battle was not without its cost, and many of the former leading figures were lost: the Alderwood Emperor Evandau, the merchant Lieuen, and the magician Evastelei, who sacrificed herself to retrieve the Foreigners from the Dreaming before they were lost for good. The hatchling turtles, the last offspring of their cosmic race, were forced to abandon their home and return to the seas of Konryu, and their exact whereabouts are unknown.

The old guard has fallen, paving the way for a new era.

Three major family factions -- the mafia-like Snakes, the reclusive Woodsmen, and the industrious Metalworkers -- have risen into power while the Foreigners were absent. They now dominate the city with a power struggle that has spawned new allegiances, new technology, and new threats to be faced. Meanwhile, the other nations of Konryu, no longer united by the threat of Malicant, have turned their eyes to Tu Vishan, looking to take its prominence and resources for themselves.

The Foreigners who remain on Tu Vishan, and those who now find themselves arriving through tears in the fabric of the realms, must forge a new path for themselves in a world who does not believe it needs them any longer. How will they choose to be involved in the rebuilding of Keeliai? Will some take this opportunity to make a niche for themselves in the complicated political arena, or in the secretive black market? Will they discover the fate of Asti, who Malicant claimed to have destroyed centuries ago?