The entities known as the Beings of Old have long since staked claims to most of that gem-shaped manifold which is existence. Their alien, furtive, and impenetrably distant politicking has ebbed and flowed throughout past ages, beyond the awareness of most thinking creatures… and recently, it has begun to accelerate. For Sebastio Artaxerxes - and many civilians outside reality's facets, especially in the transcendent city of Rhaagm - interest in such matters becomes far more pressing after a madman decides to claim a relic of one of the Olds. Sebastio's demons tell him that fighting the man he once called friend will only end in tears. His soul tells him that tears are only shed by the living, and that the living at least may overcome regrets with time and effort.