You are a heartlands mantis nymph training to become a Vesperbane, a warrior‍-​scholar granted magic. That’s the hope, and it’d let you escape this dinky farm‍-​town plonked at edge of the heartlands, where the Ambrosia Woods breathes down its thorax. Unless‍ ‍‍—‍ until‍ ‍‍—‍ you you get noticed and sponsored, you’re stuck out here, peerless and overqualified for your tutors. Frustration and impatience come easy.

One day, alone, you hear a scream from the depths of those cursed woods. It’s a mantid’s scream, and heartlands mantids don’t live in the ambrosia.