Between the mountains of Palmeed and the plains of Agnis lies a vast wasteland, riddled with monsters and pitfalls and arcane disasters.  And in one quiet, only<em>almost</em>unusable corner of this wasteland, a band of outcasts and renegades have gathered, forming a small, barely sustainable province.  Agriculture is inadequate to feed the populace, but mining generates enough wealth to trade for the difference, barely.<br/><br/>Today, a meeting is held, as they are all to frequently when running a fledgling nation.  The leaders of this realm are gathered in the residence of Lord Elwyn Balrog, former knight of Soldia.  He sits down to dinner with his compatriots; Lord Eidan Maestri, a man beyond men.  Rygel Thrax, angelspawn and renegade professor.  Angelica Crystalis, child of nature (and dragon, and angel.  God-King Soma Shihouin, demonspawned Shihouin expatriate and should-be heir to the imperial throne.  Sister Alyx, self-proclaimed goddess of beauty.<br/><br/>With them, among their attendants, is Mister William Espin, an elderly bureaucrat they had managed to wrangle as an impartial arbiter of joint affairs.  He briefs the leaders on the state of the realm over dinner, though it takes him nearly half an hour to get past the mundane details of steady crop yields and slightly elevated ore output, and onto more interesting matters.<br/><br/><strong>"...and while the lands to the north seem to be fertile, all attempts to capitalize on it have vanished.  Cause unknown.  Scouts are still skirting the fringes of the area, but they have yet to uncover the cause of the disruption.  I suggest declaring the region off-limits until the cause can be ascertained and resolved.<br/><br/>"Possibly related are reports of large vermin in adjoining farmland, stealing crops and retreating north.  Descriptions <br/><br/>"Scouts in the south have reported a giant in the area, who has begun to organize a few bands of ogres and trolls.  At the rate at which they're hunting game, they may soon turn to the citizenry as a food source.  There may be too many for our army to repel should they attack.<br/><br/>"Also, we have located a small monastery nearby, which seems to have small but incredibly effective farmlands; we have attempted to open diplomatic relations, but they do not respond."</strong>