It encompasses the Prophecy of the Destroyer. "A day will come when born will be  Two babes whose blood will tie them. That born to Wing and Horn will hate  The one they call the StarMan. Destroyer! rises in the north  And drives his Ghostmen south;  Defenceless lie both flesh and field  Before Gorgrael's ice. To meet this threat you must release  The StarMan from his lies,  Revive Tencendor, fast and sure  Forget the ancient war,  For if Plough, Wing and Horn can't find  The bridge to understanding,  Then will Gorgrael earn his name  And bring Destruction hither. StarMan, listen, heed me well,  Your power will destroy you  If you should wield it in the fray  'Ere these prophecies are met:  The Sentinels will walk abroad  'Til power corrupt their hearts;  A child will turn her head and cry  Revealing ancient arts;  A wife will hold in joy at night  The slayer of her husband;  Age-old souls, long in cribs,  Will sing o'er mortal land;  The remade dead, fat with child  Will birth abomination;  A darker power will prove to be  The father of salvation. Then waters will release bright eyes  To form the Rainbow Scepter. StarMan, listen, for I know  That you can wield the scepter  To bring Gorgrael to his knees  And break the ice asunder. But even with the power in hand  Your pathway is not sure:  A Traitor from within your camp  Will seek and plot to harm you;  Let not your Lover's pain distract  For this will mean your death;  Destroyer's might lies in his hate  Yet you must never follow;  Forgiveness is the thing assured  To save Tencendor's soul." The first characters introduced are 2 unnamed women in mortal peril, one who is pregnant and one who has just given birth. The pregnant one is trying desperately to reach shelter during a snowstorm. She is an outcast of her people, the Avar, because she has decided to carry her child, conceived during a festival and considered an abomination, to term. A group of demonic creatures, skraelings, watch as her unborn child brutally eats his way out of her womb, killing her. The monsters are delighted and decide to adopt the hateful child.