According to legend, the Empire Stone was larger than a fist and could light a man's path in the dead of night. Fashioned by the gods - and maybe demons - it could bring awesome power and untold riches to anyone who possessed it. But it was lost when the city of Thyone was destroyed, and now its secret powers lie buried in the past.
The Year of the Mouse has begun badly for Peirol of the Moorlands. Having fallen in with Koosh Begee and his gang of tricksters, he's fallen to gambling. And he's lost. Peirol soon realises that he's been trapped, and Begee - never one to let his debtors off the hook easily - forces him to recover a long-lost gem from a ruined temple. As so begins an incredible adventure which will take Peirol across oceans and strange lands full of danger, mystery and magic. He will face terrifying creatures and ruthless warlords, great armies and wild sorcerers, in search of his destiny - and the fabled Empire Stone.
