It was in the first days . . .

. . . when the race known as the Tuatha fled the mainland in the wake of natural disaster. Crossing the sea to the north, the Tuatha settled in a small chain of sheltered islands. There, beyond the meddling reach of humans, they existed in blissful isolation--until magic replaced the need for technology, until their own fascination with intrigue and illusion nearly collapsed their realm in a bloody civil war. Meanwhile, on the mainland, a thousand years had passed, and the humans whispered: the faerie folk have forsaken the human world . . .

In an effort to stave off destruction, the Queen of the Tuatha re-opened her realm to the mainland.

But the world beyond the Erins has moved on. The Tuatha, distorted into mythology, are a medieval relic in a world of Renaissance rationality. As the trade routes open and contact with the world beyond is reestablished, the way is paved for an influx of opportunists and visionaries, alliances and enemies, missionaries and mercenaries, love and war.