We March West

Our story begins with a map. Not a bright new map, with clear sharp lines, and bright singing colors. No this is an old map, a used map. A map of cracked, dried, and yellowing parchment. Through age and dirt and blood it depicts the Holy Roman Empire before its shattering. The endless white expanse labled 'The Siberian Waste'. The vast southern ocean reads 'Mare Monstorum'. The boot of Italy - stained black as if from a spilled drop of ink- bears the title 'Terra Immortui'. The green expanse above Germany, the ever-encroaching forest, the Bavarian Wilds, is labled with a simple German warning: 'Here There Be Monsters'. All but covered by the corner of the 'M', lies the town of Bramblebrush, where our story takes place.