This is a world where alchemy is not magic, but a science — and a way of life. For centuries it ran on common stones, as ordinary as coal or iron. Then a recent war revealed power of an entirely different order: a stone whose might decided its outcome. When the fighting ended, that power was divided among the kingdoms, and now nearly everyone lives by the new alchemy that has taken the place of the old.

On a single road, five strangers meet — each from a different kingdom that, until yesterday, was at war with the others; each with their own reason, each with their own past. What begins as an ordinary job draws them ever farther from familiar lands, and ever deeper into something they never signed on for.

The farther the road takes them, the quieter the world grows.

Features

• Five travelers, each with a score to settle. Their personalities, quarrels, and bonds unfold along the way — and the only way to learn who they truly are is to walk the road beside them.

• Tactics decided by position. Flank your enemies, strike from behind, take cover, seize the high ground — the battlefield itself shows you how to turn a fight.

• One strike changes everything. Damage lands separately on torso, arms, and legs, and chance can decide the outcome: a lucky hit throws off an enemy's aim, or robs them of a step.

• Alchemy in place of magic. A world where science goes by the name of alchemy, and blade, spell, and gunpowder stand side by side.

• Everyone has a weakness. Water, lightning, fire, slashing, and piercing — study your foe and turn their vulnerabilities against them.

• A journey across a whole world. Snowbound peaks, islands, tropics, and scorched sands — every land has its own way of life and its own secrets.