In the Dack Principality on the eastern edge of the Nordikan nation of Kroz, a carriage rolls down Breakneck Road into the valley town of Dack, bearing Duchess Eve Kurai and her brother, Count Feli 'Jynx' Kurai of Sylvania. They come to a stop, followed by two wagons laden with trade goods from their lands, and are welcomed by Lady Willow Dack and her daughter, Nene. Lady Dack invites them in to the "Last Resort", the town inn, where they chat and have a meal. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of an aged cheetah with a young and armed companion. Willow welcomes the newcomers and offers to pay for their meals. The old cheetah joins them at their table and introduces himself as "Methuselah", and his companion as "Yoshua". He makes cryptic signs, hinting that he wanders under the guidance of the Star, and is in search of "illumination" … and that he has specifically been seeking the "Unlucky One" (Jynx) and the "Friend of the Priest-Queen".

Willow and Jynx are a bit unnerved by this, and press the cheetah with questions, but he seems determined not to give them any straight answers, only giving them a cryptic riddle about a dying man and the matter of determining which of his sons will be his heir. Willow asks Methuselah where he comes from. He denies coming from the Savan – or any place Willow has been to – and Willow surmises that this means that he may come from somewhere further away than Abaddon. After the meal, Willow extends an invitation to her guests to spend the night at Castle Dack, an invitation which Methuselah and the Kurais accept.