In an age of sail and cannon, where airships ply the skies instead of oceans, the newly united Barbarian Kingdoms of Madraus are poised to start a war the likes of which the world has never seen, but they're in for a surprise when they raid 16-year-old Esther's village. While it's a bad day for Esther when she gets captured after helping her family escape, it's worse for the Madrausans, because now they've unwittingly unleashed a force upon the world...