It all begins as befits a detective story. Lonely hotel far from major cities. A brutal and mysterious murder. Search for the criminal among the guests. But it soon turns out that the hotel lies on the path of a barbarian invasion that will sweep the lands of the empire - and it turns out that powerful forces are involved in the matter, from ancient spells to intelligence from neighboring countries. Many years will pass. Wars will die down, state borders will change, and again intrigue will precede battles on land and sea. But the fate of several countries once again depends on an old murder in a lonely inn on the edge of the steppes.