The Western World was watching the ascendency of the wild tribes from the frozen steppes of Russia and the East. Rome was hiring mercenaries to guard its frontiers. The city spanning the Bosphorus channel had just had the name "New Rome" conferred upon it by Emperor Constantine I. It was yet almost two and a half centuries before the birth of Islam.

In the Eastern World, much was in turmoil. In Japan, the Yamato polity was newly in power; the respect for militarism was rising, and conquering warlords were roving the Sea of Japan from the Tartary Strait south to the Strait of Korea. In China, the Three Kingdoms were reunited under the Jin dynasty, but revolutions were threatening the unity, and far-reaching lands changed hands seemingly daily, as small ethnic armies took control of areas outside the domination of the central governments.

One of these kingdoms was ruled by Tama Honda, a relative of the famous Tadakatsu Honda, so famous in history as a warrior and unifying spirit. Tama had conquered the long-contested island of Ostrov, near modern-day Vladivostok. The battle was long over, the 'kingdom' was consolidated and spread from Rynda, the capitol city to Gomostay, north-east of the city.

Tama had ridden the surrounding countryside over the first ten years of his rule, sacking smaller settlements for the wealth of the area. Too far and too insignificant to attract the eyes of Jin Dynasty rulers busy consolidating a huge land, these raids brought wealth to the new King of Ostrov.

But as with so many things, life in the house of Honda was not all joy. Tama had fetched along his wife to the new lands, a woman famed for her beauty. She took to life in the palace well, and soon was great with child. A surprise was two babies, a tragedy was one born dead. Mother and child, named 'Cleo', lived in harmony with the people. Cleo grew strong and beautiful, the jewel of her father's eye and the joy of the people of the kingdom.

Kong Ming was another warlord, another conqueror. Sent by the Jin Dynasty to put down the rebellious outer edges of the empire, he marched with a trained army, well-drilled and disciplined. There would be no resistance from an army across the sea.

Conquest happened quickly, and Ostrov soon fell. Rynda held out for some months, but soon its defenses collapsed for wont of food and water. The armies took the castle, and Tama's wife valiantly led its defense as her husband had been taken in the field.

Kong Ming took the throne and began to consolidate the kingdom. Only one thing was missing... the treasury. Somehow, all the wealth Tama had accumulated had been hidden. Kong brought Tama and his wife before him in chains.

"Where is the treasury, Tama? You have stolen much from the surrounding country, and we must return it to those people. Tell me where it is."

Tama told him he did not know; he had been in the field, defending his kingdom and leading his troops. Kong Ming plainly did not believe him.

"Tell me where the treasury is, Tama. Or your wife will suffer horribly. You have already lost a child; do you wish to lose your wife as well? And where is your daughter Cleo?"