Goldeline travels through the woods with a group of bandits, getting by on the things they steal from passing carriages, but a man who wants to cleanse the Hinterlands of anyone who is different hunts Goldeline, believing her a witch.

Buddy Pennington is headed to river country. No one in his village will miss him anyway -- not even his mom, after what he and his bad luck did. He'll be better off with his daddy, Davey Boy Pennington, a wandering soul who has the best luck of anyone Buddy knows. Pop might even teach Buddy his legendary skills at Parsnit, a mysterious card game of magic, chance, and above all, storytelling. No one tells a better story than Pop. But no sooner are...