At the end of the tenth month on Yawzerok the southern hemisphere has thawed. Winter lasts for roughly three hundred days each year, in theory. Sometimes, however, this season lasts longer because of arctic weather created by objects referred to by the Yawzerokians as The Things. Due to this planets odd variables the Emperor has chosen it as the site of the first battle in the war for his throne. His Majesty strongly believes that the only way to keep the societies of Vrozlyd and Synthos balanced and competing is to choose a successor that is equally thrawn. Utryn accepts the invitation to hostilities with a thrill. Synthetic armies thrive in conditions that are particularly thorny. Neither side considers the Yawzerokians to be a real threat. The number of heavily armed, one million soldier strong indigenous legions, from all parts of the planet, is estimated by both Vrozlydian Emperor Zebulon Kosted and King Utryn of Synthos to be thirty. The Yawzerokians see both sides as nothing more than invaders that they must thwart, for this planet is now, and forever will be, theirs.