Off, in the far reaches of the Golden Sea, lies an island.

Making his way across the sea in a hired vessel is a man who has studied and dreamt about this island his whole life, making it is near obsession to experience his studies firsthand and record the data of the island. What he doesn’t know is that soon, he will be getting more than he could have ever dreamt.

For this is no ordinary island, this is the Isle of Absalom.

The sun is beginning to set, with a burnt orange tint across the wide-open blue sea. As the boat churns slowly in the water, with waves like dolphins cresting and flowing beside the wooden hull, an island appears with a welcoming seaport. A man stands on the bow and watches as the island slowly becomes bigger, while the sunlight gives it an unreal celestial glow.

A group called The Explorers made this journey 80 years before. Unknown to them that many years later, a man by the name of Quentin Doxis would be making the same journey to document the movements and settlements of the group, especially on Absalom, The Explorer’s final resting place.

The man turns toward the stern of the boat and begins to watch the crew work. Through his mind runs a single thought that is laced with a hint of sadness and sickness, “Why on earth did I choose to go with this boat?”

As this thought runs through his brain, the wind picks up and forces him back into reality, a reality where he is coming closer and closer to the island that shaped who he has become.

Welcome to Absalom.