From horizon to horizon, the dark waters of the Brightsea hide a thousand hidden mysteries. Uncharted, unexplored, they are a shifting landscape of ancient and unimaginable dangers. On the edge of these unquiet waters lies the Shieldland of Tallax. It is a land of contradictions – medieval yet modern, torn by a barbaric past yet possessed of a breathtaking dream for the future. It is a world unstuck in time, where swordsmen ride steam-driven carriages; where looming improbable spires tower over graffiti-rife alleyways, and where scrying wizards act as a terrifying secret police.

Under the iron leadership of a new and devious king, a colonization fleet has been proposed. Led by the exotic and powerful flagship, Star of Tallax, the fleet will set sail across the fathomless ocean, in search of new and alien lands beyond.

Commanding the fleet is Admiral Jorith Crexis. World weary, beaten down by a life of warfare, he nevertheless shelters an unwavering fiery passion to protect those who serve under him. With him is Keff, the King’s Mage, a young, cynical and sarcastic spy sent to keep the fleet under the King’s thumb. His callousness and contempt towards others inspire hate even as his brilliance and unyielding bravery demand admiration. Jorith and Keff fight a constant shadow war against each other for control of the mission and the fleet’s destiny.

The Star of Tallax is captained by Kella. Drawing power from ancient totems of the sea, she is an uncanny sailor with a spiritual bent, which is tempered by a down-to-earth practicality that balances her male counterparts. She holds Keff’s magic prowess in contempt, while he scorns her primitive faith; both work hard to deny the attraction they feel to each other. Meanwhile, Kella strives to repair the damage a life of conflict has done to Jorith’s war torn soul.

Also on board are the ship’s confidence-lacking doctor, his overcurious daughter, a master gunner turned Renaissance man, a mercenary sexagenarian colonist, and a shady sailor with a chip on his shoulder and a penchant for mutiny.

In each episode, overflowing internal tensions will drive characters through ancient mysteries, brooding secrets, and the terrible conspiracy that underlies the heart of their mission. The heroes will encounter dark and immense shapes moving beneath the waters of the Brightsea; confront the terrifying grey ships stalking the waves; learn the secret of the mysterious locked compartments of the colonization ships; and discover the purpose of the eldritch lights that travel across the night sky.

In the end they will understand they are not on a journey of colonization, but of conquest. At the end of the Brightsea, on its storm-tossed and blackened beaches, a gateway will be opened which cannot be closed; a war will begin which will change everything our heroes have understood; and they will discover that their journey has only just begun.