Anyone familiar with military history and the annals of war has probably heard of Adam "Adieu* Pangratt, who was one of the 'Sly Cats" - rabble rousers, political prisoners and other convicts whom King Esterad Thyssen freed to aid unofficially the military effort of the Northern Kingdoms during the second war against Nilfgaard. These men formed the core of the Koviri and Povissan mercenary units that streamed south at that time. Adam Pangratt commanded the valorous Free Company during the Battle of Brenna, where the Nilfgaardian offensive was finally broken and the Black Ones were pushed back beyond the Yaruga. They say that Adam later wed another soldier of fortune, one Julia Abatemarco, known also as Pretty Kitty, who also rose to fame at Brenna. Truly, without people like them, the battle would have taken an entirely different course...

At the time of the tale related herein, Adam Pangratt had been hired by, and was directly serving, King Henselt. He owed this engagement, as he had owed many previous ones, to his reputation, and he could expect to profit from it handsomely as his employer paid those who proved their worth very well. Pangratt and his battle-hardened veterans certainly earned their pay. They accepted the order to guard the cursed mist's perimeter with the composure and cold professionalism characteristic of elite soldiers.