From the introduction:
Many years ago, when you were but children growing up in the peaceful countryside north of Waterdeep, you would spend your long summer days playing near the warm banks of the Neverwinter River, laughing and enjoying the company of your friends as you pretended you were powerful adventurers exploring the all the hidden nooks and crannies along the riverside.
During many of those early summers, wealthy children from the noble families of Waterdeep would travel up to Neverwinter to get out of the City of Splendors during the hottest months of the year, to live with the relatives and friends of their affluent parents. Many of these children were spoiled rotten and you and the poorer children of Neverwinter decidedly played far away from them. However, one of these young nobles did find her way into your group of make-believe adventurers, a young girl named Lythis Mhairuun who had long golden hair and a kind heart that matched her smile.
Lythis became a good friend to all of you during those childhood years and it was indeed a pity when all of you became older and she had too many responsibilities in Waterdeep to travel up to Neverwinter every summer. Soon her letter ceased to come and it seemed as if she had drifted out of all your lives, much like many old friends do. You happened to hear about a year ago, from her aunt whom which she stayed with as a child, that Lythis had married a nobleman in Waterdeep and that since her father had passed away sometime before, that the Mhairuun family had been absorbed by the marriage.
This being the only news of your friend in the last five years, all of you were more than surprised to receive a letter from your friend this day, as you sat in your favorite tavern near Lord Nasher's Palace. The letter is addressed to all of you and is stamped with a strange and unknown wax seal.