Half a century after the catastrophic War of the Roaches, the Riverlands are rebuilding. But not everything is returning to the way it used to be. The trade routes that tie the waterways' cities together have been overtaken by the traffic of a new economy-an economy of magical artifacts, the scavengers who collect them, and the False Gods: the rogue mages who seek to acquire them by any means necessary. In the Crossroads, the hub of this new "scav trade", merchants, rogues, and mercenaries arrive in droves, seeking their fortune, valuable information, or perhaps just their next meal.

In the midst of it, Bleeding Wolf, a shapeshifting beast mage, returns to what was once his home, trying to understand what has happened to the place. Ty Ehsam, a professional scavenger, searches for a missing artifact that should have been his ticket to retirement-but which has instead made him a fugitive. Orphaned siblings Orphelia and Devlin seek shelter and relief from the magical influences that have been haunting them since their parents were killed. And inexplicably drawing them together is the mysterious, eccentric merchant, Lan al'Ver, pursuing an agenda of his own, though even he cannot say what it is.

Their arrival, for separate but somehow interconnected reasons, portends change for the Crossroads. But as old and new powers stir around them, they find that the stakes of their meeting may encompass more than just the fate of their town.

The first chapter in the Crossroads trilogy, Three and Two and Two is an adventure, an intricate mystery, and, ultimately, a story of how the smallest gifts and promises can change the course of history.