A Blessed One has been murdered! Two years ago, a charismatic priest from the north caused a great stir in the Horasian Empire. He became famous for demanding that knowledge be made available to everybody and gathering a growing community of followers devoted to mutual enlightenment. Now the Blessed One is dead—murdered by one of his own disciples.
What caused his young student to turn against him? The killer’s trail leads to Vinsalt, “City of a Hundred Towers.” But the Imperial capital is much more than a colorful metropolis. It is also a den of conspirators and criminals, where nothing is as it appears. A dangerous plot unfurls against a backdrop of ancient monuments, mechanical wonders, and glorious temples, threatening everyone from the dirtiest alleys of Old Bosparan to the gleaming heights of political and clerical power.
Success and failure are two faces of the same coin in the city of Vinsalt, and a blasphemous murder is only the first in a string of events with far-reaching consequences for the Horasian Empire.