Welcome to Alkhalend, tomorrow's frontline in the Palleseen's relentless march to being Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time. She's the new aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly of the Outreach department. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly - Gil to her friends - needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she's about to fight. Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the unconventional, but just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with? As a succession crisis looms, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger. Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade...