The whole world is an ocean, the great Taplis, spilled out of the blood of the god of the Alonkeans’ people—bearded and not benevolent Nomos. Scattered like grains of stone in this watery world lie islands and archipelagos, where people live, fall in love, weave intrigues, and claw for power.
And that’s all that unites the islands—different cultures, different languages. And only people are the same: they struggle trapped in their human nature and desires, as in any world.
Over the seas rule the Alonkeans who drew the “lot of the sea,” Nomos’s kiss. From all islands, tribute is gathered by the circle of Silver, strong in battles and secret currents of war. The circle of Mercury wields war through hidden tides. The doctors of the Obsidian circle circle death again and again, dangling it over a fingertip.
But even the brave researchers of the Albatross circle—those who approach the very Edge of Hell encircling the inhabited ocean—do not know that it is not the end of the world but an impassable barrier beyond which lives, fights, and develops a mighty civilization of the North.
And on the islands, an ancient Order of Mechanics is waiting its hour—guarding the strange secret of the Ancestors: the one that could allow them to change the balance of power and challenge the age-old rule of the Alonkeans.