The Illustrious: Prelude

“Dryad. Fallen Leaves and Heavenly Fire”

When Leopold Orso is appointed as detective-constable for the New Babylon’s police, he could hardly imagine that from now on he would have to track down succubi, drive out poltergeists, and hunt werewolves. But even when the new job became routine, goosebumps still crawled up his spine from memories of his first case—the case of the Bloody Tree.

The Second Empire stretches from ocean to ocean, and in the skies army airships drift along; armored ships cut through the waters. Yet the foundation of the state’s power is industry. And when, at one of the factories, workers begin to disappear, the case draws in the capital’s detective police. Only the investigators have no idea what could be awakening life from the sour smoke of factory chimneys...