In which we are introduced to our heroine, Lady Seneca Sabre, whilst running in a dress, and which she divests herself thereof in transit, only to cross blades with Captain the First Hans von Kater, with whom our Ladyship shares an unfortunate history….

Wherein we are acquainted with Drake and Drum, neither a man to be trifled with, as they attempt to apprehend the wanted outlaw Elmer Johns for crimes he has committed against the communities of the Tanitin West, and who has sought to evade capture by plying his trade along the routes of the Easterly, and who is in possession of a small trinket that will lead to large complications…

Where we rejoin her Ladyship as she ponders a large problem in a small package, and seeks to resolve her dilemma with a visit to a woman who sees much while seeing nothing at all; where her stalwart first mate, the Vaunuk sailor Westfield Thane, is introduced, a man of clear vision and strong arm, and who maintains the healthy suspicion of those who work with Aether in ways unnatural. Also, her Ladyship loses her temper. Twice.