Jame is a Kencyr. Kencyrs are not native to the planet where they now live. For thirty centuries they have been the weapon that their Three-Faced God has used against the power of the Perimal Darkling. And though they have fought well, the Darkling has come to planet after planet, and the Kencyrs have moved on. Jame knows this as she stumbles out of the hilly, barren Haunted Lands into the city of Tai-tastigon. But she knows little else. She does...

Obedience. Self-restraint Endurance. Silence. . . These are the duties of a Highborn lady, and like the veils, masks and tight-fitting underskirts female Kencyr students are obliged to wear, Jame finds them damnably constricting. Sent here by her brother Torisen, Highlord of the Kencyrath, she has tried valiantly to fit in, but the unruly girl can't help throwing the quiet Women's Halls into an uproar. It's not entirely Jame's fault, though. While...

When Jame returned to Knorth hall to help her brother Torisen name all the fallen fighters' death banners stored there, she made the disturbing discovery that those banners splattered with their owners' blood also have trapped their owners' souls. She also found a contract proving her cousin Kindrie to be legitimate, proving that there are three full-blooded Knorth. Three full-blooded Knorth means that the Three-Faced God can be manifestedâ€"something...

Kothifir the Great, ruled by an obscenely obese god-king, peopled with colorful, dueling guilds, guarded by the Southern Host of the Kencyrath. Here Jame arrives, only to find that the turbulent city claims more of her attention as the Talisman than the Host's training fields do as a second year randon cadet. Mysteries abound: Caravans plunge deep into the hostile Southern Wastes and return laden with fabulous riches — from what source, and...

"Something is preying on the gods of Tai-tastigon. Coerced into returning to the city the made her what she is, Jame Knorth--master thief, wily fighter and godling-in-the-making--finds citizen pitted against citizen. It seems many in the vast Lower Town have lost their shadows--no small matter when you realize that a shadow is cast by a soul. Some have gone mad while others wander like wraiths. Which means something is taking or destroying souls."--Provided...