Sergeant Hellian of the Septarch District City guard of Kartool is cursed with a fear of all spiders and at nineteen years old has opted to remain “not-quite-drunk” in order to deal with living in the spider-infested city. It is because of this consistent state that she fails to notice an unexpected and unusual ship seemingly originating from Malaz Island mooring in the Free Docks – particularly unusual since the winds during the Clear Season make it impossible to navigate at sea around Kartool. Also the ship appears to be built in a manner not made in the past fifty years.