In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. A ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is carrying one passenger described as harmless. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.
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