The year is 1517 and a relic hunter and his two most important patrons conspire to manufacture a shroud to sell to the an unsuspecting noble.

1517. Dismas is a relic hunter who procures "authentic" religious relics for wealthy and influential clients, and is as honest as any relic dealer can be. When Dismas and his artist friend Dürer conspire to manufacture a shroud to sell to the unsuspecting noble, Dürer's reckless pride exposes Cardinal Albrecht's newly acquired shroud as a fake, the Cardinal puts Dismas and Dürer in the custody of four loutish mercenaries and sends them all to steal Christ's burial cloth-- the Shroud of Chambéry-- Europe's most celebrated relic.

Sixteen-year-old Raffi and Master Galen continue to evade the Watch as they seek the Flain's Coronet, a potent ancient relic that could be their only hope for defeating the power that is destroying Anara.

Their quest to find a secret relic with great power leads Master Galen and his sixteen-year-old apprentice Raffi into the Pit of Maar and the deep evil world at the heart of the Watch.

Sixteen-year-old Raffi, Master Galen, and a mysterious traveler, Carys, enter the ruined city of Tasceron seeking a relic that may save the world, while evading the Watch, a brutal organization opposed to the Order to which Raffi and Galen belong.