THE TOWER AND THE GATE
It was a time of reckoning. The life-giving Weave had grown weak. As our ancestors faced extinction, the great Weaver Ulsyrus offered salvation. He would build a Tower and open a Gate that would lead to a world where the Weave was strong. The people rejoiced as the Gate was opened, but what awaited them on the other side was the Elder Race, an alien horror that rained death and brought the newcomers to the edge of oblivion.
After many long years, the war ended in victory and Ulsyrus left the battered survivors to fend for themselves — this world was theirs now, and what they made of it was up to them. With that, he vanished, never to be seen again. The Ascendancy faith was born out of his legend.
A millennium later, those left behind have built an empire upon the haunted ruins of the Elder Race, and the Weave sustains us all. But now, whispers in shadowy corners say that the Weave has begun to fail once more. Some believe the Imperium will fall unless we abandon the Weave and embrace the strange technology of the Elder Race. To the Ascendancy faithful, however, our only hope is the return of the one who saved us over a thousand years ago — the fabled Weaver, Ulsyrus.
BOOK 1
As a student at the Academy Imperius and the daughter of the leader of the Finder’s Guild, Dare Cadriel was raised to shun the Ascendancy’s religious dogma and to seek truth in science and history. The myth of Ulsyrus — the godlike Weaver who ages ago opened a gate between worlds and brought about an apocalypse — was nothing more than a fairy tale.
When Dare’s father goes missing while on a clandestine archaeological expedition, she finds herself embroiled in a deadly conspiracy and must ally herself with Quickblade, a mysterious anarchist and vigilante waging a one-man war against an oppressive regime. Despite being the most wanted man in Valmistgaard, he may prove to be Dare’s only hope of learning what happened to her father, what corruption lies at the heart of the Imperium, and the secret that could bring an entire civilization to ruin.
THE CHARACTERS
Dare Cadriel
The daughter of the leader of the Finder's Guild, Dare is a brilliant student at the Academy and an expert swordsman. Despite her mother's untimely death, Dare's father and her adopted brother, Hutch, form a tight-knit and loving family. Hers is about as perfect as a student's life can be.
Nothing, however, can prepare Dare for what awaits her when her father goes missing and she becomes embroiled in a plot against the Imperium itself.
Spence Delroy
Spencer Delroy was born on the lowest rung of the social ladder. Poverty defines him, and his alcoholic mother and abusive stepfather make his daily life a living hell, but he knows he'll escape one day.
Though a meager inheritance keeps him enrolled at the Academy, Spence is unwelcome among his wealthy classmates. Despite this, his conviction that great men emerge from humble beginnings fuels his ambition to rise above his circumstances.
Clive Ranthon
The scion of one of the great families of Valmistgaard, Clive is the definition of wealthy excess. He and his vapid friends look down on their less well-to-do peers while Clive himself seems content to live well off the backs of the downtrodden.
But when a desperate classmate calls on Clive for aid, he takes an interest. For possibly the first time in his life, the rich boy may discover someone worth fighting for, and a cause bigger than himself.
Prince Hallond
As heir to the Imperium, Hallond stands to inherit a throne in crisis. With his father weakened politically in the face of political dissent and a brewing rebellion among the populace, Hallond knows that something must be done to avert a dangerous coup that threatens the stability of the Imperium.
Many in the court don't take him seriously and the public perceives him a highborn fool, but Hallond has serious ideas for how to resolve the imminent conflict. To bring these plans to fruition, he's going to need help from some unexpected corners.
Hutch Cadriel
A sickly orphan born in the wilds and rescued by James Cadriel, Hutch could never hope to find a place in the city of Valmistgaard, but he found a loving home with the Cadriels – especially Dare, to whom Hutch has always been an adoring older brother. Surprisingly, he also found his faith in the Ascendancy of the Imperium.
When Hutch finds himself caught up in a sinister plot that threatens the highest echelons of the Imperium, only Dare can hope to save him and expose the conspiracy.
THE WORLD
A world of faith
The word of Ulsyrus, passed down in the pages of the Book of the Weave, forms the foundation of the Ascendancy, the great religion of the Imperium.
A world of science
The rangers of the Finder's Guild plumb the ruins of the Elder Race in search of artifacts that can be used to power the Imperium when the Weave fades away.
A world of wonder
Beyond the Imperium, an unexplored world awaits. The Elder Race is gone, but the remains of that ancient civilization may offer clues to the past, and hope for the future.