Four centuries after its founding, Solidar’s Collegium of Imagers is in decline, the exploits of its founder, the legendary Quaeryt, mainly forgotten. The Collegium is so lacking in management the fact that dying Maitre must summon Alastar, an obscure but talented senior imager who has little knowledge of politics in the administrative centre, as his successor. When Alastar occurs in L’Excelsis and becomes the brand new Maitre, he discovers disarray and lack of discipline inside the Collegium, as well as the ruler of Solidar is definitely about Madness in Solidar therefore hated by the High Holders that they openly refer to him as being mad. To make matters even worse, neither Rex Ryen nor the Great Holders have any respect for the Collegium. Quickly Alastar finds himself in the middle of a power struggle, with Ryen demanding that the Collegium take away the most powerful Large Holders and the military leadership subsequently plotting to topple Ryen and damage the Collegium. At exactly the same time, Ryen is certainly demanding how the Great Holders pay an enormous increase in fees while he initiates a grandiose building project. And everything that, Alastar discovers, is a portion of the problems he and the Collegium face.