The Half-Continent is a dangerous place. Here monsters and men live, uncomfortably, side by side. Towns and villages, wayfarers and farmers need protection from monsters, and there are surgically altered individuals who have made it their life’s occupation to protect them, for a fee.
In this land, in the city of Boschenberg, a young boy called Rosamund is about to embark on a journey to his new place of employment. He has waited with the other orphans at Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls to be selected for the navy, but finds himself being called to quite a different occupation. What begins as a simple journey to his place of employment is threatened by encounters with monsters - and with people, who might well be worse. With only his almanac to guide him, Rosamund must choose his path carefully.
