Chapter 15

As Monsoon Carnival swells across Tevanne, the Foundrysiders gather in Giovanni’s workshop to prepare a scrived parade carriage meant to blend into the festivities. Orso, Claudia, Sancia, and Berenice labor over last-minute tools while Giovanni fits a giant wine cask, their cover for moving through the city.

Orso, lacking his own workshops and facing a hierophant, is unsettled. Claudia and Giovanni reveal their innovation: floor plates that convince reality the space above contains raw materials elsewhere in the room. A test ingot bounces off an invisible iron wall, proving they can place intangible barriers by referencing real iron walls at the back of the shop.

They discuss limits: the plates only replicate dumb materials, not scrived constructs, unlike Orso’s lexicon-in-a-box trick. Claudia secures Orso’s promise of access to Michiel definitions if tonight succeeds. Berenice stresses reclaiming the Foundryside library, though they fear Ofelia’s spies alerting Crasedes. Sancia stays focused, promising they will regain it after the operation.

Claudia and Giovanni declare they will bow out after tonight, unwilling to tangle further with hierophantic forces. Watching their competence, Orso feels pride mixed with fear, and he worries over Sancia’s weariness, wondering what their struggles have cost her.

Gregor arrives bearing butchered monkey corpses—grisly parade props for the ruse. With equipment loaded, promises made, and masks donned, Orso rallies the team. They roll out into the carnival, ready to execute their infiltration under festal cover.