Contents
Chapter 16
Overview
The crew infiltrates the Candiano enclave during carnival, slipping into the Mountain via a secret route while Dandolo forces work the lexicons. They split: Gregor and Orso drain a flooded lexicon; Sancia and Berenice retrieve the hierophantic authority cone. Sancia persuades the Mountain to trigger a faux Michiel incursion, throwing Dandolo troops into confusion. Gregor is forced into brutal killing, triggering a traumatic memory, and soldiers surround them.
Summary
Masked as revelers, Sancia, Berenice, Orso, Gregor, Gio, and Claudia roll a wine-parade to the Candiano enclave. Claudia’s lanterns, each bearing monkey blood, confuse wall espringals while Sancia lifts a canal portcullis to slip inside. They discover Dandolo armaments saturating the enclave and the Mountain’s interior. Using a neglected sculpture garden entrance, they reach the atrium, where Sancia confirms with the sentient Mountain that five lexicons are active, one flooded, and Dandolo teams are close to extracting a key definition.
They plan: Gregor and Orso will breach a southwest dry-storage wall to drain the flooded southeast lexicon; Sancia and Berenice will extract the hierophantic authority cone. Orso and Gregor learn Dandolo guards carry blood-detection spotters paired to sachets, likely anticipating intruders. To evade detection, Orso rides Gregor so the device reads them as one. Gregor uses an anchored slug and a corpse to bowl over guards, then seals a hallway with Claudia’s invisible wall and reaches the target chamber. Gregor punctures the masonry until water bursts through, while Orso blocks the doorway with another invisible wall; the release floods the halls and knocks Orso senseless.
Meanwhile, Sancia and Berenice descend into the flooded lexicon wing. Berenice suggests warping the door’s time definition so a past valid touch still counts, and Sancia opens it. After the water recedes, they wade into the shattered lexicon, track the outflow, and Sancia dives through muck to retrieve the small golden authority cone.
Anticipating Crasedes, Sancia persuades the lonely Mountain to open doors and broadcast a faux Michiel stand-down, creating the illusion of a takeover and filling spotters with new, unpaired “intruders,” throwing Dandolo into disarray. In the cellars, as alarms and booms echo, three soldiers corner immobilized Orso; Gregor ambushes and kills them in a swift, gruesome duel, then collapses into a traumatic flashback of Ofelia reviving and praising him amid slaughter. Soldiers flood the corridor, order surrender, and Orso drops the rapier as they close in.
Who Appears
- Sancia GradoLeads infiltration, manipulates rigs and doors, bargains with the Mountain, and secures the hierophantic authority cone.
- Gregor DandoloNavigates patrols, breaches the wall, fights lethally under pressure, then relives a traumatic memory; soldiers surround him.
- BereniceStrategizes access via time-logic exploit, aids Sancia through flooded lexicon, helps locate and recover the cone.
- Orso IgnacioAssists breach with invisible walls, survives flooding via cuirass, is cornered and then surrenders as troops arrive.
- The MountainSentient complex; guides the team, confirms Dandolo efforts, and executes Sancia’s fake Michiel incursion plan.
- ClaudiaProvides invisible-wall cuirasses and plates; coordinates lantern release from the carriage.
- Giovanni (Gio)Assists parade cover and supplies equipment; his plates underpin the team’s defenses.
- Dandolo soldiersGuard the Mountain, use blood-spotters; several die during breaches and Gregor’s ambush.
- Ofelia DandoloAppears in Gregor’s memory, younger, orchestrating brutal work and reviving him, revealing past manipulation.