The Time of Troubles is coming. Priestess Nima predicted the fall of the current emperor and the entire Phoenix clan. Mentalists wear a slave brand around their necks, like cattle, and are considered the most precious commodity. The magicians are trying to build the first portal arch to no avail... and the rootless student of the calligrapher does not follow politics. He takes on any job so as not to starve, and wants only one thing - to draw. To become a Master, to create a painting equal to the works of ancient artists and to put his stamp on it. A prequel to the "Blau" cycle. The action takes place approximately one thousand six hundred winters before the events in volume 1.