The engineer Ziani Vaatzes designed and built a war. Thousands died as a consequence of his elaborate plan. The civil servant Manuo Psellus took the decision that started the war. The very foundations of his world are now threatened. The ruler Duke Valens brought the war on himself. Now he must decide whether to sacrifice his country to save his people. They embarked on the war for their own reasons, but as it takes on a life of its own they find they've become components in their own machine. And the machine, it seems, has one purpose: to render evil for evil.