Whispers and visions in the night. Noö has been experiencing them for a while now, choking and gasping in her sleep. Omens? Illusions? Or apprehension over her imminent coming-of-age ceremony?

Noö cannot fathom settling for a mundane life, trapped within the daunting mountain ring surrounding her peaceful village.

Whether curiosity or foul play, something has stirred the ink the masters used to mark her skin during her ceremony, and suddenly the perfect peace of her village is shattered. Lies, gossip, and cruelty arise where none was seen before. The temple burns to the ground, and mobs of angry villagers want blood.

Accused of unleashing an evil upon the village, threatened with her life, and chased from her home, Noö flees. And…a mystical force—for good or ill—opens a tunnel through the mountains for her escape.

An unimagined realm waits beyond. Noö follows a trail of secrets into a world of drugs, hovercrafts, and projectile weapons. Tattooed entertainers fight for sport, summoning creatures from their markings to rise in the arena to battle to the death, in a world where those in power will lie, cheat, and kill to silence rebellion and preserve their dominion.

Worse, however, what evil lurked, crawling through Noö’s markings, slithering under her skin, whispering her name in the night?