Rich is a rock between two hard places. He's currently a marble statue, the cost for casting a spell reserved for the clearly insane or truly desperate. His friends refuse to leave this fantasy world without him. They may be badasses, but getting Rich less statuesque will involve witches, vamp-beasts and cutthroat discounts for marble art. Even if his friends manage to free Rich without serious injury or an associated death or two, well, there are still the hard places to contend with. One of those is the Temple of Houses. The Holy Aian Empire is beyond pissed Rich cut their most sacred site apart like warm bread. The aian gods will stop at nothing to see him dead and on display. Then there's the Hierophane. The mage tower holds the Rift Pendulum, the only way back to the suburbs and a world that makes sense. The mages may overlook the mission failure. But then again, no one's told the Hierophant that Rich intentionally killed her father. Beware. The Pendulum is shifting...