A tribe of children wander through a dark primordial forest, drawn onwards by an infant’s distant wail. At the foot of an immense rise they come upon a youngling, naked and shivering, its cry perverted for the cleft in its upper lip. None of the tribe think this peculiar, for they were each abandoned here, each with a comparable blemish to flaunt. Whether bizarre growths or blotchy skin or limbs gnarled, these were their marks, and they carried them with pride.
For most it was enough just to survive in this savage land, but not so for the clubfooted girl who stood among them. Stonepaw was burdened with a curious mind, and though it caused her no end of trouble, she couldn’t help but wonder at the strangeness of the world. Where had they come from? Might there be others? Had their presence anything to do with the towering beast that stalked the forest? And more importantly, what lengths would she go to that her questions might be answered?
The Victorian Era was an age of enlightenment, of becoming, an age when humanity would stand in defiance of God. Jacob Learmont arrives at Oxford University with high aspirations, among the first students to attend the newly established Department of Physiology. Yet what confronts him is a curriculum more steeped in religious dogma than science. That is, until he meets Professor Guillion.
Through this eccentric mentor, Jacob is introduced to the peculiar new disciplines of psychology and neurology. He learns of Professor Guillion's ambitions and his terrible therapy that promises to restructure the mind. Too late does he realize that certain innovations are best left undiscovered.
