All have a story to tell, seven who lived at the height of Etruscan society, some 2,600 years ago �
Neglected Noblewoman Risa Laris, shunned by Prince-priest Zilath, is finally accoladed with banquet. Risa outwardly smiles like an Etruscan goddess, even though her uneasy feelings become evident when her evening turns disastrous. She is drawn to the Flutist as he plays, while her congenial Road Builder husband, Parth, falls to the sexual charms of his sister-in-law.
Family patriarch, Vel, traipses high mountains discovering precious rocks and minerals to bring great wealth to his city. At the time his parents are viciously murdered, he stumbles into a ravine in grief, his life saved by Anneia the Healer, who becomes the love of his life. After she dies, Maru of Cisra entices Vel to work for him, causing the powerful Zilath of Tarchna to spite him.
In search of his mother, the child Venu is caught aboard a ship that sets sail to distant lands. His life changed forever, Venu realizes he is a seafarer at heart. This dangerous occupation turns him pirate and abductor of a renown Korinthian potter.
Wanton beauty, Arith, admires her own sensual body and plots for a new lover.
Wicked, greedy Prince-priest Maru, not only tortures slaves for pleasure but pilfers from the city's coffers. When exposed, he makes amends to regain popularity and keep his position. He triumphs by building the most magnificent necropolis in all of Etrusca, the City of the Dead.
The family is manipulated, not only by highest nobility but by gods, ancestors and a hierarchy of priests: The Haruspex, mysterious diviner of entrails, appears and disappears to advise how to live wisely, how to accept and cope with one's fate. All the while, the Flutist strides through mighty Etruria, land of plentiful harvest, announcing love, life and death.
The life journeys of brilliantly clever people, gifted with stamina, laughter and grief span three generations. Their lives are entwined among sixth century B.C. E tomb builders, artists and craftsmen, eclectic lovers of beauty, art, music, high fashion and feasting, dealing with treachery, deceit, rivalry, love, death, and magic.
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