Synopsis: The Amber Son

Effecie: city of bridges, city of old and new, city of trade. City of many names. Sitting on overland and water routes, it's an interstitial city, in-between many cultures. It is said that anyone can find a home in Effecie: the crippled from the Sand Country, who aren't welcome there; a local woman cursed-blessed with the ability to only write fake languages; distant islanders; story-figures.

A youthful man flees to the city with amber beads no longer tied into his long dark hair.

His father said: ‘You will be like amber, preserved forever, and you will be named for it.’ Carrying that name and the memory of his father’s attempts to make him immortal - one of which worked, unexpectedly - he seeks a new life. In Effecie he finds work crafting decorative ceramic balls with another Sand Country man.

Two locals - Dohna and Pasang - seek his employer's help. A creature made of bones is destroying the city's paper lanterns and they wish to deter it.

They are not the only ones who have noticed the creature, and not everyone's intentions are peaceful. Amber, in helping Dohna and Pasang, is caught in an aspect of Effecie he'd never heard of - and must decide what, exactly, he wants from his long life.