Spacerogue

In the bustling market of Borlaam, an otherworldly creature known as a proteus twists and morphs before a crowd of curious onlookers. The auctioneer—a squat, booming Agozlid—promises the prize of a shape‑shifting being that can become anything, while the creature itself quivers in agony with each transformation. Among the bidders stands Barr Herndon, a tall, solitary figure whose own past is marked by loss, and whose knowledge of proteus life makes the spectacle a personal torment.

Herndon’s relentless drive turns the sale into a fierce duel of wills, pitting him against a flamboyant courtier whose jeweled doublet gleams with wealth. As bids climb and the proteus contorts into ever stranger forms, the market erupts with tension, whispers, and the faint cry of a distant sea‑bird. The stranger’s hidden agenda and the crowd’s fevered excitement promise a dangerous game where every rise in price deepens the mystery of what the proteus truly represents.