After a daring raid, a handful of spell casters called mystics belonging to the Mystic Community managed to corner and kill the dangerous Soul mystic Faylen Malic. In the aftermath of the raid, they discover that Malic had an apprentice and they quickly take her into custody. Suspecting that the apprentice may have been coerced into serving the Soul magic practitioner, the Mystic Community takes the woman in, offering her asylum and a chance at a new life. The apprentice is silent for a a few weeks, but she finally provides her answer in the form of a letter.
That letter forms the basis for this story. As the Soul mystic's apprentice reveals the events in her life that shaped her into Faylen Malic's apprentice, the reader (standing in for a member of the Mystic Community) will find themselves witness to a tragic story of death, rejection, isolation, fear, but still the fragile seed of hope, as she recounts the story of The Man and His Shell.