When Shaalara of the Alteen Zirnaath, a sapient, medium-sized spider of the jumping variety came into Eichra Oren's office to commission the Assessor of p'Na and his symbiote, canine detective Sam Otusam, to find the location of her fiancE, they were not expecting the 'accidents' that impeded their research, or the taking on even more unusual clients along the way. For conducting an investigation on the Elders' planet is not an easy task. The Elders--large squid-like Superbeings--had 'Appropriated' species from all across the omniverse, plucking sapient races from alternate Earths, where they had faced extinction, or simply fascinated their new omnipotent benefactors. While the Elders' had introduced the Appropriated Persons and their descendants to a world where there were no wars, and gifted them with lifetimes that averaged a thousand years--at least--it had long been determined that the peaceful beings should not have taken these species from their Earths; there was a sense of unease rising within the populace. Eichra Oren's primary role as an Assessor of p'Na was to assess the actions of his clients, and determine whether they had atone for them--at the edge of his sword, or otherwise--but what of the Elders' actions? Those directly involved with the Appropriation had long since ended their lives, when the moral implications of their actions had been made clear to them. But what about the rest of the Elders? Why were there whispers of new Appropriations? And who was the mysterious new race threatening Earth? Eichra and Sam were determined to find out.... And maybe, just maybe, find a runaway groom along the way.