This novel takes place in a city named Ethshar of the Rocks. Most of the events in The Spell of the Black Dagger take place m Ethshar of the Sands. Several of the other Ethshar stories take place largely in Ethshar of the Spices. Despite their similarities, these are three separate cities-that’s why the lands they dominate are called the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars. If the street names and descriptions herein don’t match those in, say, Night of Madness, it’s because this is not the same city, any more than Alexandria, Virginia, is the same city as Alexandria, Egypt. I regret any confusion on this point.