Bastard's Eve is a night of celebration for most residents in the canal city of Lodi--but not for sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple demon Desdemona, who find themselves caught up in the affairs of a shiplost madman, a dangerous ascendant demon, and a very unexpected saint of the fifth god. This novella falls between Penric's Fox and Penric's Mission in the internal chronology of the Penric & Desdemona tales.