The following is a complete, spoiler-filled summary of the events of The Holver Alley Crew.
If you do not wish to be spoiled for the events of the book, do not continue reading.
The Holver Alley Fire
ASTI RYNAX is trying to sleep in the apartment he shares with his brother VERCI RYNAX, Verci’s wife RAYCHELLE and their baby CORSI, but springs to action when he realizes the building is on fire. They escape through the window to Holver Alley below, where all the buildings on one side of the street are on fire. Asti and Verci go back in to save the Greenfields, who they rent their apartment from, but only manage to pull out an unconscious Win Greenfield. The street is filled with people fleeing the fire, and Asti gets HELENE KESSER and her cousin JULIEN to lead people to Kimber’s pub, and Verci sends Raych to her sister’s house. Asti and Verci race down the alley to their shop, The Rynax Gadgeterium, stopping to rescue other neighbors where they can. When they reach the shop, it has been completely burned down. While Verci tries to process this, Asti realizes looters are attacking Almer Cort’s apothecary shop, and he goes to fight them off. He loses control in the fight, going into a blind murderous rage, killing two of the looters. He doesn’t even recognize Verci, and is only calmed when Almer knocks him out with his chemicals. When he comes to, he and Verci realize they need to act immediately, because they will still owe a great debt on the now destroyed shop, and go to see “the old lady”, JOSIE HOLT, a paranoid woman who controls much of the money and the criminal activity in their neighborhood.
The way into Josie’s place is trapped, which Verci is able to defeat, and she had that as a test to see if the two of them still had skills she can use. They want a loan from her, but she’s only willing to offer them a job robbing a carriage in a few days, telling them to partner with driver she wants to use.
Asti goes to Kimber’s Pub, where the other refugees are all crashing. He checks in with KIMBER, who is willing to put these people up, and Helene who notes that Fire Brigade never came. Verci goes to Raych’s sister’s house, where her sister LIAN and her husband HAL are willing to host them, but are very concerned about what Verci and Asti will do next.
The Wake of Tragedy
The morning comes, and Asti goes back to the alley to check on what’s happening. The place is wrecked, and he comes across WIN GREENFIELD, who he rescued the night before, who seems to be in a very unbalanced state. Asti threatens a young girl he suspects is trying to hurt Win, but she—MILA KENDISH—is just as concerned for Win. Asti realizes who Mila is, and instinctively believes she is acting in good faith. He finds Almer on the alley, who is convinced that the fires were set deliberately. He’s also confronted by ENANGER LESK, a small-time operator who is looking to grab power in the neighborhood, but Asti is not intimidated by this.
Asti checks in with NAFATH, a spice merchant in the neighborhood who is also a spy for the Poasians, who Asti had had a previous connection with when he served in Druth Intelligence. Nafath points out that the Fire Brigade never came because they were running a drill in another neighborhood, and the Chief of the district, HOLM YENNER, had recently made several purchases a Fire Brigade Chief would not be able to afford.
Asti and Verci meet the carriage driver, a Ch’omik descended man named KENNITH RILL. Despite further prying from Lesk and his growing crew, Asti, Verci and Kennith discuss the job: stealing a statue that will be coming through a customhouse, and brought in an armored carriage to East Maradaine. Kennith’s stake is he designed the carriage, but wasn’t paid for it. Asti and Verci scout the customhouse to see if it’s a better option to steal the statue from there instead of on the carriage, which Asti would prefer, strategically. To help get more information and form a better plan, he recruits Mila to be another set of eyes. She’s wary, thinking he wants her as a doxy, but he assures her that is not his intention.
The Six Person Crew
Verci is approached at Hal & Lian’s home by Heston Chell, a lawyer who represents the new, unnamed clients who hold the debt Asti and Verci owe on the now-destroyed gadgeterium. He offers a deal to purchase the land from them and forgive the debt, which Raych thinks is excellent, but makes Verci suspicious. When he tells Asti, he agrees that they shouldn’t take it. They make the stablehouse of the North Seleth Inn—where Kennith lives and works as the carriage driver, though there is no business there—into their safehouse to work their ploy to infiltrate the customhouse. Asti plays the role of a merchant looking to bribe the officials there, but that plan, though, gets scuttled when Asti is spotted by Verci’s brother-in-law, who knows one of the officials, and thus screw up the plan. Asti decides that this means they have to go forward with robbing the carriage, and that means needing more recruits for the gig, and that means splitting the take more ways. Kennith doesn’t like it, but accepts that it’s the only way to do the job.
Asti recruits Helene and Julien—Helene for her skill with a crossbow, and Kennith for his muscle. Helene is very protective of Julien, and wants assurances that Asti is not planning on him fighting. He also brings in Mila for a full share. Asti uses Mila to figure out the best place to strike the carriage, with Helene finding a spot to use as her sniper nest. Verci works with Cort to make something to use as a signal, and builds a new crossbow for Helene to use. Helene goes out of the city to test the crossbow, where she meets an odd noblewoman, and gets some rabbits.
The plan is made: Verci and Mila distract and stop the carriage, Helene shoots the driver, Asti and Verci take care of guards, signal Kennith, and open the carriage. Julien unloads the statue into Kennith’s cart, everyone scatters. Wanting to blow off steam before the job, Helene goes to a fighting ring she knows about to engage in some bareknuckle brawling, which Lesk is now running. Lesk makes her an offer to join his crew, which she passes on.
The Carriage Heist
The day of the heist, Asti and Verci realize that Nange Lesk is sniffing around their business, and in his interest in trying to get control over North Seleth, he might move on them and interfere with their job. But since they can’t worry about Nange, they have to do the job. Ready with their plan, the night gets started exactly as planned. However, Asti runs into Holm Yenner, and in a confrontation with Yenner’s guards, loses control again. Despite Asti not showing up for his part of the heist, Verci manages to successfully cover and get the statue. As Julien and Kennith ride off, Mila goes to find Asti and Verci covers their escape. Mila finds Asti in a feral state, but is able to subdue him and get him calm again. As he incapacitated Yenner, they tie him up and take him somewhere to interrogate him, amd Asti reveals to Mila what is going on with him. He had been in Druth Intelligence, and after being betrayed he was a prisoner of the Poasians, who psionically tortured him until his mind shattered, and now he has these uncontrolled black-out rages.
Mila goes to get the rest of the crew, telling them about Yenner. They go to the burned out Gadgeterium to find Asti and Almer Cort torturing Yenner to tell them who paid him off, but it’s Helene, screaming about her grandmother dying in the fire, that cracks him and reveals the secret: It was Mendel Tyne, crime boss in Keller Cove who runs the Pleasure Emporium, one of the biggest, most powerful men in the Maradaine underworld. As the crew goes to hand over the statue, Asti and Verci realize that Josie must have known that Tyne had ordered the burnout, and leave the rest of the crew to go confront her.
The Truth of the Fire
Helene and the rest of the crew drop the statue, and that goes smoothly despite Kennith not trusting Helene or the others doing it without the Rynax brothers. Asti and Verci break into Josie’s lair to confront her, but she was expecting them, waiting for them to figure out that she knew about the fire. She was powerless to stop Tyne, and wanted to see who in the neighborhood she could trust to be crazy enough to help go after him. She agrees to back their play, whatever crazy ploy they have. They take the deal, and ask the rest of the crew to join in, including folding Almer Cort in. All seven are committed, so they get to work planning the next gig. But the heat turns up in North Seleth, as Nange Lesk and his crew attempt to put pressure on Verci.
Scouting the Emporium
Asti begins scouting Tyne’s Pleasure Emporium to figure out the best strategy to break in and rob it, with Mila helping him out, as well as keeping an eye on his mental state. He knows it’s fragile, and looking for whatever solace he can, concedes to Kimber’s request he go to church with her. When he goes, he sees she’s also brought Win Greenfield, still shattered from losing his family, and Asti and Win share a moment of solidarity and connection. Josie’s man Merch comes to Verci and Raych and offers them his front business of the bakery, since Josie is abandoning that as her lair, he wants to get out of town. Asti talks with Verci about what he and Mila have observed, and it’s clear they will need to scout the inside of the place, which means they’ll have to go there for dinner.
The Emporium Dinner
Asti brings Helene into the plan, asking her to attend the dinner at the Emporium with him, Verci and Raych. She teases him a bit but agrees. Verci and Raych prepare for the dinner with him presenting her a new dress to wear. As part of the prep, Almer has Asti drink a concoction that will change the nature of his urine, which will help them figure out a path into the Emporium through the sewers. They go to dinner, which goes pleasantly enough, until one of the security people recognizes Asti: a fellow ex-intelligence agent named Miles Kinter. Asti realizes that Miles has figured out the purpose of the dinner, and thus Tyne’s security will be ready for them. Despite that, prompted by Helene they agree they’re going to push forward with the plan.
Refusing To Be Skunked
In the wake of the dinner scout, Asti realizes they will need a conman and disguise expert to help them, and recruit an old friend of their father’s, Pilsen Gin, a washed-up actor and conman. Pilsen is reluctant to join in anything until he hears Tyne is the target, and then is in wholeheartedly. Returning from Pilsen’s, Asti spots Miles and his men in the neighborhood, so he lures them away so Verci can get home and get his family safe. Miles chases Asti through the neighborhood, until they have a fight in the remains of the gadgeterium. Miles cuts Asti and leaves him with a warning. Asti is found by Win Greenfield, who takes him to Kimber’s where his injuries can be tended to. Verci finds Asti there, and they discuss the plan to do the heist the next day, and bring in Win as part of the plan. They both rest for the night, knowing tomorrow is the big day.
The New Emporium Plan
The crew all meet to discuss the new plan, knowing the risks, and get ready to go that night. Asti goes back to Kimber’s, to find Nange Lesk and his crew threatening her. Asti lets himself lose control to thrash Nange’s crew. He comes to in St. Bridget’s church, under Win’s care, and is told that he saved Kimber. He takes the opportunity to say a prayer for his crew, willing to sacrifice himself for their sake. The crew get together before they go off, with Pilsen, Helene and Julien in disguise to go onto the gambling floor, and Helene with a tiny crossbow hidden in her dress in parts. The rest of the crew will blow a wall in a nearby wineshop basement to break into the back halls of the Emporium. They do a small ritual before they go, tasting the Ch’omik dish Kennith prepared. Mila goes out on the job before everyone else, to organize the neighborhood boys under her control to clear the street when the time comes.
Everyone In Place
The crew get in place at the wine shop and the gambling floor, but Asti gets grabbed by Miles and Tyne’s goons, brought into Tyne’s office where he is confronted by Tyne for his audacity, and it seems that Josie has sold them out to Tyne. Mila, having seen Asti’s abduction, thinks they need to take steps, but Verci—loading barrels of Almer’s powder into the wineshop basement—isn’t worried. Mila takes matters into her own hands, robbing a noblewoman for her dress. Asti, though, doesn’t need her help, as his abduction and Josie’s performance of betrayal are part of the plan.
Crashing the Emporium
Mila gets into the gambling floor to warn Helene, but they need to move forward, as Verci and the others blow the wall. Helene and Julien add to the chaos in the gambling floor so customers are in a panic, including disabling the mage-for-hire. Asti fights Tyne’s goons, as well as Miles, incapacitating them enough to be in position to lead Verci and the others to the count room. Asti then rescues Josie from Tyne’s men, one of whom panics and runs off when Asti approaches. Tyne gets to the gambling floor, filled with chaos, fire and smoke, and spots Mila as being out of place in an ill-fitting dress. He attacks her, but she manages to grab a rope and strangle him to death.
Holver Alley Avenged
Verci and his team get into the count room, take the money and get out with Josie, while Asti stays behind to keep Miles from chasing them. Outside the Emporium, among the crowd fleeing the burning building, Ecrain, the mage-for-hire, come after Julien, but Helene manages to stop her by shooting out her eye. Verci and Kennith load their escape carriage and get rolling, with Mila’s street-clear plan kicking in just as they use Verci’s spring-powered carriage engine, sending them racing away faster than anyone can follow. Asti’s fight with Miles goes badly—he kills Miles, but he is badly hurt, and after he grabs papers off Tyne’s desk, passes out due to the smoke. He wakes up having been pulled out by the guard who had ran away before. The guard recognized Asti as the person who had saved him from the same Poasian prison Asti had been tortured in, and lets Asti go. He returns to the crew, all back at the new safehouse with their earnings, and shows them the proof that Tyne had been hired by another party to burn the Alley. They all agree to join him in further seeking out whoever is ultimately behind it.