The Thief Queen's Daughter

From the Flaps of the first Starscape edition: "Long ago, in the Second Age of history, a young Nain explorer by the name of Ven Polypheme traveled much of the known and unknown world, recording his adventures. Recently discovered by archaeologists, a few fragments of his original journals are reproduced in this book. Great care has been taken to reconstruct the parts of the journal that did not survive, so that a whole story can be told... On his first day at the job of Royal Reporter for the Land of Serendir, King Vandemere sends young Charles Magnus Ven Polypheme - known as Ven - on a secret mission within the walls of the Gated City. His quest? To discover the origin of a mysterious artifact given to the king's father. The king warns Ven to take care - because once you enter the Gated City, you might never be allowed to leave. Within the city's walls all sorts of exotic merchandise not found anywhere else in the world can be bought or sold. But not only merchandise. Dreams, wishes, memories... even childhood... can be sold - or stolen. The Gated City is ruled by the powerful Raven's Guild, and the guild is ruled by the Queen of Thieves. Ven and his friends enter the Gated City ready for adventure. But when one friend is kidnapped and it is revealed that they are traveling in the company of the runaway daughter of the Queen of Thieves herself, their adventure turns deadly. For the ruthless Thief Queen will stop at nothing to get her daughter back... Little is known for sure about reclusive documentarian Elizabeth Hayden. She is an expert in dead languages and holds advanced degrees in Nain Studies from Arcana College and in Lirin History from the University of Rigamarole. Her fluency in those languages has led some to speculate that she may be descended from one of those races herself. She claims to have a husband and children but again, no one is really sure. She is currently translating and compiling the third volume of the recently discovered lost journals of Ven Polypheme, The Dragon's Lair, when she is not attempting to break the world's record for the longest braid of dental floss."