These balls hold scenes of past crimes in them, causing him to be a suspect at first. Keth has been asked to attempt to find the Ghost by way of glass balls that only he can make. This ceremony is not only religious, but magical as well, effectively erasing all traces of the murderer, making it impossible for the authorities to track the killer, nicknamed the 'Ghost' by locals. Each time a person dies, the place must be cleansed by the town's priests when they perform the traditional cleansing ceremony.

The town has a culture of thanatophobia, an irrational fear of death.

But when one of the murdered Yaskedasi turns up in the town's central fountain, everyone starts to take notice. All the murdered women are Yaskedasi, female entertainers who are looked down upon in the town for their immodesty. Meanwhile, mysterious murders are taking place. Eventually, Keth learns to trust Tris' instincts, and grudgingly accepts her as his teacher. Tris is surprisingly patient with him as she guides him through meditation and control over his powers. He argues with her constantly, and refuses to learn about his lightning abilities, fearing a relapse into paralysis. He learned to walk again, but his speech is a little slow, and he lost his ease at glass-blowing.Ī twenty-year-old man just as stubborn as Tris, Keth won't accept Tris or any of her teachings. She later finds out that he had been struck by lightning less than a year ago, and this left him paralyzed and with a great fear of lightning. Tris saves the dragon from being smashed by Keth, and names it Chime. During their first meeting, he was unconsciously using his unknown ambient powers and accidentally created a living dragon out of glass. Trisana (Tris) Chandler meets Kethlun (Keth) Warder, a glass mage with a dangerous power: lightning. The Tharians have a separate class of people called the prathmun who are the lower class citizens dedicated to cleaning and handling the dead. This belief originated in the breakup of the Kurchal Empire and the devastation of the city by the blood plague. Much of Tharian society centers around keeping the city clean, spiritually and physically, as all death in Tharios is believed to be unclean. Tharios adheres strictly to their class system, despite a large portion of the cities' profit being produced by Khapik, an area dedicated towards entertainment, where the workers are looked down upon as a lesser class. It is one of the oldest cities in the World with a strict class system hierarchy, based on their beliefs in reincarnation deciding class status, with those whom live well in their current lives improving their status in their next life. Shatterglass is set in the city of Tharios. It takes place four years after the Circle of Magic series. Shatterglass, a novel by Tamora Pierce, is the fourth book in The Circle Opens series.

Shatterglass by Tamora Pierce