It is 1666, the year of the beast, seen by many as the moment the devil will appear on Earth.

Science is in ascendance, crowding out other systems of thought. The ancient art of alchemy is in retreat.

No one has been able to find the philosopher's stone for more than a hundred years, but many of the best minds of the age are still in a desperate search of it. Vivid stories abound about how alchemists of yore created a powerful stone of sorcery, rejuvenating all it touches, turning decrepit, old lead into precious fresh gold--a universal medicine known to the alchemists by its true name: Red Sulphur.

But the divine art is receding from the memory of humankind. Science is bought at a price.

This saga is based on the last verified historical reports by credible witnesses about a mysterious transmutation. It follows the lives of a great alchemist and the two extraordinary women he loves: the last in the world in possession of the miraculous Red Sulphur, the source of all creative powers. They are pursued by dark forces and powerful world leaders. This is a visionary tale spanning two generations in the last days when magic was strong. It is the story of the final embers of the long-gone days when the magi could still do what we, children of science, hold to be impossible. In sensuous ways that bring the vibrant feel of the seventeenth century to life, here, for the first time, is the history of this illustrious alchemist family that changed the fate of Europe and the Americas.

It has been written down to honor the ancestors.