As the thirteenth century drew to a close, Marco Polo returned from China with Emperor Kublai Khan’s legendary scepter, the Ruyi. After his death, as several serious revolts broke out throughout the Venetian Republic, the magical sword was hidden in the great traveler’s tomb. Both tomb and scepter have since disappeared. Now, an encrypted journal has been found and the Invicibles, a brotherhood that has been after the Ruyi for centuries, have rekindled their interest in hunting it down. So the scepter must be tracked down before it falls into the wrong hands. Professor Carlo Dolfin, who discovered the journal and has become engrossed in the affair, needs help finding the scepter without tipping off the Invincibles, who could prevent him from finding it and even put his life in danger. The Ruyi is an object that can give unfathomable powers to whoever possesses it and bloody battles have been fought over it. The Republic of Venice was the first witness of its arrival in Italy, so the city carries signs of its passage.   

Alberto Toso Fei descends from an ancient family of glassmakers from the island of Murano. A journalist and an avid traveler, he has written four books that form an anthology of sorts on the mysteries of Venice and the lagoon. The most recent of the four, published by Studio LT2, is entitled The Secrets of the Grand Canal. The other three, which have also been translated into several languages including English, are: Venetian Legends and Ghost Stories, Venicenigma and Mysteries of the Lagoon and Witch Tales, published by Elzeviro.  In his tales, Venice is a mosaic that gets put back together, piece by piece, to reveal the city’s mysterious soul. Digging deep into the past, Toso Fei takes the reader back to the dawn of a history thirteen centuries old. His work is anchored in rediscovering the more curious and fascinating sides of history, moving away from the usual places, away from the official history learned in textbooks. At the same time, through oral accounts he captures the aesthetic value of storytelling. With Shaul Bassi, Alberto wrote “Shakespeare in Venice”, a guide-book containing forty tales about the Serenissima, described through the eyes of Otello and Shylock.