Plot Summary

Part 1 - The Transporter in Wetledale

The Transporter halts at the edge of Wetledale, the northernmost of the Seven Valleys, noting the landscape's enforced palette of grey, white, and brown. This colourlessness is the result of a lucrative shift to the cabinet-making industry, enforced by the Wetledale Conformance Council. Because the cabinets are shipped by sea, the ancient trade route across the Last Mountains has been abandoned. The Transporter, however, has returned to justify a winter crossing, driven by the Warehouse Manager's promise of new value in the North.

He encounters Michael and Michele Fishwick, foragers gathering "intense" autumn colour illicitly supported by the Warehouse Manager. The Transporter recruits them to gather intelligence on the trade fraternities to help dismantle the restrictive Conformance rules. Descending to Wetledale Town, he secures a contract from the Chair of Decorators to smuggle a Ruling Council Examiner over the mountains before winter ends, hoping an early Examination will catch the Cabinet Makers off-guard. Seeking further leverage, the Transporter targets two young decorators, Helen and Angela, at the Red Dragon Inn, subtly encouraging their frustration with the colour ban.

Part 2 - Appointing an Examiner

In the Southern City, the Ruling Council fears political instability. The Chair of the Council, The Peacekeeper and the Head of All Science discuss the "Sky Lord" in the Flatlands, whose rising power is fuelled by contraband colour from the North. Fearing an invasion, they authorise a covert Examination of Wetledale to secure its value.

The Master of Examiners selects Jim Kirwin, a brilliant but discredited Examiner whose desperation makes him suitable for this high-risk assignment. The Transporter, acting for the Warehouse Manager, intercepts Kirwin and arranges to smuggle him over the Last Mountains disguised as a fellow transporter, ensuring the Wetledale fraternities remain unaware of his approach.

Part 3 - The Fraternity of Decorators

Tensions rise within the Decorators' Fraternity. The Chair resists pressure from Senior Brother Stewart (an ally of the Cabinet Makers) to destroy the "Fourth Element of the Record", a secret log of illicit colour work. Publicly, she maintains order, awarding the prestigious Conformance Hall contract to Helen and Angela; privately, she plays a dangerous game.

The Transporter manipulates the situation, encouraging the Chair to include a contract clause requiring the decorators to assist the Examiner. Although she refuses to provide official help, she shows the Transporter the Fourth Element of the Record. Realising this evidence is the key to breaking the Cabinet Makers' hold, the Transporter decides the records must be delivered to the Examiner - not by him, but by the young decorators.

Part 4 - Colour

Michael Fishwick discovers that the Cabinet Makers are systematically destroying all evidence of ornamental colour in Wetledale. Despite knowing their foraged colour fuels political instability in the South, Michael and Michele resolve to intensify their support for the Transporter.

Meanwhile, inside Conformance Hall, Helen discovers a breathtaking, pre-restriction mural hidden behind a loose panel. She views this as historical "truth" that the Examiner must see. Her pragmatic cousin Angela disagrees, fearing retribution. Desperate, Helen meets the newly arrived Examiner on the high road. Kirwin dismisses the mural as irrelevant nostalgia but hints that proof of a cover-up would be actionable.

Angela realises their Chair knew the Examiner was coming and is using them as pawns. Frightened, she insists they finish their work and flee, but Michael Fishwick, recognising Helen as a fellow believer in colour, steps in to protect her.

Part 5 - The Fourth Element

Helen and Angela hatch a plan to copy the illicit colour records from the Decorators' Hall. However, during the break-in, Helen is interrupted and rescued by Michael Fishwick. He reveals he has stolen the original Fourth Element, arguing that only the authentic book will convince the Examiner.

Aided by the Decorator's Responsible Brother, Helen and Fishwick infiltrate Conformance Hall during a storm. They interrupt the Examiner, who is being pressured by the Chair of Conformance to sign a corrupt deal. Helen presents the damning Records. The Chair of Conformance, realising he is cornered, immediately pivots: he accepts the evidence, proposes new "generous" rules, and orders Helen and Fishwick to escort the Examiner to safety. As they flee, they are intercepted by Enforcers. Fishwick deploys a weaponised powder of colour spores, overwhelming the Enforcers with hallucinatory colour and allowing their escape.

Part 6 - Flatlanders

The geopolitical stakes escalate. The embattled "Earth Lord" of the Flatlands threatens the Southern borders, demanding an end to the flow of Fishwick colour. The Peacekeeper orders the Transporter back to Wetledale to secure the Examiner's report and the valley's value to bolster southern defences of the Seven Valleys.

The Transporter intercepts Helen, Angela and the Examiner but refuses to return the Examiner to Conformance Hall. Instead, he confronts the Chair of Decorators. He reveals that Brother Miller - the Senior Responsible Brother of the Cabinet Makers - is missing in the deadly Black Marsh (having chased Fishwick there). He offers the Chair a trade: he will rescue the Cabinet Maker - giving the Decorators immense political leverage - if she agrees to secure the loan of value the Peacekeeper requires.

Part 7 - Wetledale

Guided by Fishwick, the Transporter rescues the Cabinet Maker from the Black Marsh, ensuring the man knows his life is owed to the Decorators. This political coup allows the Chair of Decorators to secure the necessary funds for the Peacekeeper.

At High Farm, the Examiner warns Helen that his report alone will not change the system. Michael Fishwick, deciding to leave the valley for the North, entrusts Helen with a final task: a roll of black cloth woven with the purest, most dangerous Fishwick colours, to be smuggled to the Flatlands.

Part 8 - The Last Mountains

The Transporter, Helen, and the Examiner brave the winter crossing back to Armdale, carrying the secured value and the Examiner's findings. On the journey, the Examiner admits that the Head of All Science knows the political system is flawed, validating the truth of their struggle.

However, at the Armdale Warehouse, the Peacekeeper betrays them. She rejects the Examiner's findings, bullying him into filing a sanitised report that preserves the status quo. The Examiner, worn down and offered a comfortable retirement, capitulates.

Refusing to accept this defeat, Helen and the Transporter flee Armdale with the Fishwick cloth, pursued by Enforcers. After a desperate chase and a crash, they manage to retrieve the cloth and reach the Southern River. There, they successfully hand over the cloth to a treacherous servant of the Peacekeeper, ensuring the "true colour" reaches the Flatlands to serve as a beacon for change.

The narrative concludes not with a political battle, but with a moment of quiet reflection between the two survivors. Helen looks toward a future of new possibilities, but the Transporter accepts his fate as a perpetual wanderer. He resolves to continue crossing the Last Mountains, finding his only true peace of mind in the high solitude of the peaks, suspended above the "confusion" and troubles of the Seven Valleys below.