"fortune’s fools" is a story involving ekaterina (katya), youngest daughter of the sea king and prince sasha of led belarus, seventh son of king pieter. the novel starts with katya being sent by her father to investigate rumours of bad news on the island of nippon. unlike the majority of sea people, katya is magically amphibious and is used by her father to spy on drylanders (humans). due to tasting dragon’s blood, katya is able to speak with animals and is also able to speak and understand foreign languages.