The village of Icil, in the land of Compute, was created by its original form being joined by two other makers - the Eye and the Pye. The chronicle is related by a scribe who had come from the land of the Tit-e-I, where he had tired of his labour. He was hired as a scribe to Albert the Good - a key member of the Council of Elders in the village of Icil.

The Scribe soon found that all was not well in the village of Icil. The problem was caused by Albert’s two robber barons, The Trader and The Maker. These two were not able to work as one under Albert, as both were jealous of each other, and little progress was being made in producing a new range of engines to replace their old aging models. To make matters worse, Albert was not able to find a way to end the stalemate. Just in time, the Upper Council of Elders reacted and replaced Albert with The Tiger. He was a man of steel, well fitted for the task ahead. He soon realised that the men involved in developing the new engines had to be moved away from The Maker to speed up the introduction of the new and safeguard the future prosperity of the village of Icil.
The second book by Alan Edwards, The Chronicle of the Village of Icil, examines life in a dog-eat-dog world of internal strife. He paints a picture of the dangers that result from poor management and the lack of control over robber barons.