Arlo is the son of Lucian and Raelynn, Duchess of Cadence. Separated by class, Arlo and Lucian converse with Raelynn through secret meetings and messages. Arlo has his mother’s artistic soul and his father’s practical skill, but his impatience makes for a poor tailor. He strives to be an artisan, inspired by Raelynn’s teaching, and often practices on the walls of dirt-pathed, labyrinthian alleyways. 

To hide his real training, Arlo persuades Nyla to be his mentor. Nyla, all too happy to let him take over, agrees and keeps silent about the classical techniques she can see within Arlo's style. It was her idea for Arlo to work at the pub and eavesdrop for commissions. 

While his first few ‘jobs’ were gifts - painting a wooden horse for his childhood friend Briar, creating flyers for Lucian’s shop, designing his own high style clothing - Arlo has grown a small client base by word of mouth and Orin's inadvertent secretarial service. 

When Arlo stumbles upon a ruin in Cadence, he recognizes a script used on high society clothing. He adopts the script into his work, and, when strange events occur within Acros’s alleyways - homeless finding a spot of warmth with no fire, an endlessly reappearing coin - Arlo realizes there's more to these ‘blessings’ than the wealthy are sharing. 

Arlo now endeavors to close the economic gap with day commissions, night graffiti work, and the ‘blessings’ he's learning to bestow.