1634. During the seige of Ratisbona a soldier proofs his invulnerability after eating a mysterious biscuit. The Walloon alchemist Heribert Rem is assigned to find out more about the origin of these biscuits in order to end the war. He traces an English opera singer, who got lost during the war. Does his voice have the power to overcome death like Orpheus? And how’s all this linked to an imprisoned woman, who is said to be no human but a living machine?