The Matriarch, the second book in the Dianis, A World In Turmoil chronicles, centers on the protected planet of Dianis. In a sudden shift in federation policy, the planet is stripped of its cultural observers and enforcement agents. A single team circumvents the withdrawal and stays behind. Dedication, friendship, and love motivate the members of the last Interspecies Development Branch (IDB) team. The disappearance of the IDB team has compelled the Matrincy, a council of sixthsense adepts, to intervene. In the absence of the IDB, Nordarken Mining secretly raids the planet in its quest for a critical resource needed in the Turboii War. Before his disappearance, Chief Inspector Achelous predicted Nordarken Mining, in the guise of independent extrasolars, would raid the planet. The efforts to defend Dianis from mining corsairs have attracted the attention of the powerful Paleowrights, a major religious sect on the planet. The Paleowrights covet the technologies that Achelous illegally introduced to Dianis and have begun ransacking towns where he and his team are suspected to be. The people of Dianis are thus faced with two enemies, a galactic conglomerate intent on ravishing their resources, and the provincial Paleowrights intent on suppressing all forms of enlightenment. Becoming aware of the cosmic turmoil that surrounds her lover Achelous, Marisa, a merchant princess, learns more of his secrets. He is not the simple Dianis trader he pretended to be but an undercover agent for a secret monitoring organization hundreds of years more advanced than Dianis. Marisa loves Achelous, their son, and her planet, but can she unravel the mystery of Achelous' disappearance in time to save him from Paleowright retribution? When Nordarken Mining comes, who will stop them?