The novel opens with an experiment underway: conscriptured Karrnathi soldier Osten has been bonded with a symbiont from the plane of Xoriat: a tentacle whip grafted to his arm. The whip, deadly sharp and poisonous, has been been fighting Osten's mind, and has almost won. Looking on, General Vaddon Brochann, his daugher Lirra, and Lirra's ex-lover Rhedyn, all members of the Karrnathi military, watch as Osten loses the fight and attacks. Lirra tried to stop him, but fails, causing her father to step in and run Osten through.