Kaspar manages to survive the desert of Novindus after being exiled by Magnus, at the end of King of Foxes. He finds a farm with a boy and his mother who help him recover and learn the local language while he helps them after the disapearance of the father of the boy. He decides to leave and goes to a nearby city where he meets three merchants from the Kingdom who have a secret. The secret is that they are compelled by a strange suit of armor to take it somewhere. With the help of priests in Maharta they learn that they need to go to the Pavilion of the Gods. There Kaspar is helped by the ghost Arch-Indar and then by a sect of monks who serve as guardians to the gods. Kaspar is granted audience with Kalkin (also known as Ba-nath) who shows him the next danger to Midkemia, the Dasati and th