Aragus, satisfied with his life as a merchant in the fantastic city of Sea Reach, is presented with an opportunity to undertake a rewarding and quite possibly dangerous journey. He accepts, and he, as well as his elven escort, Eliander, make their way south, only to find themselves in the center of a greater conflict, the scale of which they cannot begin to fathom. Half a world away, Edderic's adventures appear to have come to a grisly end. Filled with guilt and remorse, he seeks to start anew, and to put the horrors of battle behind him. His journey is perilous and filled with hardships, and he finds himself swept up in the same violent events in which Aragus and Eliander are themselves ensnared. What none of them realize, is that the chaos around them is far from random. They are unknowingly entangled in schemes built upon schemes, built upon yet other schemes, including the malevolent bearer of The Iron Crown far off in the east. While none of them knows what lies ahead, they will find that the future that lies before them is far darker and filled with peril than any of them could know.