The world of Epigaea sleeps uneasy, troubled by nightmares of disaster past. The rumblings of that catastrophe foreshadow the future as darkness looms, from whence she knows not where. A few of the creatures dwelling on her surface perceive some measure of the shadow and struggle to forestall it.

Tigerthorn the Sly along with his friends Mysteria and Sven Hammerfist now live as slaves in the ancient, corrupt city of Quod Solamen. Forced to fight for the entertainment of the city's nobility, the three friends endeavor to gain their freedom by whatever means they can. Although the city itself is vile, the three find allies and succor. But will it be enough to free them before it's too late?

Meanwhile, the fancy-free Dirk d'Argent and his fierce companion Lana Makanani desperately seek the Great Library in Vell, burdened with great books and knowledge from the darkness of Obi Bujune. Between them they hold the key to a lock whose existence few on Epigaea know. Behind it lays salvation or doom, with only an ancient and incomprehensible prophecy separating the two.