War had engulfed the whole world. The imposter imperor ruling in Hub was the tool of the paranoid and almighty sorcerer Xinixo, who wielded the combined power of thousands of sorcerer slaves. And yet, despite his seeming omnipotence, the pathetic few who resisted him were still at liberty, even making a little progress. Xinixo's prime foe, Rap of Krasnegar, had rallied troll sorcerers to the cause and was about to try enlisting the incomprehensible...

When a young man is bested in a gladiatorial contest by an older Quirt, he insists on finding out where Quirt came from--a quest that will lead him into a familial scandal generations deep