Dirk d'Argent is a man of many talents, swordsmanship chief among them. Upon reaching manhood he wandered the Seven Kingdoms of Epigaea plying his sabre in the service of merchants and generals eager to hire him. Then, over a nice meal in the city of Velport, he pauses for an evening of reflection.

Up until now Dirk drifted before the wind, traveling as he would wherever fortune nudged him. Though rich with experience, his life begins to feel empty. Purposeless. Following a troubling dream in which a misty lady begs his help, Dirk travels south to visit friends from his former life. There he finds the mysterious lady from his dream and pursues her into a new purpose for his days.

Now in the company of the fierce warrior-lady Lana and a foul-tempered Elf named Windshadow Dirk begins a journey of perilous discovery. His path leads him outside the Seven Kingdoms to a place he discovers both world-threatening danger and, more ominously, the unknown secrets of his own birth. The consequences of what he finds may well shake the very foundations of Epigaea herself.