'In the legends of the pagan Cimbric tribes it is said that a wolf will one day swallow all the world, and regurgitate it in a different corner of the stars. In the darkness there a new race of men will start again with flint and fire, and commence that long, slow journey into the light. 'In all legends, even the most primitive, there is always a grain of truth.' Sixteen years have passed since the battle of Armagedir. The Torunnans and Merduks have become close allies in a world that is growing increasingly strange and fearsome. The Himerian Church rules two thirds of the continent and is become a swollen, corrupt theocracy which strangles independent thought. Only in Torunna, in Ostrabar and in Hebrion do Kings still rule free of the black-clad Inceptines. But now off the coast of Hebrion something astonishing has appeared. A vast fleet of ships comes sailing out of the empty west, and on board them is an entirely new race of men. The immortal arch-mage Aruan has returned to the Old World at last, and he intends to claim it as his own.