A fantasy novel of adventure, intrigue and romance, it is a saga about the desperate plight of a chosen few struggling amid political turmoil, religious corruption and rampant warfare in the medieval Empire of Mann. The central character, Samuel, has been banished by his father, Duke William, to a small village on the northern outskirts of the duchy of Whitewall. The young nobleman has become estranged from his lover the noble Jessica who seems to have become attached to his brother. Being sent to the village as the new sheriff to collect taxes with the aid of his slovenly soldiers, he is feared and loathed by the peasants. Now the avenging Bauman barbarians have regrouped and begun invading from the north to conquer the weakened Whitewall and other duchies of the Empire of Mann. As the battle rages around him, Samuel finds himself in the company of an altar boy, a peasant and three refugees from the invasion, a barbarian, a Farfadet and an Abre Nain. They become embroiled in a battle not only against the invaders and sorcerers who possess their soldiers but also against decadent and incompetent nobles and corrupt clergy.