In the midst of the Wars of Consolidation, Quaeryt, the scholar advisor to Bhayar, the ruler of Telaryn, attempts to escape the poisonous politics surrounding Bhayar by persuading Bhayar to send him to the rebellious province of Tilbor. After braving pirates, storms, and worse, Quaeryt finds matters in Tilbor even worse, and that a letter he has received will embroil him back in politics while he fights two forms of rebellion.