Ruler Anasurimbor Kellhus and his Great Ordeal march ever farther into the Ancient North, toward an epic conflict with the Consult. Kellhus's consort Esmenet, charged with maintaining the empire, finds herself at war with gods as well as her own family. Exiled wizard Achamian, meanwhile, leads his own ragtag mission to the legendary ruins of Sauglish to confront a horrifying truth. Into this tumult walks the White-Luck Warrior, assassin and messiah both.