In Myrne, the king has been assassinated and infighting has led to a brutal war of succession. The provincial garrisons have withdrawn, called to the south to fight on behalf of their lords. In the now unprotected hinterlands to the north, dark creatures are stirring. Peasants are disappearing, their fields consumed by swarms of monstrous insects. Travelers are beset on the roads by twisted creatures. The people are frightened and hungry, and many have fled to the few fortified cities that dot the shores of the Dokosa Sea.

• Porphyry is dispatched to secure the mints in Lindmoor, a trading city in the coast. On the way he encounters Ionnes, a huntsman, who is stalking a corrupted boar. Ionnes is severely wounded by the boar but manages to slay it, and he and Porphyry travel to the Wayfarer Inn.
• Erid, the innkeeper at the Wayfarer, asks Ionnes and Porphyry to look in on Yossarian the farmer, who hasn't shown up for his weekly shopping run. He loans them horses for the journey. En route they are attacked by corrupted dogs in Yossarian's fields, and Ionnes' dog Borvo is nearly slain by a wayward crossbow bolt. They find that Yossarian and his family have been killed by the dogs, but risen as undead. Ionnes and Porphyry slay them again, and return to the Wayfarer Inn to give Erid the bad news. They also return some of the trade goods they find in the house to Erid in exchange for currency and equipment.
• Porphyry and Ionnes are awakened by an orc raid on the Inn. They manage to kill the orcs but suffer grievous injuries. Erid, the innkeeper, is slain and the inn burned, but Porphyry and Ionnes take the orc's captain alive. He provides little information, but warns them that the world will be destroyed when Javad finishes his work. When they arrive at Lindmoor, Porphyry and Ionnes find it under attack by Javad and his orcs. They watch helplessly as the townfolk are put to the sword. After the horde departs, they cross the causeway to Lord Enstadt's castle.

• Things are bad in Lindmoor. Ionnes and Porphyry's mounts are slain and butchered for their meat, and there is a riot when a ship arrives carrying fish. Lord Enstadt sends Ionnes and Porphyry to escort a cadre of guards and builders to Eastwatch Tower in the hopes of securing a perimeter around Lindmoor. They encounter the remains of a unit of soldiers and several orcs on the road, which return to life. The reanimated bodies are killed, though one of the Lindmoor soldiers is slain. The rest of the party arrives safely at Eastwatch Tower. At Eastwatch Tower they find a guard, Marco, arguing with the tower's captain, Alben, over hiring mercenaries. Marco's plan is to use what few soldiers they have to attack a known pirate encampment, and to use the spoils of the raid to pay the northern hobgoblin tribes to secure their borders. Porphyry and Ionnes help Marco execute his plan, seizing a crate of longswords and capturing the leprosy-ridden Captain Zavosti. Marco escorts Zavosti and the spoils back to Eastwatch while Ionnes and Porphyry travel to the hobgoblin encampment and negotiate a deal for fifty soldiers.

• Ionnes and Porphyry return to Eastwatch and transport the swords offered as payment to the hobgoblin chieftain, then set out again. Marco travels with them. On their way back to the encampment they encounter a corrupted bear riddled with bolts, but slay it. Near the bear they find the bodies of two travelers, one of whom was carrying an enchanted crossbow. Ionnes and Porphyry pay the chieftain and collect their soldiers. Porphyry trades his old crossbow for one of the chieftain's slaves, Etroc, who serves as translator. The troop then begins a march southwards. Ionnes travels ahead of the troop to update Alben at Eastwatch. After finding a watchtower full of corpses and ruin, one of the hobgoblin scouts reports a cave occupied by orcs to the south. Ionnes, Porphyry, Marco, Kurat (a hobgoblin sergeant), and 5 hobgoblins kill an orc shaman and his retinue and find an excavation site.
• Ionnes and Porphyry take a number of hobgoblins and scout the area around the ruined tower. They are ambushed by an orc raiding party while trying to find fish to feed their hobgoblins. They slay the raiders and follow their trail back to Southwatch Tower, which has been taken over by the main host of the orcs. Porphyry returns to the ruined tower to muster the rest of the hobgoblins. Ionnes and Porphyry lead their hobgoblin army against the orcs, securing a pyrrhic victory. The battle is complicated by earthquakes. Only a handful of hobgoblins survive. Marco is sent to Lindmoor with news of the battle. Ionnes and Porphyry lead what hobgoblins remain into Southwatch Tower. Porphyry is wounded by an orc arrow during the assault. In fighting their way to the summit of the tower all of the remaining hobgoblins fall. On the tower's roof Ionnes and Porphyry find Javad. In the ensuing battle Porphyry and Javad each slay each other. With his dying breath Javad laughs, saying that slaying him has accomplished nothing, and that Ehilagash will lay waste to the earth. On Javad's body, Ionnes finds a rough map of the region showing the location of several caves, including the one the orcs were excavating.
• Ionnes searches the caves shown on Javad's map, finding one guarded by several orcs. Between tremors, Ionnes dispatches the guards with his bow. Inside the cave he finds a pit filled with sacrificial victims and a deeply excavated shaft that leads to an enormous cavern several hundred feet below the surface. Within the cavern is Ehilagash, straining against gargantuan chains and shaking the earth with each exertion. Orc shamans are working to cut through the chains, and the Beast breaks free. Ionnes flees out of the cave, riding to Lindmoor to summon what remains of Enstadt's army. The army is unable to stop Ehilagash, but Ionnes is able to cut through the membrane between two of its segments and wriggle inside. Despite the acid and intense heat of Ehilagash’s innards, Ionnes is able to fight his way along its length to its heart, which he cuts in two. The Beast is slain, and Ionnes cuts his way free, suffering severe burns. With Ehilagash slain the famine subsides and the region returns to normal. Crops are replanted, the remaining corrupted animals are hunted down and killed, and the dead stop returning to life. For their actions, Ionnes is made a baron and given a fief consisting of the hobgoblin's lands to the north of Lindmoor. Porphyry is canonized.