Having failed in Li Heng, the restless magician Wu and his eternally dissatisfied friend Dancer find themselves in the nest of pirates, the small city of Malaz. Of course, Wu immediately decides to seize power here at least. Several blue-skinned Napans, who fled from the civil strife that gripped their native island, seem to be suitable assistants. However, plans quickly begin to go wrong - Wu, who has taken the sonorous pseudonym Kellanved, is too busy wandering through the magical backstreets of the Kingdom of Shadow, and especially studying an abandoned, dull mansion on the outskirts of the city. He assures that beyond the threshold of this House lies the path to power. But so far, only new and new trials lie in wait for the friends; the allies turn out to be too self-willed. What will help Kelladved, full of ambitions, maintain control over his hastily created “retinue”?