Derkain, a military aristocrat, spent his youth fighting for his city. Now retired to a suburban lifestyle he squanders his days in a haze of wine, haunted by wartime mistakes.

His best friend pays him a visit, inviting him on a trip to the oracle, hoping to get him back in shape. Derkain learns of the rising tensions in the city: mining blockades, an immigrant flood, people disappearing on the streets, talk of war. Derkain agrees to join and slowly learns of the dangerous conspiracy his friends are plotting. A plot to depose a rising Tyrant that draws his authority in the name of the Gods. A plot that could get him killed for merely hearing. Unable to control his thirst, he gets their key player killed in a drunken misunderstanding — and these men are not the forgiving type. He could denounce them, covering his back and performing his duty, only to condemn all his childhood friends. Or he could join them, filling in for the man he got killed.

But another force is brewing in the underground. Slaves, rogues, fugitives gather in the shadow of the war. Powerless but determined, their leader, Echidnon, makes a pact with Demons — beautiful and talented creatures whose blood is so intoxicating that it breaks all men — in the hopes of fighting for their share. For in a world where not even The Gods are exempt from need, hunger rules them all.