Fleeing yet another sticky situation, the rogue Farwander lands aboard a ship bound for the mysterious Ghost Archipelago. Unwittingly, he has joined the Heritor, Lady Temnos, on her expedition to the fabled isle of Penitent's Landing, where a mighty treasure is said to lie at the pinnacle of the volcanic Mount Golca.

As the expedition approaches its goal, Farwander is entangled in the fight between Lady Temnos and her rival, the monstrous Lord Hekatar, prophet of the cruel sea goddess Scaravayle. Sea battles, creatures from the deep, and the myriad other perils of the Lost Isles threaten to bring the rogue's life to an abrupt and unpleasant end. Is survival Farwander's only aim, however, or does he have his eye on a greater prize?