The story is told from multiple perspectives in order to engage readers with the storyworld. Logen Ninefingers, infamous as the Bloody-Nine, is a battle-hardened warrior from the frozen North who grows tired of his solitary existence of death-dealing. Captain Jezal dan Luthar is a young noble of the Union more interested in cards than swordplay, yet his training for a fencing contest puts him on a course to an even more high-stakes duel. Inquisitor Glotka, crippled and deformed after a stint in enemy dungeons, is now tasked with serving justice in the name of the Union through torture. With his two deputies Practicals Frost and Severard, he is plunged deeper into the corrupt heart of the government he serves. Ferro Maljinn is an escaped slave, a skilled archer who will kill an entire nation rather than be returned to chains. These characters are gradually thrown together by destiny in a land at the brink of war by the First of the Magi, Bayaz...