The gods have slept for more than seventeen centuries and are due to wake up in twenty years. When that happens, Kumulhan, High Priest of the Sky Father among the nomads of the Tagashai steppe, wants his god to be supreme over the other gods. To ensure that, he launches an army of elite nomad cavalry in a brutal campaign to conquer the world. Tochwyatis, a young sailor born into a poor family but with an aptitude for sorcery, finds himsellf playing an important part in the efforts to defeat Kumulhan.