It does not follow the trend of being named after one of the Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire, and instead takes its title from its protagonist.

The first timeline begins each chapter and features Vlad performing an extremely complicated ritual of witchcraft.

As an Easterner, Vlad is held in scorn by the larger, stronger, longer-lived, and generally more powerful Dragaerans.

He attempts to teach Vlad to feel the same and purchases at great cost a title from the House of the Jhereg, making the family technically citizens of the Empire.

Vlad is regularly abused by gangs of young Orca, and learns to hate Dragaerans for the scorn they show him.

After his father dies, Vlad continues to sharpen his skills and gains the friendship of Kiera, a Jhereg thief.

He is partnered with Kragar, a mild and nondescript former Dragonlord, and quickly establishes himself as a capable enforcer.

Eventually Vlad receives his first job requiring the use of a Morganti blade, to be used on a Jhereg informant to the Empire.

Vlad's new operation runs smoothly for a short time until one of his enforcers, Quion, steals some of his money and flees to Dzur mountain, the home of an infamous and near-legendary sorceress called Sethra Lavode.

During the struggle, Vlad finds the staff and uses another of Loraan's artifacts, a magical length of gold chain, to destroy its protective enchantments.

They eventually reach the Lords of Judgment, who judge the fates of all Dragaeran souls that enter the Hall.

Aliera refuses to leave without Morrolan and goes to talk with the soul of Kieron the Conqueror, the founder of the Empire and her distant relative.