Jürgen the Swordbearer, vampiric Warlord of Germany, has his future riding on a push into the pagan lands of Livonia. There he must face the Gangrel warlord who has delivered an ancient vampire to Final Death, and he must endure the secret machinations of the dread Cainite Heresy. But his greatest enemy may be his own passions - his lust for power, his need for recognition, and his longing for the Toreador beauty Rosamund.