Elminster has been murdered. Now Midnight and Adon, who saved the Dales from the evil god Bane in the Battle of Shadowdale, have been sentenced to death for the murder.

But chaos has taken hold of nature and magic since the gods were exiled from the Planes, and the heroes are the only ones who know the location of the first Tablet of Fate, which can save the Realms from the fallen gods.

Even as the heroes escape, Bane and his ally, Myrkul, God of Death, set in motion a plot to steal the Tablets of Fate for themselves. The heroes face deadly assassins, nightmarish creatures, and violent storms on their way across the Dales, but the worst threat of all is unexpected - one of Midnight's friends has joined Bane and the forces of Zhentil Keep.