Noetos and his reluctant companion, who is the village leader and his wife's lover, are fleeing from the Recruiters who want young men and women for religious training in Bhrudwo, but who are also hunting for an artefact in the possession of Noetos. They manage their escape as the weather turns destructive, and many tornados savage the coastline ... these, along with a number of other strange natural events, suggest something has is very wrong with the world.