The barrenland lay on the face of the world like a sore, nearly round, more than 300 miles in circumferance. Only madmen go into the barrenland, and only demons and monsters come out of it. Conrad lives in one of the primitive villages scattered near its edge. He has visions of the barrenland as a rich land of magical people who traveled to other worlds. Jervis Yanderman and Duke Paul know of these visions and know that a living man had come out of the barrenland within living memory. These three lead an army into the barrenland to solve its mysteries.