Across the lands of Arran, mages are now subject to a law requiring them to register and place their powers at the service of a human lord. Those who refuse are hunted by the Order of Shadows, imprisoned, or executed. Through the destinies of elementalists, runic mages, alchemists, and necromancers, the series follows characters confronted with this new authority, the conflicts spreading across Arran, and the consequences of their own powers. Their stories gradually intersect with the major upheavals threatening the balance of the world of Aquilon.