Out of the southern desert rides Ahmann Jardir, a warrior king who has claimed the title Shar'Dama Ka, the Deliverer reborn. A vast army marches in his wake, intent on holy war against the demon plague and determined to recruit others to their cause, willing or not. But the Northerners have named their owned Deliverer : the Painted Man, a dark, forbidding figure, whom the Shar'Dama Ka once called brother.