On the continent of Nova Sipmo, the Republic of Tejas is surrounded by hostile neighbors and menaced by many dangers, foreign invaders, bandits, demons, pirates, and more. To fight these dangers, there is a special order of elite gunslinging warriors, the Knights of Tejas. Samuel Uzburne is a veteran of the knights, and he feels like he's seen it all in his many years of service. In fact, he feels like he's seen entirely too much. The knights aren't what they used to be. They've grown corrupt and self-serving with time, and Samuel has grown cynical about trying to save the order from itself despite the protests of his adopted son, Yigbo. But when an invasion of Tejas from the Blood Ridge Mountains ends under mysterious circumstances, the two knights are drawn into a murder mystery involving the heiress of a murdered abolitionist. They soon find evidence of a conspiracy by Tejas's aristocratic elites to threaten the republic. As the conspiracy is uncovered, Samuel receives a shocking revelation from his past, and it becomes clear that dark supernatural forces at work in the land of Tejas. They were forces so ancient and powerful that they could threaten the very survival of the country and the continent itself.