Zakil Nagim, scholar of Daru-Salaam, must complete his thesis by venturing into the haunted ruins of Car-Thum. Once a great mountain kingdom, Car-Thum was overrun by hordes of bloodthirsty goblins long ago, led by a fire demon. To study this city, he joins a Celaronian lady, Cara, who leads a team to rescue her sister from the mountain. And along the way he learns more about the fearsome goblins of Car-Thum.
Upon entering the ruined city, however, Zakil is captured by the goblins, and discovers nothing is as it seems. The demon may or may not be real, and the goblins he has learned to fear are in fact fighting for survival against the Celaronians, who enslaved them in ages prior. With the shocking discovery splitting his party down the middle, Zakil finds himself thrust into a struggle in the gloom between the fierce goblins and the ruthless human invaders in the darkness, all while hoping to discover the truth about the ancient kingdom...