Displaced American slacker Steve Jones and his adventuring friends discover their reputation has spread beyond Broken Bay when they are summoned to the court of the king of neighboring Diamv?.
The legal stipulations of the summons specify they must have seven members, but with Andricus and Nugktor having returned to their homes, the group is forced to find additional companions. First to join up is Magnus's cousin, Brummburr Rumblebelly. On the way to Diamv?, they are befriended by the restless ghost of a military tailor, Ivan the Regretful, and stalked by Josi the Weasel, a Maelaran assassin hired to find and kill Xixax for practicing magic without the proper credentials. After navigating the Diamv?an bureaucracy, the group discovers that the heir to the Diamv?an throne, Prince Nob, has been abducted by a religious cult. The king of Diamv? has hired them to find him and return him home alive for his upcoming nuptials. As if this isn't enough, Steve discovers that he has been chosen by the Seven Cosmic Pillars of the Celestial Totality for some as-yet unknown task, and his fragile, fractured memories of his old life are fading fast. "I've never been on an adventure," Brummburr said, grinning.