High in the placid Snowflake Mountains lies a little-known conservatory for bards, priests, clerics, and others. Cloistered among his colleagues, a scholar-priest named Cadderly must contain a malevolent, consuming essence that's been uncorked, before his own brethren turn against him. Cadderly must put his studies to the test and enter the catacombs far below to save his brothers and himself.

Cadderly, the Edificant Library's eccentric young scholar-priest, has survived his first adventure, but the chaos curse is just the beginning of Castle Trinity's plans for regional conquest. Cadderly and his friends must save the inhabitants of the beautiful elven forest, Shilmista, where a new opponent leads an army of vile monsters. Not even Cadderly's powerful companions can insulate him from the trials of character and courage that he must face.

Cadderly has run to the city of Carradoon for solace, but he finds himself besieged by the resident assassins, the Night Masks. He and his companion, Danica, must uncover the killer's latest activities and put a stop to them. But the young priest learns more than he wanted to know.

Cadderly is charged with waging war between the combined forces of Carradoon and Shilmista Forest and the fiends of Castle Trinity, the stronghold of his nemesis. Instead he sets off with a small force of his own to conduct a smaller campaign, using his increasingly powerful priestly magic. Neither the journey nor the battle go as easily as planned, and Cadderly must come to terms with both his friends' expectations and with a past he'd almost rather forget.

Scholar-priest Cadderly returns to the Edificant Library to find his life shattered. Danica, the library, and Cadderly's own livelihood are at stake as he tries to put the chaos curse to rest for good.