Who is the 13th Advocate? Karsten was once a violent man at the end of a violent career with no greater ambition than a quiet retirement and maybe a woman to keep him warm. But a gamble over a bottle of beer cost him that dream and sealed him to a bewildering fate: as a reluctant and curmudgeonly champion of the people. Irritable, argumentative, and with powers beyond imagining (though he's still not sure how to use them) Karsten now travels the back roads of a decaying empire, bringing his own brand of justice to both the high and the low. And getting grief at every turn from the llama who carries his gear.

In this stand-alone episode: Hunted by a creature from dark desert nightmares, Karsten and Babette flee to the port city of Pryloon to seek shelter in its teeming crowds-or more specifically, in the bed of an old friend. Their only chance is to find the mage who controls the creature before it finds them.

And hopefully, without upsetting their host, who knows nothing of the trouble they've brought to her door.