(from the back of the book) Al'Anfa - black pearl of the south sea, the city of the grandee's palaces and the mighty church of Boron. Al'Anfa - the plague boil of the south, centre of the slavery, suppression, poverty and crime. Both Al'Anfas - with all their typical malices - are the destination of the heroes, on their way to find the cause of bad dreams of a trader and the track of his missing spouse - but there are powers in the shadows that seem to want to prevent the success of the heroes at all costs.