For years after their disastrous defeat by the Pelbar at Northwall, the slave-holding Tantal had kept their distance. But once the Pelbar moved northward to colonize the shores of the Bitter Sea, Tantal forces were always on the attack. Then one day they kidnapped the young daughter of Stel Westrun, Pelbar master craftsman, re-inventor of the steamboat--and, suddenly, the single-minded foe of all things Tantal.