A nervous vat-born oddity travels to a dream-like Atramental realm in the deserts of Kharkharadontis and, after being injured by a wounded chiter is forced to take shelter in a caravanserai before being able to penetrate the deepest reaches of the dreamlands.
There, it is ridiculed by a group of uncouth Knights Ferrous, and leaves for its homeland in Laaskha. On the way it encounters an old itinerant who teaches it a valuable lesson.