The 'Chronicles of War' is a series of seven complete and self-contained novels that narrate the fabled career of Epsilon Three, Holy Warfarer of the Martial Rite. Orphaned as an infant into a pagan cult of war, Epsilon Three (named for the month and the day he became a foundling) learns the strategies and tactics of war as a prodigy learns physics. Triumphant at the Festival of Alcorde, Epsilon's ultimate reward is banishment beyond the Great Barricade of Empire into a mysterious realm of magic and monsters.

The second volume of the series, A Sea of Sand narrates Epsilon's passage from Oreset, a seedy port city, across the Desert Ocean to the distant, haunted steps of Verdune. Their passage is not an easy one, as monstrous insects plague them from dusk until dawn, spurred on by the ire of the most powerful wizard in the land, whom Epsilon mortally offended while setting a king once more upon Oreset's throne.