Bendahrin was a simple collector of antiquities. Alystra was 15 when she was hit by a massive spell that transformed her into the Issachon, the embodiment of evil. 12 years later, when Bendahrin invited Alystra to a clandestine meeting, he ended up joining her in the quest to find the source of the spell that had transformed her. As they travel, their ship was boarded by raiders, and their plans were derailed. The raiders join Alystra and Bendahrin, but the purpose of the quest changes to a salvage operation to find and repair an experimental spaceship that was lost 500 years earlier in an accident that led to its disappearance.