A globe sinks inescapably beneath a track of bioluminescent suns inside the Eternal Worm. The teenage scout known as Chicken lives among the kobolds, a race of barbaric lizard people, on it in the eastern wastelands. When a half-dead orc girl shows up in the community, things quickly get out of hand and their basic way of life is destroyed. To the south, the tide is steadily rising, bringing with it a new menace as the orcish tribes combine into a vast and rapacious empire. Chicken discovers the ability to save his tribe with the aid of his out-of-place friend Amerigo and this weird orc named Penelope (pronounced "pen elope"). Will he be able to guide his people through these trying times?