The crisis point shifts to New Orleans as the campaign of the demon Eldloc focuses on the Gulf Coast. The Crescent City is terrorized by an army of drug addicts with an uncontrollable thirst for blood that stalks the ancient cemeteries. Strange events also develop offshore as a demonic plot to destroy the oil industry develops. The witch Morgana marshals her demon-fighting Guardians to resist, but the forces of the demon are strong and lethal. Her main adherent, a geologist named Pendleton (who is actually much more) is in constant mortal danger from a sinister assassin with superhuman powers, and the rest of the motley group is in little better straits. The primary mission of Eldloc, operating from Mexico, is to bring into the world from the Hidden Land beneath the sea an even more potent colleague, by means of an osmium mirror. The hour of the demon approches.