Minalan gave up a promising career as a professional warmage to live a quiet life in the remote mountain valley of Boval Vale. For six months, things went well: he opened a quaint little shop, befriended the local lord, found a sharp young apprentice to help out, and met a pretty young widow. Then one night Minalan the Spellmonger is forced to pick up his old mageblade again to defend his adopted home from an army of goblins bent on a genocidal crusade against all of mankind. The good people of Boval Vale and their Spellmonger have only one choice: to hole up in the over-sized Boval Castle and hope they can endure an unexpected siege against hundreds of thousands of goblins.