Niklaren (Niko) Goldeye finds Lady Sandrilene fa Toren, Trisana Chandler, Daja Kisubo, and Briar Moss, four young misfits from four different classes, and brings them to Winding Circle Temple in Emelan. They find themselves housed together as they did not "fit in" when they slept in the dormitories with everyone. They are sent to Discipline Cottage to learn and use their new-found magical abilities. All four have ambient magic, as opposed to academic magic, and the power they use comes from ordinary things all around them. Sandry has magic with threads, Tris with weather, Daja with smithing, and Briar with plants.