In 1969, while working in a dead letter office in Nebraska, disgruntled postal clerk Randolph Jaffe discovers hints to a mysterious society known as The Shoal, which ostensibly practises a form of magic only vaguely known as "The Art". Jaffe's search eventually brings him to a New Mexico town where he encounters Kissoon, who claims to be the last of the Shoal. Kissoon tells Jaffe of the mystical dream sea Quiddity and the islands within it known as the Ephemeris. Quiddity, as it turns out, is visible exactly three times to an ordinary human: The first time we ever sleep outside our mother's womb, the first time we sleep beside the one we truly love and the last time we ever sleep before we die. However, this simply is not enough for the megalomaniac Jaffe, who wishes to actually visit the dream sea in person and gain control of it. Jaffe flees when Kissoon tries to bargain for his body.