Ren discovers that he is the son of a (now deceased) king Primus. He escapes Bloth with a new friend Niddler and they travel to a ship port. There, they befriend a pirate named Ioz and a runaway girl named Tula.

With Bloth in hot pursuit, Ren and company seek refuge within the labyrinth of sea caves where the Pale Warriors make their home. Ren discovers that his companions are not what they seem to be, nor are they all entirely trustworthy.

With both the compass and the first Treasure stolen, Ren and company pursue the thieves, including Konk, to the island of Pandawa, home of the monkey-birds. The island is in the midst of an uprising, as Niddler's people seek to free themselves from the predations of slavers.

Ren and Niddler are captured by Bloth. Ren meets Abagon, one of his father's most trusted captains, and learns the history behind the Treasures of Rule.

Ren and his friends try to escape and regain the First Treasure from Bloth.

After rescuing Teron from the Maelstrom, Ren and the crew stopped to gather supplies, but are interrupted by Bloth and his men. During the pursuit, they wind up in Andorus, where it is revealed that Tula is an ecomancer and they find the place in ruins. Teron and Tula try to use their powers to restore the island, but something evil is around and guarding one of the Treasures.

While running from Bloth, the crew rescues an old woman named Cray who knew Ren's Father Primus and is an alchemist. She saves them, but offers anything for a sample of Dark Water to use in a potion of hers, but Ren refuses. She then uses one of her potions on Tula to force Ren to do her bidding and uses the Dark Water in a potion to make herself young again in an attempt to reclaim her youth.

Ren sees a vision of his father telling him if he rings "The Bell of the First Sound" that all the Dark Water will be gone forever. But when he rings the bell, he finds out that it was all a trick by an imprisoned servant of the evil Dark Dweller, a creature named Keroptus. Ren swears to re-imprison the monster he freed by accident.

The crew finds another Treasure, but it is guarded by a creature that can only be defeated by feeding it a loac flower (the best cure on Mer for most illnesses). Ren sets off into the swamp guided by creature with a mysterious past given to them by a shady Bio-transmuter.

An underappreciated Niddler deserts the Wraith crew upon learning that he is supposed to be a king to a tribe of non-flying monkey birds. What he doesn't know, however, is that he is also the only hope of defeating a giant dangerous creature, which he can't do alone...

The crew encounter a wizard who "collects" ships by shrinking them. While trying to save Ioz, they are shrunk as well and left stuck in a glass bottle.

Ren saves a baby leviathan and a bond is born. However, the baby leviathan, Ren and Ioz are taken captives by Bloth as its family starts to appear.

While once again running from Bloth, the crew is forced to leave the Wraith, but Tula falls victim to the Dark Water in the process. Ren is shaken and they are captured by Bloth, but a slight glimmer of hope comes when it seems that Tula may still be alive. Ren then escapes and takes the Treasures and enters the realm of the Dark Dweller to search for his lost friend.