1890-Prince and warrior Mango Noyan strategizes to secure the future for the remnant of his people, Blue Wolf Clan, six-hundred-year-old descendants of those who assisted Genghis and Kublai Khan usurp power over most of the known world. His nomadic group travels the circuit of the Hoshun, their territory, and spends a season at the base of Mount Kula Kangri. This peak is the home to a legend of an ancient flood event leaving evidence of survivors. Mango ascends with the intent to discover the mountain's mysteries and is drawn back down by a premonition of disaster. Finding his world damaged beyond reckoning and wild with grief and anger, he retreats to find refuge and support from the Merchant of Chamdo, a trading ally and friend, to plot revenge. Twenty years later, Cameron Hewitt returns to San Francisco, California, to be enticed by his best friend and import-export entrepreneur, Harry Clayborne, to join an unlikely group. The aim of which is to plan and execute an archeological expedition to Tibet and Kula Kangri, with the hope of finding religious artifacts. The ensuing perilous journey and eventual partnering with Mango lead to unsettling discoveries and events.