Coll, who loves Fand, takes the advice of Bran on how to stop the sacrifice, believing that he will die in her place. The struggle between Nectan and Domnall for mastery of the tribe culminates in Domnall choosing Nectan's daughter Fand for a human sacrifice. Coll's brother Bran, who lives with the Druids, is torn between the two camps. He is welcomed, but it soon appears that he has a desire for power, seeking first to ingratiate himself with the chief's daughter and then plotting with the Druids and the chiefs of the Raven and the Deer. Taran arrives, introducing himself as a member of the tribe who was seized for a slave when he was twelve and recently escaped by killing his master. However, none of the elders will listen to him. He has been developing the idea, drawing plans and building models, since he was five, when a Roman raider killed his father, abducted his mother and shattered Coll's leg, crippling him. The Chief Druid strongly opposes the idea, saying they must continue to fight he declares it a matter of faith and therefore his domain, directly challenging Nectan's leadership.Ĭoll is convinced that his idea of a high circular drystone stronghold, designed to be impregnable, is a third way. Nectan puts forth the proposal that the warriors should no longer fight the Roman raiders but rather retreat when they approach, as the tribe's very existence is threatened by their losses. The novel opens on the day when over seven hundred Men of the Boar from many islands gather together, summoned by the chief Nectan. Meanwhile, the Roman civilisation requires ever more slaves, hence the raids that have been going on for decades. The Roman Republic is extending its influence outwards, and invasion is feared.
The power of the Druids, maintained through ritual and secrecy, is still strong. The tribe of the Boar is matrilineal, the Chief coming to power through his marriage to the former Chief's oldest daughter. At the time of the story it is largely settled by the tribe of the Boar ( Ork in their language), but the original inhabitants, the tribes of the Deer and the Raven, still live on the island, more numerous all together than the people of the Boar but divided by old rivalries. The action is set on the largest of the Orkney islands (now known as Mainland).