Fantasy set in Dorsetshire. 

Ethelred Baron of Dorsetshire inherits the title when his father the randy old Ethelfoot is killed by an outraged husband. Ethelred lives in luxury wanting for nothing; he rules Dorsetshire with a rod of iron keeping his subjects extremely poor, but becomes decidedly nasty when he finds the fortune he also hoped to inherit has been filched by other members of the family, which includes a slave trader, a highwayman and a boutique owner. 

Part of his domain is the piece fo land known as Seynorgue from which a champion arises. Can he defeat the evil Baron and save the Houmits who live on Seynorgue from extinction? Or will a strange quirk of fate take over?