Kaen lives a brutal life in a subterranean ghetto known as Gutter. He is whipped ruthlessly for resting while he toils away in the black iron mines of Gutter, and he is thankful. Thankful that he has not been drafted into the Wargames, as his father was before him. To die for the entertainment of the Pitlords. Until one day, his lot his pulled and he appears destined to be imprisoned in the fodder pins where he will be fattened for slaughter. Kaen knows the Pitlords will chase him to the ends of Gutter; but will they follow him into the Wormways, the tunnels that delve so far beneath Gutter? Will Kaen come to learn what truly rules the Wormways?