Samuel Rufus, a sorcerer, arrives in the village of Edgings Burrow to monitor the safety of three children – Saul, Ruby and Henry – but their safety is compromised when the vampire Arak discovers Rufus’s whereabouts and gives him an ultimatum: either join the army of the mysterious dark lord Baron Von Valak, or have his location betrayed to a group of immoral bounty hunters, the searchers. Rufus chooses neither, and instead abandons the village.