In the aftermath of the notorious event of the enchanted broom, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice learns his lesson indeed: “Seek Truth, not Power,” is the Sorcerer’s dictum. Peace returns to the castle’s long days, but as obedient Humboldt grows older, a madness grows in his master. The sorcerer has discovered strange secrets in the depths of the library. Humboldt’s dreams, too, are haunted by the broom, and the gods of wood, water and straw whisper through the halls at night. One fateful day, they have a visitor: a king has come to demand the alchemical services of the Sorcerer. When the king is denied he responds without mercy,and the Sorcerer’s gentle philosophy perishes with him in the flames. Humboldt finds himself cast into the world alone, with nothing but his master’s book of spells, and a newly unshackled desire for forbidden power. An unleashed Humboldt is a terrible thing to behold. He learns the secrets of the book and uses it to avenge his master’s murder, and he does not stop there: he usurps the throne itself. But he cannot escape the broom, which clatters in the night as Humboldt grows more and more tyrannical. The kingdom is aflame with bonfires of house-cleaning implements, and the days grow darker, until the Broom is finally victorious, flooding the imperial castle and sweeping Humboldt into the depths of the sea for his final encounter with the Nether God. But is the Sorcerer really as dead as he appears?