For a thousand years, among people have lived those commonly called the Degenerates. Ancient blood flows in their veins—blood that smells of sulfur; Lilith, the Duchess of Hell, is their mother; and their reputation is darker than ink. Criminals and maleficars, monsters and werewolves, necromancers and sorcerers… Fortunately, the times of the power of the Degenerates are long gone. Only four clans of Ancient Blood remain—settled in the city of Ur, the Splendid and the Cursed—and they try to survive in a world that belongs to mortals.
A professional monster-slayer, Seth Slaughter, nicknamed the Bastard, is an outcast even within his own clan. There’s a saying about him: “No one comes asking Slaughter for help of their own free will—all of them get pushed in the back by the dead.” But if the dead themselves come to hire the Bastard, then the matter is truly bad.