During a walk on the beach, Peter, an amber guild apprentice in Pomerania in the waning years of the Thirty Years War, comes upon amber entangled in a clump of seaweed and netting.

Despite the severe penalties imposed on such an action, he decides to keep the pieces and works on them in secret. One he gives to his sister. Peter is drawn to the other one without understanding why.

Gradually, he realizes that this piece of amber has magical powers, transporting him into a world three hundred years in the future. In dreamlike encounters, Peter witnesses the ravages of the last months of World War II in and around his home. He becomes embroiled in the troubles faced by a girl, Lioba, who seeks to escape from the oncoming Russian army.

In his own time, while chafing against the rigid rules of the guild and the pressures from his family, Peter struggles with the consequences of his actions; his sister is accused of witchcraft and jailed, and the reputation of his master's workshop is placed in jeopardy.