The story centers on James Jenson, a British soldier whose family is brutally murdered by a corrupt superior officer in the Indian colony of Bengal in 1858 during British rule. Jenson escapes to the remote forests where he seeks refuge with the mysterious Indian mystics known as sadhus. After years of being trained in their supernatural arts, Jenson must decide whether to use his newfound powers for inner peace and enlightenment as they are intended or to use them to get justice against the people who murdered his family.