Despite Cardinal Guzman's efforts, life flourishes in Cochadebajo, with its improbable population of ex-soldiers, former guerrillas, unfrocked priests, reformed (though by no means inactive) prostitutes, a contingent of puzzled conquistadors, and an army of prodigious cats who smell of beer and dream of chocolate. Celebrating the ancient spirits of the land, and given to stupendous fiestas, Cochadebajo is seen by the sadistic Cardinal, leader of the new crusade, as the epicenter of all heresies, and the two sides march toward a spectacular confrontation. The combatants include a scholarly bogus priest, a desperate and famished knight-errant, and the corpulent ghost of Thomas Aquinas, who takes a brawny and decisive hand in setting the record straight.