It was the second year of the great famine and terrible pestilence caused by prolonged bad weather that covered all of Northern Rus'. The urban community of Veliky Novgorod is shaken by riots, bloody internal conflicts and quarrels, both among eminent people and between its lower classes, the simple city children. Prince Yaroslav is expelled from the throne, and all power is in the hands of temporary boyars, mired in intrigue. Numerous enemies will never miss the opportunity to cut off a piece of Russian land from its weakened owner. Six years have passed since Yuriev fell at the feet of the crusaders, and now Pskov is under the Germans. Will there be a force that will stop them and save people from starvation?