The second year of the great famine and terrible misery caused by a long-lasting spell of bad weather covering all of Northern Rus’ is underway. The urban community of Great Novgorod is shaken by uprisings, bloody internal conflicts, and quarrels—among notable people as well as among its lower ranks, the ordinary townsfolk. Prince Yaroslav has been expelled from the throne, and all power lies in the hands of temporary rulers—boyars mired in intrigue. Countless enemies will never miss the chance to cut off a piece of Russian land from its weakened master. Six years have passed since Yuryev fell to the Crusaders—and now Pskov too is under the Germans. Will there be a force that stops them and saves people from starvation and death?