Rus’ of the fourteenth century. Princes fight for the expansion of their lands, proving their right to the throne of the grand prince with the power of weapons. From the Oka to the Volga, the flames of internecine wars burn, and only Novgorod looks down on the foolish ambitions of rulers with arrogant contempt. And precisely into this setting does our contemporary arrive. He has only one entirely pragmatic desire—to survive and go back— but circumstances dictate their own terms, forcing the hero to take up arms, while fate grants him the Bear’s Castle.