Dramatis Personae

The Crusaders

The Fourth Raymond, Count of Toulouse (Randy's past life)

The Beautiful Ida, Raymond's lady (Theresa's past life)

The Invulnerable Huguccio, Base Priest (Howard's past life)

The Wily Stephen, Count of Blois (Stevens' past life)

The "Infidels" and Pagans

The first Kilij, Sultan of Rum (Ken's past life)

The Treacherous Nameisis, Pagan Warrior (Niall's past life)

ACT I

SCENE I

(The Holy Land. An oasis.)

The Crusades. For as long as there were differences in religions there have ever been such things but never has one side been on the moral high ground alone or one to be on the moral low ground alone. Christians were not inherently good or evil nor were the "infidels" or pagans. The Christians, the Crusaders were the heroes in the Third Crusade and the Ninth Crusade. In the Fourth Crusade they were villains. In all other crusades the morality was more or less grey, there was no clear black or white.

So it was that at an oasis two individuals, one from each side met. Both were without land. One was Huguccio, a base priest and brother of the woman Sultan Kilij of Rum loved. The other was Nameisis, a pagan warrior whose gods were being killed by the Christian God but he was a treacherous as Huguccio was base but while Huguccio was base out of choice Nameises was treacherous out of necessity.

"Get thee gone, pagan!" ordered Huguccio. "Get thee gone now or I shall kill you."

"An oasis is a place of peace and truce." Said Nameisis. "I came here to drink, leave me be."

"I will not stand an unbelieving pagan such as yourself in my presence."

"Then leave."

"I thirst!"

"Then you must stand my presence." Said Nameisis, bending down and placing a hand into the cool water.

Huguccio gripped the staff he was holding and raised it to commit murder. He would have murdered Nameisis had Cound Raymond IV of Toulouse had not arrived.

"Huguccio, get back to camp!" ordered Raymond. "I will speak with the other nobles to see to it that you are no longer permitted to leave so you do not break the truce between our warring bands at places such as this."

"And I shall plot your excommunication." Said Huguccio. "For being invulnerable, I can plot both murder and excommunication."