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It is Easter Sunday, 1097.

Under a clear ultramarine sky, the southeastern Italian port of Brindisi is a hive of activity. Hundreds of men and women lie in the sea front.

Among them is a young priest named Fulca.

Like the others, he is waiting to board the fleet of single-masted wooden ships that float at anchor,

their snowy white sails snapping in the breeze.

Fulker watches as crates of supplies are heaved onto the ships via creaking wooden gangplanks.

Horses are led aboard one boat, the sound of their agitation mingling with the cries of the sea birds wheeling overhead.

The crowd parts as a mounted lord rides through, shouting instructions at the servants carrying his weapons.

One ship unfurls its sails, and Fulke shields his eyes as he tracks its slow progress out into the open sea.

He joins a group boarding one of the next ships, assessing those who will be his companions on the long journey.

Many of them are fighting men, swords visible at their belts.

But just as many are peasants, men and women in rough, homespun clothing.

They speak a variety of languages, French and Italian dialect, even a smattering of old English. What unites them all is their faith,

which has led them to join this armed pilgrimage, this crusade, to retake Jerusalem for chrism

the priest is jostled up the gangplank, but as he reaches the ship's deck from across the water comes a tearing sound,

like the felling of an enormous tree, followed by a wave of blood-curdling screams.

...