What the Wild West was for America in the 19th century, Outremer - Beyond the Sea - was to Europe in the 12th: the wild east, land of opportunity, of warlike adventure, and of terror. The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem lasted from 1100 to 1187. In that time European noblemen and women came here to do penance in war against the "infidels", to escape the law in their homeland, mostly to seek their fortune. Among the immigrants were also paupers. Niall, a young fugitive from England, was one of those. Our story tells of his rise from destitution to nobility: a major baron in the Kingdom. Niall's sons, Guillaume and Enguerrand, carry the story to its end through rivalry to reconciliation on the eve of the fateful Battle of Hattin, against turmoil, war and intrigue in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.