Roderychus is a young warrior from a traditional noble family of roman and slavic blood. The Venturoi family has lost the Emperor's favour because of its slavic ties in the early 10th century, when the conflicts with the bulgarians started to arise, and has not recovered its former status since then. Sucessive military mishaps and poor polithical skills have emptied the Venturoi's vaults, which lead its lords to ask the help of moneylenders once and again.

The fourth son of the current Lord Venturos, Roderychus has decided to dedicate his life to God and to the Church's military service, in the hope that his selfless deeds may make his family worthy of the divine favour and, perhaps, restore some of its former glory.