The mighty Akkadian Empire is on its knees. Savage tribesman encroach upon all of its borders, and the inhabitants of the civilised lands are in peril. Erridu-pizir, the foremost chieftain of the Guti, a wild mountainous people who have harried the civilised lands for more than a generation, leads his vast army down out of the mountains to tear the heart out of the most powerful Empire the world had ever seen. Shu-turul, a descendant of non-other than Sargon the Great, scrapes together his own army to resist the horde of invading savages. On the far side of the Empire, the people of Uruk live in ignorant bliss of the utter destruction that is coming their way. Hengal, a young farmers son works the fields with his father. He lives a modest life with his family on their small plot of land, tilling the soil, and harvesting the produce as had countless generations of Sumerians before. All this comes to an abrupt end when he is conscripted into thew ranks of the Army of Uruk. As the two great armies march to meet on the field, the far flung city states begin to look to their own defence, fearing the worst. Word reaches Uruk soon after Hengal's arrival, of the complete and utter defeat of the Akkadian Army at the hands of the Guti. Urmah, Hengal's commanding officer, takes the young boy under his protection as they march to face the threat of the victorious army. The campaign is an utter failure. Urmah and Hengal only just manage to escape an ambush, and alone return to the city of Uruk, its army and governor left dead upon the field.
The Guti chieftain, Erridu-pizir takes his victorious army to Akkad, and there claims the city as his own. His cousin Imta, now king of the city of Adab, joins him on the victorious march. Imta soon returns home. Having previously been a client of the Akkadian Empire, he had switched sides and joined his wild cousin to turn the great battle at Kissura, he now rules his city in his own right. But things are not so easy for the new Guti rulers. Whether by divine interference, an act of rebellion, or just a mere accident, the city of Akkad is engulfed in flames, leaving Erridu-pizir without a capital. He moves his court back down the great river, and once again must impose upon his cousin's hospitality, before embarking on a new campaign into lower Sumer to subdue the last few cities that hold out behind their large mud brick walls.