With Kılıç Arslan II consolidating his power over Anatolia, Emperor Manuel Komnenos sets out to reverse the verdict of Manzikert. The Imperial Armies move on to the plateau to rebuild Dorylaeum, and expeditionary forces are sent off to northern Anatolia. And a great Roman army is assembled and set on the road to Konya - a road that will, along the way to Konya, take them to an abandoned fortress guarding a steep mountain pass. A fortress named Myriokephalon and a pass named Tzivitzre...

As the Danishmend Beylik falls into crisis, Kılıç Arslan II sets out to conquer Anatolia. But fearful of the growing power of the Sultan of Rum, Nüreddin Zengi, the greatest force in the Muslim world, sets out to oppose him. An alliance is constructed against Konya - an alliance that will stand for so long as Nüreddin lives... And in Constantinople, Emperor Manuel Komnenos watches the events in Anatolia with growing trepidation, and decides to take a gamble on reversing the verdict of Manzikert.

In Anatolia, Kılıç Arslan II rides East to confront Yağıbasan and begin the reconquest of Anatolia. He makes an alliance with the Saltukid Bey İzzeddin, whose beylik has been raiding Georgia since Manzikert. And in Syria, Nureddin Zengi dispatches to Egypt two obscure Kurdish commanders...