Knights and Merchants is a medieval-time based real-time strategy (RTS) video game. Apart from the purely fictitious geography of our world, all game elements and scenes are based on the Anglo-Saxon period, 1200 A.D. And we haven"t used imaginary elements like fabled creatures, either. The player takes on the role of an ordinary captain in the Palace Guard. A conspiracy against the king catapults the captain into a situation where he finds himself responsible for the defence of the last royal province. This is all that remains of the shattered kingdom, which has been split into numerous small principalities and fiefdoms. And now even the king himself, ensconced in his capital, is threatened by enemy armies. This is the starting point of your Middle Ages adventure. Now you must win back all those provinces which once belonged to your king.