An attempted political overthrow in Northern Italy fails, causing most of the mercenaries hired by the coup leaders to flee. For Martin (Rutger Hauer) this is not the case, he intends to rob his duplicitous former employer Arnolfini (Fernando Hillbeck). Using a stolen religious artifact as a talisman, Martin raises his own army. He later abducts Arnolfini's future daughter-in-law Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who evades gang rape by professing eternal devotion to her captor. Along with a deadly plague, weeks of plunder and destruction follow.
