FADE IN:

1 EXT. MEDIEVAL VILLAGE – JUST BEFORE SUNSET 1

We see an Italian village at the height of the plague.
Funeral processions, decrepit houses with their windows
boarded up… the stench of death all around.

2 TITLE: EUROPE. THE DARK AGES 2

Through the filth a KNIGHT walks his horse. He is weary but
not so dingy as his surrounding; a stranger in these parts.
He comes to an inn, where a boy takes his horse round back.
He enters the inn.

3 INT. INN – SAME TIME 3

The inn is dark and almost empty. A couple of patrons drink
silently at tables. Behind the bar stands a slovenly
BARMAID, dark-haired and lazy. She scratches at her
shoulder, on which we see a birthmark. The knight
approaches the bar, throws money down.

KNIGHT
A tankard of ale, wench.

The barmaid pours him a cup of ale. He drinks deep, stands
a moment.