The Black Crusade is an atmospheric and tragic fantasy epic set in an alternate medieval Europe consumed by supernatural darkness. The story centers on Fabian, a young, idealistic squire of the Teutonic Order who clings to his faith in the chivalric ideals of love and valor, even as the world around him succumbs to despair. In this realm, the nobility struggles to maintain feudal order while the Great Black—a cursed, creeping darkness ruled by vampiric Strigoi—encroaches further into their lands. The Church preaches Utmost Purity as humanity's only defense, while the common folk wallow in poverty and dread.
Fabian's unwavering devotion to Lady Grey, the Grandmaster’s ward and the object of his courtly affections, is his sole solace amidst the growing chaos. But their fragile world shatters during a fateful hunt, when Lady Grey contracts the Blood Kiss, a vampiric curse that begins her slow, agonizing transformation into one of the Blooded—vicious thralls of the Strigoi. The Church's prayers can only delay the curse, leaving Fabian with one desperate hope: to swear as a Paladin of the Church and ride into the Great Black to seek a cure for his beloved.
Though he is a valiant knight, Fabian knows the truth behind the Church’s myths—few who venture into the Great Black ever return, and those who do are irrevocably changed. Nevertheless, driven by love and duty, he sets out on a harrowing journey into the Eternal Night, where he faces unimaginable horrors: monstrous thralls, treacherous landscapes, and the oppressive despair of the darkness itself. Along the way, Fabian’s faith is tested as he grapples with the certainty of mankind’s eventual doom and the possibility that salvation may come at a cost too great to bear.
The Black Crusade is a tale of doomed love and unyielding courage, weaving gothic horror, rich world-building, and the heroic ideals of medieval romance into a story of faith, sacrifice, and the haunting question of what it means to hold onto hope in the face of inevitable darkness.
