Conrad the Good, fifteen-year-old fool of all trades in medieval Germany, has received one too many beatings at the hand of his lord--Otto "the Witless"--for telling the truth. Determined to find a wiser master, Conrad sets forth on a quest through plague-stricken villages and wolf-filled forests with only his wit, his great warhorse Blackspur--and Christa the Fair, his lady love. Like the vibrant illuminated manuscripts he admires, the 14th century world bursts to life as Conrad the Jester spins his rhymes and truths into a brutal universe.