On his deathbed, the reigning king bestows power to an unexpected heir who must find strength within himself to unite his people against the violent crusades which threaten their freedom.
In the 13th century, Pagan tribes inhabit the lands along the shores of the Baltic Sea, and the rich trading nation of Semigallia has not gone unnoticed by Rome. Semigallians themselves are brave warriors whose kingdom is a place where even Vikings had once feared to tread. The symbol of the Regent's power is his Ring.
The ring itself is called the Namejs ring, it comes from a 13th century Latvian folktale of a warrior-king who is among the last to stand and fight against German crusaders who were Christianizing the land at the point of a sword. Forced to flee, the legendary Namejs leaves the ring to his son so that he can prove his identity upon his father's return. However, the Germans learn of this symbol, and search for the boy who wears it. All the boys of Semigallia have similar rings made and wear them so that the enemy will not know who is the real.
Pope (Arturs Skrastins) is the ruler of the Christian world and wants the Nordics to accept him as their religious leader. But the Nords have proven difficult to subjugate as they still worship Pagan symbols and refuse to accept Christianity as their religion. He installs Max Von Buxhoeveden (James Bloor) his son, as the papal ambassador to the Nordics and tasks him with delivering the Ring of Kings to him. Max himself is the illegitimate child of the Pope, and he believes that this is his only route to make a name for himself and acquire fame and fortune. The Pope warns of a dire future for Max, if he fails to return with the Ring.
Meanwhile in Semigallia young Namejs (Edvin Endre) is an ordinary resident of the town. He is in love with Lauga (Aiste Dirziute). He catches the regent Viesturs' attention by winning a rugby match by defeating brutal opponents. Namejs requests the regent Viesturs for a boat as a reward for winning the match, as he wants to see the world.
Max meanwhile sets shop in Saaremaa, where he kills the King and installs Pihto (Dainis Grube), prince of Saaremaa as a puppet ruler. Next, he gets Pihto to invite regent Viesturs (Egons Dombrovskis) of Semigallia to his father's funeral. Max intends to poison Viesturs and succeeds.
Back in Semigallia, the politics begin over Viesturs successor. Ulus (Andris Keiss) is a favorite to win and raises the hopes of his son Arko (Kaspars Karklins). But the Regent doesn't trust anyone in his court and thus install unsuspecting Namejs as his successor. He passes his ring, his sign of power, to Namejs.
Max decides to attend Viesturs funeral with Pihto. Arko decides to challenge Namejs to a duel and loses badly & is humiliated. Max murders a random woman in Semigallia and pins the murder on Pihto. He also alleges that Pihto had a hand in killing his own father as well as Viesturs. He outrages the entire town and asks for revenge against Saaremaa. This is a call Namejs cannot ignore. Namejs doesn't trust Max though.
At Saaremaa, Max asks Namejs to attack from the rear while he and his soldiers attack the front. Once inside, Namejs realizes Max's folly when he sees Max organizing the attacks against Namejs's forces. But Namejs is a skilled commander and leads his forces to victory. But then Max tricks Namejs and manages to capture him. He is frustrated that Namejs doesn't have the ring on him, as he gave the ring to Lauga before leaving.
Max imprisons Namejs and sets him sail to Rome. But Namejs escapes and returns to Saaremaa. He is attacked by Pihto but is saved when Pihto's bodyguard Saken (Gints Andzans) kills him as he does not agree handing over all the Nordics over to Max, as what Pihto has been doing. Namejs and Saken release Namejs forces and head back to Semigallia.
Meanwhile Max has already reached and has told the town that Namejs has abandoned them and headed for Rome. As the town deliberates, Max orders an attack on the residents of the town. But Namejs uses a secret tunnel to reach the town and kill all of Max's men. Max escapes yet again.
Max reaches Rome and threatens the Pope to declare a crusade against Semigallia. Max raises an army of all sexual assault offenders and murderers of Rome. In response Namejs calls all the tribal leaders of Nordics including the most powerful Daugulis (Toms Aunins). If Daugulis agrees to fight against Rome, all the leaders will follow.
At the meeting Daugulis supports Namejs & an alliance is imminent. But Arko betrays his tribes & allows Max's men inside one of the garrisons which leads to slaughter. One Nordic boy witnesses this and relays to Namejs. Namejs kills Arko in front of his father Ulus.
A few days later Ulus brings word on an imminent attack from the crusaders & stands by Namejs. He advises against sending for help from Daugulis as there is no time. Unknown to Ulus and Namejs, 2 tribal leaders made a deal with Max to carve up the Nordics. They attack the forces of Namejs and Ulus, when they come to confront the crusaders. Ulus dies while defending Namejs, and Namejs & his surviving men barely reach back their fort.
Now Max attacks in full, while Namejs orders the women and children to evacuate through the tunnel. This time Namejs gets away from Max. He takes his tribe to the holy lands, which are forbidden. Through the night the tribe prepares for battle. The next morning Daugulis comes to Namejs's aide and together they defeat Max and his forces in the fog of the swamp. Max drowns in the swamp.
