In a 15th-century feudal village, a woman is accused of witchcraft and put to death by a lord. Her beautiful older daughter confronts him but she, too, is killed. A much younger daughter is spared and taken in by the killers. Once she is of age, as a deadly plague sweeps the land, she is forced to marry the lord's son. The drama unfolds in an atmosphere of cruelty, superstition and sexuality.