The news that the Crusaders had crushed the forty-thousand-strong army of Sharafi, the Emir of Aleppo and Mosul, at Hama had spread throughout almost all of Syria within a month.
As the news spread, it was wildly embellished and exaggerated. By the time it reached the ears of the humblest villagers, it had transformed into an unprecedented terror.
Blond Knights in armor had come to Syria, wielding swords and rampaging everywhere, killing every person they saw. Men, women, and children—none were spared. They plundered homes, seized Mosques, and proclaimed they would kill all Crescent Believers.
Hama and all of Northern Syria had fallen. The one-hundred-thousand-strong army of the most powerful Emir in Northern Syria, the Emir of Aleppo and Mosul, was easily defeated by this horde of Devils that had crawled out of Fire Hell. All the valiant Crescent Warriors were beheaded. The noble Emir had his limbs cut off and was nailed to the city wall to bleed to death. It was said that the Crusaders drank the Emir’s blood and carved off his flesh to roast and eat.
As for the conquered Hama City, the killing did not stop for three straight days. Over one hundred thousand people were slaughtered or taken captive. No Muslim of any age or gender was spared. Blood and corpses littered the ground. They threw adult Crescent Believers into pots to be boiled and skewered the weak on iron spits to be roasted.
"I know not if this is a beast’s hunting ground or my own homeland—oh, the land that gave me birth and raised me!"
So an anonymous Syrian poet from Mara wrote sorrowfully in one of his poems.
A Sunni scholar wrote in the history he was composing, "Fate has shattered us like glass, and we who are broken have never been pieced back together."
However, there were some who sneered at these rumors, holding a completely different perception of the Crusaders.
First were the Jews of Southern Syria. Through their relatives, they had a detailed account of the events in Hama. They had also learned from their kin in Western Europe that if they were willing to aid the cause of the Cross, the Franks would be generous with their gifts and protection.
Then there were the Shiite Believers, whose secret societies had recently become quite active in Northern Syria and Palestine.
There were also the daring merchants who maintained commercial ties with Hama; they had contacted their old friends there two weeks prior.
Finally, there was a slave who had earned enough money in Hama City to return home. Wearing a Cross, he recounted his experiences in Hama to his fellow villagers—from how he was enslaved due to debt, to encountering a Messiah who descended from the heavens and granted him freedom. He also told them that the Crusaders had freed all the slaves and would free even more in the future.
His fellow villagers sneered at his claims, believing them to be utter nonsense—the crazed delusions of a desperate man, a clown bought by the Crusaders.
They also claimed that unless he took off the Cross and stomped on it ten thousand times, his words would hold no weight. Otherwise, to them, his words were doomed to be lies and madness, and they would rather believe it was a devout Muslim who had saved him.
In any case, these voices were drowned out, and fear continued to spread unchecked across Syria.
In Syria, everyone feared for their own safety. They believed their Lords had lost their Power and could not protect them from such terrifying Devils.
Syria’s political landscape had completely fractured. The smallest villages could declare themselves independent, and each small, independent entity could only rely on its own resources to deal with the Crusaders.
There was no King, no Nobility, and certainly no Hade (Qadi) capable of shouldering the fate of the nation in its time of peril and leading the people to resist the Franks.
The will to protect one’s homeland had to be hidden away. Sycophancy arose to suit the times. Everyone wore a fawning smile, presenting gifts and reverence to the enemy. A local proverb put it well:
"Kiss the arm you cannot break, and pray for Allah to grant your wish."
Gana Adala, the leader of Guseer, was a master of seeing which way the wind blew.
This Warrior, known for his bravery, had been the most loyal ally of the Emir of Aleppo Sharafi just one month ago. This champion, "the last man to escape from Hama"—his valor and his love for Allah had now vanished like smoke. On the contrary, no one was now more diligent in fawning over Eric and the Crusaders than he was.
In addition to the usual offerings, he also sent an extra batch of fine steeds for the simple reason that he had heard the Frank Knights were short on mounts.