The story of Manuel, a swineherd in thirteenth-century France, who becomes Count Manuel of Poictesme. The motto on his coat of arms is "Mundus Vult Decipi"--The world wishes to be deceived. It is in playing on others' expectations that he rises to hero status and becomes Manuel the Redeemer.

Brian Woodville, an adventurous journalist who investigates stories all over the world, is assigned a strange story in the Black Forest of Germany involving mysterious deaths and giant bats. Setting out to discover the truth about these apparent vampiric attacks in the village of Baden-Baden, he encounters reticent locals, strange foreigners, and a beautiful noble woman.