The story is set in a fiery period at the end of the 19th century in a tense atmosphere charged with the premonitions of the First World War. After Assi Al-Zand's discharge from military service and his return to his village on the banks of the Orontes river, he is caught up in a series of conflicts and conspiracies involving the region's leading political figures.

A counterfeit artist, also a single father, is forced to work with his ex-lover to craft the perfect $100 bill — all to save his dying daughter.