 Set in the mountains of Medieval Northern Spain, "Il Trovatore" (the Troubadour) is a chanting warrior named Manrico. Manrico s enemy in the region is led by the Count di Luna. From the outset, these two opposing forces are in conflict. Count di Luna loves Leonora, one of the queen s ladies in waiting. Ferrando, the captain of the guard narrates to his troops a terrible happening of 15 years ago: an old woman, accused of casting the evil eye over the count s brother, was burnt at the stake. The subsequent disappearance of the boy, followed by the discovery of a child s skeleton in the ashes, led to the conclusion that the woman s daughter, who was present at the burning, had thrown him into the flames to avenge her mother. She was never found. For us, the spectators, she has not yet been found... Meanwhile, Leonora doesn t love the count, but the troubador Manrico, raised by the gypsy Azucena. Manrico is then not only the Count s rival, but as a follower of the rebellious Count d Urgell, Manrico is also the Count s sworn enemy. In the Second Act, the gypsy Azucena tells Manrico her version of the "terrible" event of 15 years ago. She reveals that she is the daughter of the "old lady." And that she had promised her burning mother at the death pyre, that she would one day avenge her mother s death.