Introduction

Introduction

For many centuries, the land of Casal has existed in a feudal state. Lords holding shares of land that usually have only a city and farm rule the continent. Those peasants who can fight become knights, and those who can’t sometimes set off to the mercenaries to learn of the art of war. Others become bandits, brigands who roam the lands, raiding townships and travelers. Those of a nobler calling become a part of the Guard, an impartial army that roams about in bands, suppressing bandits and maintaining order in a chaotic world. But it is only the most powerful, the most renowned, who are selected to become a part of an order that stands above all others. Those mighty ones are called “Draconics”.

Draconics earn their name from the way they earn their power: scaling a mountain, they must face the Ordeal set before them by the great Black Dragons, after which they will be allowed a drink of the Draconic Essence. This imbues them with power, adding to their strength, speed, and stamina, in addition to a unique trait that varies from person to person. The mountain is guarded, however, by the Association of Draconics, a phantom group who deals with the training and actions of all Draconics. When the Essence is drunk, the person becomes a part of the AD for life. They will not always be sent on missions or ordered about, but if they should choose to leave, vital information about the Association and the dragon’s mountain would be liable to leak out. Therefore, a deserter is branded by the AD as a Rogue, and they are pursued until death to maintain its great secrets.

Just as the Guard is at odds with the bandits, so is the AD at odds with the mercenaries in a sort of cold war. Where the mercenaries have many warriors of average strength, the AD has fewer warriors of greater strength. Thus a balance of power is maintained between the two. They compete with each other for clients and, depending on the wealth of the lord or the assignment in question, one or the other is chosen. Meanwhile, the Guards function with donations, spoils, and small fees levied on the people saved, which no one ever begrudges them. All of this provides great mobility for anyone seeking to join the warrior class; a beggar can become a bandit, a bandit a mercenary, a mercenary a knight, a knight a guard, a guard a Draconic, and a Draconic a lord, albeit rare for the last to occur. This all being said, this chain by no means must be followed; in fact, a large number of Draconics were previously mercenaries.

Following this example, at the bottom of the chain are the bandits. This refers to all the brigands lead by a man named Patch. This was his given name, but fate played a cruel trick on him when he lost his left eye in battle. Thusly was he given such surnames as “Patch of the patch” and the like. He fights still, on occasion; for while his grisly hair has yet already whitened, his sword arm is stronger still than many a man whose wielded such a weapon. His own blade is a long, serrated cutlass, the sight of which strikes fear even into his own men, and rarely is he crossed. Those who do attempt such treachery often do not live to recall the tale of fighting such an infamous blade.

Next are the mercenaries, led by a man called Chaine. He himself was once a knight before he left to join the ranks of those whom he now leads. When fighting, he hefts a long, two-handed broadsword and dons thick armor recognizable by the intimidating spike on the left shoulder plate. He treats his men well, but such a figure of terrible strength when the spark of youth has yet to leave him leaves those who follow him in a state of awe. He frequently spars with those under him as a way of teaching them.

Next amongst the four organizations we come to the Guard. Their general, Lukas, is not too dissimilar from Chaine. A tall, muscular man, he fights with the halberd and blinds his foes with his gleaming, gold-trimmed armor. His visage, however, has brought hope to the eye of many an innocent, but greater terror to the thieves who taste his and his army’s steel. They do their job well, and are often well rewarded by the lords whom they save financially and physically. Over the years, the Guard has set up messenger routes consisting of way stations garrisoned with a few horses and riders to speedily deliver news of bandit raids and riots, but it has also been opened up for the use of ordinary messengers, allowing orders from different organizations to reach their field units faster.

Finally, the head of the AD is one named Maddox. His armor and twin feather longswords are forged from pure draconic steel, a metal obtained from the dragons that is far more durable and less brittle than ordinary steel. The other Draconics also wield feather longswords, but these are made from an alloy of draconic and regular steel. Their armor is made from the scales shed from the dragons, which are also very durable. This makes the Draconics a very powerful organization, but it is hindered by the lack of people either brave enough or strong enough to best the Ordeal.

Yet our story does not begin with a lowly bandit, nor a grand Draconic; instead, we open on a young blacksmith, just turned twenty, in a small town of relative safety. His family lives but a day’s journey to the north. He has never had to swing one of his own creations at another man nor beast, and he has never drawn the string of a bow. And yet within this man is a yearning for justice and equality that is strange for a man of his position; but it is his past, not his present, that will shape the path of his future.