1. Beginning

‘The Emperor is your friend, your family, your leader, your god.’

Imperial Propaganda Campaign 174

The Blademaster began his assault against Saxen for the fourth time; Saxen quickly deflected the blow and feigned an attack of his own. The Blademaster fell for the move and lost yet another duel. Saxen was good with a blade, his best pupil. He had learned quickly and at the age of fifteen had already surpassed the Blademaster’s fifty years of training. “Good work today, I can see improvement in your attacks. Lessons are over for today, I will see you back here again tomorrow at the same time”. With that, Saxen quickly picked up his cloak and left the training grounds. After twelve hours of intense training he was very hungry and was ready to sleep

Ever since Saxen was a child he had served the Blademaster. The Blademaster was the emperor’s personal bodyguard for thirty years and was now the groundskeeper of the Imperial School of Warfare. Only the best students in the empire were allowed into the school and those who made it sometimes committed suicide before the first week was over. Training was harsh and once there you were not allowed out until you turned twenty and when you did you were forced into serving the emperor. Anyone who tried to escape was normally tortured by the Inquisitors until they were begging to be thrown into the meat grinder at the local butcher to end their misery.

Saxen was one of the schools special cases. He came from a family of peasant farmers who had less than two copper coins to their name. At ten years old he was taken from home by the Inquisitors, the emperors personal agents who carried out jobs no one else would touch. Before taking him they had burned his farm and brutally tortured his father in front of him. He was taken into custody by the inquisition with his mother, who was never seen again. He was then thrown in a dungeon and locked away for a month before he was released and forced into the service of a duke, who had him killing rats in the kitchen and cleaning. He got into a lot of fights with the other children and was always the victor; this was noticed by a very important man in the duke’s court. The Blademaster bought this slave from the duke for fifty silver coins and returned to the school, it had been five years since that day.