Marching into the desert without a grand plan other than simple slaughter isn’t much of a plan. The usksha are nomads anyway, you’d never be able to catch all of them in their home turf.

“No, I believe we’ve taken care of the major problem, but I think you should stay here and oversee the safety of this town now. We’ll head back to Fort Glory and report the situation.” You tell Delan.

As you pack up and start to leave, Edgar begins to complain.

“What are we doing? We should be trying to hunt down the rest of the usksha!”
“Our mission here is done, the usksha have been defeated. If we get ordered to mount an expedition into the desert then we shall do so.”
“Bah! Anu is probably going to assign us to fight kobolds again! We should be taking the initiative!”
“It seems every time you take the initiative, I end up having to help you in some way. I’d recommend that you worry less about fighting and more about your combat techniques.”

At this point Edgar gets noticeably mad, but says nothing and walks off. You’re starting to get slightly concerned about him. You’d rather not have to teach him a lesson like you did when you were still training under Mistress.

When you arrive at Fort Glory and report to Captain Anu he’s pleased with what you’ve accomplished and is impressed. He says he’d like to keep you here to finish up wiping out the kobold infestation, but he’s received word from the top that your team is to be transferred elsewhere.

“Where are we going sir?”
“The Rask frontier and I don’t mind saying I don’t envy you.”
“I’ve heard of the place before. What is the situation there?”
“Bad, worse and downright horrible. As far as I know the Empire has been trying to establish order there for decades and not making any progress.”
“Captain, I certainly hope you don’t make it a habit of saying disparaging things about the Empire.” A man says walking into the room. It’s Mr. Mol.
“Uh no sir. Sorry sir.” Captain Anu says sheepishly.

Mr. Mol overlooks his comments and speaks to you directly.

“Ignore the captain’s words, everyone exaggerates the situation at the Rask frontier. While the area is having some problems, the fact remains if it really was so bad there, we would’ve pulled out a long time ago. Anyway, congratulations on your latest mission. Couldn’t help overhearing your report in the next room, quite impressive. Which makes me believe it was a good idea to transfer you now.”
“The Eternals are ready to serve the Emperor wherever he may need us sir.” You say.
“And the Emperor will always appreciate your service. He has been watching you, you know. He always is. That is why he believes you would be most effective apart from each other.”
“Sir?”
“You are Eternals, m’boy. You were bred to lead as well as fight. You’ve already proven yourself to be able to do both, but your fellow Eternals will never reach their fullest potential if they live under your shadow. All of you will be separated and given your own commands in territories the Emperor needs you the most. I have no doubt you all will be successful and honor the Emperor with your future victories.”
“W..we will sir, but you said territories. Are we not all being sent to the Rask frontier?”
“Oh I think the captain misunderstood. A few of you are being sent there, but some of you are staying here, and others are yet being sent elsewhere. Here, here’s your orders, you can inform the rest of your team, I’m sure they’ll be excited to hear this news too, oh and consider yourself promoted to lieutenant. The rest of your team members will probably be promoted to sergeant rank when they officially get their assignments. I think that’s about it. A caravan will be here to transfer some of you to your new assignments in a few days. Good day.”

As Mr. Mol goes walking out the office, you feel a little strange. Your team has been together so long, it feels weird to know that you’re going to be split apart.

“Sorry for the wrong information, I thought all of you would be sent to the Rask frontier. Well I guess I’m glad to know some of your are staying, heh…are you okay?” Captain Anu asks.
“Huh? Oh yes. I’m okay captain. If you’ll excuse me I have to inform my team of their new assignments.”
“Certainly. Dismissed.”

You inform your team of the news and there is a mixture of feelings. There is some excitement of gaining their own commands, but are still a little apprehensive about splitting up. Well all of them except Edgar who seems to be solely overjoyed that he’s getting his own command.

“Okay, Roldan and Brenda, you’re staying here.”
“Damn, I was hoping I’d at least get to go some place different.” Brenda says.
“Make no mistake, this area still needs order established. I believe you and Roldan will do a fine job in continuing the reputation of excellence that we have built here.”

You continue with the list.

“Gerald and Warrick, you’re being assigned along the Felkan border. Apparently the non-aggression treaty the Empire had with the Felkan Kingdom has expired and tensions have been high. War with them may even break out.”
“Interesting. Well if war does break out, we’ll be the first one to show the Felkans the error of defying the Emperor’s mercy.” Warrick says.
“Yeah, yeah! Let’s get on with it, where am I going?” Edgar interrupts.

You glare at Edgar and then continue.

“You, Kane and I are all being sent to the Rask frontier.”
“As it should be. My skills were going to waste here.”
“Edgar, I’m going to say this while I’m still your superior. I certainly hope you realize that this isn’t a game and you’ll prove yourself to be a competent leader.”
“Hey, I’m just as much of a leader as you are! The difference is I take risks and that will be a trait that will necessary in a place like the Rask frontier! I will rise up in the ranks and bring honor to the name Eternal and glory to the Emperor!”
“You mean glory to yourself because you feel like you have something to prove.” You say.
“And you don’t? You’re a hypocrite anyway! Always were ever since we trained under Mistress! I still recall you begging for your life to her as she crushed you under her boot. From that day on you were always trying to prove yourself and beating the bloody pulp out everyone.”
“And as I recall you were on that end several times Edgar. Is that why you’re still trying to prove yourself?”
“You wanna try that now?” Edgar says getting in your face and at this point all of your fellow Eternals intervene to break up a potential fight.

“Hey come on you guys! We can’t be seen fighting each other like this! We’re Eternals, we put all that stuff behind us back in training. We’re professionals and supposed to be setting the example for the Empire!” Roldan says.

Edgar brushes himself and backs off.

“Tell you what Roldan. You set the example for the Empire. All of you set the example. In the meantime, I’ll be scoring victories and actually serving the Emperor by conquering land in his name.”

And with these last words, he takes his leave all of you.

The last few days together are a little awkward with what transpired between you and Edgar. Still you say your goodbyes to Roldan and Brenda when the caravan comes.

A few days after that, you then say your goodbyes to Warrick and Gerald.

You, Edgar and Kane sit in silence for the remainder of the trip. Eventually you arrive at the Rask frontier and make your stop at Fort Destiny. You haven’t gotten off the caravan five minutes when a woman wearing battle armor approaches you.

“Hey are you the Eternals?”
“Yes we are.”
“I’m Captain Krozer, I’ve heard a lot about you and wanted to meet you personally. Welcome to hell.”

Captain Krozer begins to give you a run down on the entire area. She mentions that the mortality rate here is high so morale isn’t the best, but she hopes that you and the other Eternals assigned here can rally some sort hope here again.

Captain Krozer also goes on to tell you that there’s been a slight change of plans in your assignments. She says that you’re still staying here, but that Kane and Edgar are going to Fort Defiance, which is further north. Probably for the best considering what transpired between you and Edgar.

Kane nods a dignified goodbye to you, and gets back on the caravan; Edgar of course isn’t as pleasant and gives you a hostile glare before leaving.

With the caravan leaving, you head to your new unit. When you see them, quite a few of them are predictably much older than you, but surprisingly you see that half of them are around your age.

“So, you’re one those Eternals huh?” one the older soldiers says almost dismissively. You’re in no mood to warn anyone this time, so you go straight to the point and throw him to the floor with his arm painfully twisted behind his back.
“Correct, and you’ll address me as sir or lieutenant if you want to keep this arm, because it’ll be very hard to continue doing your duty for the Emperor with just a stump. Understand?”
“Argh. Y..yes sir!”

And so begins your assignment in the Rask frontier.
> You rask Frontier (History Lesson)
Much like the Nalin province, Rask is on the outskirts of the Empire, except to the north rather than the south. It’s a cold, snowy land made up of a lot of mountain ranges and long stretches of forests. It’s also rich with resources and the Empire has made great strides in building mines and lumber mills here.

The Empire’s been attempting to tame this area for decades, but its history here hasn’t been the best, as it almost seems that it is fighting the very natural order of things here. The environment is harsh all by itself, but when you add in the various denizens that live there, it makes things even more difficult.

Several vicious barbarian tribes live here some of which carry various “conditions” that allow them to turn into beasts such as wolves or bears. Elves who have managed to escape the shadow of the Empire have made their homes here as well. The worst of the lot are the numerous ogre tribes and giants that live here, fortunately they stick further north, but every once in awhile they wander further south and cause trouble.

The military presence is strong here, but isn’t as well supported like it should be and as a result it can only do so much. Svelk mercs are usually used to bolster the ranks a bit, but they’re not something the various fort commanders like to use. There are even a few battle mages, elite orc troops and Shadow Guard stationed here, though they are mostly further north where the ogres and giants are the problem.

Another problem is the citizens themselves, for whatever reason the citizens in Rask tend to have a more independent mindset. Many that live here see themselves as pioneers taming the land despite the fact that if it wasn’t for the Empire, most of them would’ve been massacred, raped, or eaten by now. In any event, they’re more likely to openly criticize the government and its gotten to the point where most of the military barely bothers to do anything about it. They’ve got so many other concerns that unless the plebes are openly rioting, a few mouthy peasants don’t even rank on the countless list of dangers in Rask.


Year 16

You are called into Captain Gruz’s office, when you arrive you see the well dress man that you saw four years ago standing with him… and debating with him again.

“I’m telling you Mr. Mol, I think they should work in the same unit. They’ve trained together and they’ve worked together so well at this point that splitting them up would be folly. Hell, these people have known each other since birth! You know that better than anyone!” Gruz says.
“Yes, captain I’m well aware of the situation, and normally I might agree if their were more of them, but I think their expertise would better serve if we deployed them separately in problem areas of the Empire.” Mr. Mol replies.
“You don’t break up a well oiled machine! I guarantee having them all in the same unit will be a better idea. I mean we still haven’t sent them into a real battle yet! Wouldn’t it be better to see if they can get the job done first before placing them in charge of others?”
“And what a perfect opportunity to lose them all, if something unexpected should happen.”
“Oh for…look that could’ve happened here! And if you’re so worried about them all getting killed in battle then what was the fucking point then? Besides, if they do prove to be useless in battle, better we find that out sooner rather than later when they’re in charge of others and getting them killed as well!”

Mr. Mol thinks for a moment and then replies.

“Hmmm, very well you do have a point captain. We’ll try it your way at first and go from there. Have them deployed in the Nalin province. Your services here have been useful as ever. Good day.”

Mr. Mol, steps out and commander Gruz addresses you.

“Well you heard all that, you and your fellow Eternal babies are being sent to the Nalin province. It’s not the Rask Frontier, but it’s a suitable first challenge for you guys. We’ve been trying to settle the conquest of that place for a few years now, and technically it is part of the Empire, but we’re still having problems with the Kobold population there. Little bastards are determined to resist and have been conducting a fairly effective guerilla war since we arrived. Though I blame that more on the incompetence of the commander in that region. If I was stationed there, this shit would’ve been taken care of a long time ago…but I’m not, so unfortunately you will have to report to Captain Pollo.”

Captain Gruz approaches you closer before continuing.

“Now I’m putting you in charge of your unit for reasons I’m sure you’re aware of. While I’m confident I’ve made the right choice, the burden will ultimately be on you to prove to be an effective leader. Remember, you’re not just a normal soldier, you’re supposed to be an Eternal. An instrument of destruction ordered by the Emperor himself. Failure is never an option for you. Even now there are rumors about your kind, and when you finally show yourselves you will be met by fear, awe, hatred and even distain. Prove yourselves and you will live up to the name that your were given. Anyway, the caravan picking you up will arrive tomorrow. Good luck and dismissed.”

With this you leave and tell the rest of your people about where you’re going and the general nature of what to expect. They all seem pretty excited to prove themselves, and to be honest so are you. At last you will get the chance to prove yourself and can only imagine that the Emperor will be pleased by what he will see.

The next day, you and your unit are picked up and the ride there is uneventful, but your unit spends a little time talking about things they see on the way. This is the first time all of you have probably been away from the training center you’ve spent all your lives in. Curiosity about some of the surroundings is natural, but it isn’t just the casual talk that’s different.

Your comrades are different. They are less reserved than they once were. Captain Gruz might’ve been a strict instructor, but in addition to encouraging teamwork he was also prone to encourage you guys to have a few hours of free time. This loosening of the reigns a bit, allowed a certain amount of familiarity with each other that wasn’t just on a professional level anymore. Even you have felt yourself changing personality wise.

Still you are all Eternals, and you are loyal to the Emperor. You will never forget that your duty comes first.

Eventually you all arrive at Fort Glory in the Nalin province where you are stared at by several soldiers who whisper among themselves. None of you pay it any mind though, you simply report to Captain Pollo. He doesn’t look anything like Captain Gruz. He’s human for one thing and wears lighter armor which is impeccably clean. When he sees you, he almost looks bored, like you were interrupting him, but you when you came in he was reclined in his chair and not doing anything of importance.

“So…you are the Eternals I’ve heard so much about. Humph. I don’t see anything special except that pretty one over there. Oh no, not you dear. That blonde muscular one in the back. Yes, delicious.” Captain Pollo says pointing to one of your men and not even getting out of his chair.

“Captain Pollo, we are here for our assignments so that we may serve the Emperor.” You say.
“(Sigh) I suppose you are this unit’s leader?”
“ Yes, captain. I am currently their leader and holding the rank of sergeant due to my excellence in my training exercises.”
“Sergeant? YOU? Why you’re a mere boy! All of you are just children! I ask them for more men and they send me children! The only thing you all would be good for is cleaning the fort! In fact that’s what you can go do right now, starting with the toilets!”

This is exactly what Captain Gruz said would happen. This is your first test.

“Captain, we have been trained in several forms of combat and fully ready to fight. Send us into battle and we will prove ourselves. We are here to perform our duty for the Emperor and all that entails.”
“All that entails eh? Okay, you want a fight? A few miles east of here, you’ll find a town called Dalt. Its filled with ignorant peasants that constantly whine to us that there are a nest of kobolds lurking in the hills near them. We’re stretched out as it is and can’t spare anymore troops to waste on towns that are of no military importance in the grand scheme of things. Go there and take care of their problem, then maybe we’ll have more to talk about.”

You nod and all of you leave, but before you are able to Pollo calls you back.

“Oh one more thing sergeant. Order one of your men to stay here with me. I think you know by now which one I mean.”

At this point you’re in genuine shock. You may be young, and even a little detached from normal ‘society” but you know exactly what Captain Pollo is implying. You can honestly feel more than surprised by this though.

“Captain, I will need all of my team to have the best chance to succeed in this mission.” You say.
“Oh? Well sorry, but you’ll have to make do like everyone else here does. Or you could clean the fort like I first ordered you to do, which you chose to ignore.”

It’s a no win situation, though you try to figure out a loophole that takes the responsibility off of you.

“Captain, you are of a higher rank than me, surely you could just order him yourself.”
“Ha ha, nice try. No. You want to be a leader of men? You need to make this decision yourself. Tis quite easy I would think. Sacrifice one for the good of the rest. If anything I’d say he’s the lucky one. He gets to stay here enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, and won’t have to be mucking about with kobolds and dealing with idiotic peasants.”
> You refuse to leave him behind
Despite your desire to go on an official mission, you feel that it would be worse to leave one of your team members behind, especially what would lie in store for him.

“I will not leave a member of my team behind. We need to be together to produce the best results, captain.”
“I see. Well, we’ll see how true that is when you’re all cleaning out the toilets. You’re on clean up detail until further notice. That will be all.” Pollo says in a perturbed tone.

You leave Captain Pollo’s office with the bad news to your team.

“WHAT?! I was ready for a fight!” Edgar yells.
“What happened in there?” Roldan asks.
“Yeah, we were going on a proper mission and not we aren’t!” Gerald adds completely oblivious that he wasn’t going anywhere to begin with.
“Look, there will be other times, let’s not dwell on it, we’ve got toilets to clean…”

The rest of your team follows your lead and grumble a bit, but Edgar is doing the most of it. By the end of the day you’ve cleaned up a lot of the fort, but really, this isn’t what you want to be doing.

The next day, Captain Pollo feels that you’ve done such a good job that he says that your talents would be wasted in battle. He feels that other more experienced soldiers can now be freed up from such trivial duties that your team is performing. You’re kept at the fort doing all sorts of menial labor.

Day pass into months and the mocking never stops from the other soldiers in the fort who call you the “mop kids”. This angers all of you, but of course once again Edgar is the one that nearly comes to blows with other soldiers. You have to stop him several times. Eventually his anger is directed towards you.

“Fuck! This shit is all your fault anyway! What the hell did you do to piss off Captain Pollo all those months ago?”
“Nevermind Edgar! And you’re out of line, I am your leader!”
“Hah! Some great job you got us fearless leader! We’re making the Empire safe from filthy shitholes and dirty floors!” Edgar says getting in your face.

Before the others can break it up, you grab Edgar and slam him up against the wall.

“You wanna know what I did? I refused to leave Gerald behind to get fucked by that sick dipshit captain!” you shout in his face.
“What?” Edgar says.
“He…he wanted to fuck me?!” Gerald says in disbelief
“Well it was pretty obvious when we first met him, Gerald.” Brenda remarks.
“Surprised he didn’t just order you to leave him, or more logically order Gerald himself.” Roldan adds.

You let go of Edgar.

“I dunno, I think he’s playing some sort of game. Maybe it’s a test even. Like if I’m willing to leave a man behind or not.” You answer.
“Well I sure wish you had sergeant, because that would’ve been the smart thing to do! So what if Gerald would’ve had to please the captain? It’s not like it would’ve been a big deal. The greater good of the team and the Empire would’ve been better served with the rest of us chopping up some kobolds, not mopping floors and cleaning!” Edgar says unsympathetically.
“HEY!” Gerald replies.
“Right, Edgar, I’ll remember your speech the next time some sicko wants me to leave you behind instead.”
“Look all I’m saying, is you gotta make tough decisions like that if you want to be a real leader! Just think if we were on a mission and you had to leave Gerald or any of us behind to die, to complete it? You would’ve probably froze up and got us all killed. I’m not sure if I believe in you as our leader if you can’t make simple choices…”

Between the monotonous cleaning, the mocking, Edgar’s bitching and your own doubt about your leadership abilities, you can’t take it anymore. You punch Edgar in the face mid-sentence and knock him to the floor, he’s dazed for a moment, but doesn’t hesitate to attack you right back.

The pair of you are going at it which draws the attention of several passing soldiers, who take the time to mock you. This is a mistake on their part as you and Edgar are in a heightened state of anger causing you both to attack them instead. This then escalates into others aiding them, which in turn causes your team to aid you as well.

The brawl is chaotic and counter productive, but for a brief moment you actually feel “alive” again. You imagine most of your fellow Eternals do too after all this is the first “battle” they’ve had in months. Unfortunately Kane feels so alive, he forgets that he’s fighting fellow Empire soldiers and ends up killing three of them.

The brawl ends with the opposing soldiers running and the rest of you standing around looking at Kane who doesn’t know why you aren’t celebrating your victory.

When this is brought to the attention of Captain Pollo he’s furious and has you all put in the stockade and mentions that a trial will be held tomorrow to decide what to do with you. He already doesn’t like you, so you’re guessing it’s just going to be for show and then he’ll do whatever he likes anyway.

“Look, Kane is the one who killed them, he should be the one to take the fall!” Edgar points out.
“For the greater good of the team huh, Edgar?” Warrick replies.
“Damn right! Look you know I’m right! If we try to fight this, the captain is just going to punish all of us!”
“He’s going to punish us all anyway Edgar!”
“And you’re probably right, but Kane here is the only one who’ll get the noose. I mean no offense Kane, but come on even you know I’m right on this!”

As much as you’d like to punch out Edgar again, that’s what lead to this in the first place. Actually if you had just left behind Gerald, this could’ve all been avoided. Maybe Edgar’s right, the good of the many outweighing the needs of the few. You were taught that before in training, you don’t know why you questioning it now.

Still, it doesn’t feel right just throwing Kane to the wolves, just like it didn’t feel right leaving Gerald behind.
> You defend Kane
You’re a team and you were trained together as one. You feel that you should do everything you can to protect one of your own, especially in this sort of situation. Besides, Captain Pollo is most likely going to punish you all anyway. You might well stand for what you believe in.

Edgar naturally disagrees with you again, but grudgingly goes along with it since he doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of another one of your beatings. Everyone else agrees more readily. Kane while appreciative seems to be oddly detached from the situation, almost as if he doesn’t care.

The next day all of you are marched into the cafeteria, which is serving as a makeshift court room. Many of the other soldiers are calling for your blood, but some of them are just sitting quietly. Captain Pollo asks both sides what exactly happened, and despite the other side making themselves look more sympathetic, fact remains Kane DID kill three of them. There really isn’t any way to defend against it. You attempt to direct blame to the other soldiers and claim it was an accident, but nothing works.

Captain Pollo decides that all of you are at fault and says you’re all going to be executed for treason. It is at that point to make one last plea.

“Captain! I beg you not to carry out this sentence! At least not on my team! I was the leader. I was the one who should’ve kept a better handle on them. This incident is my fault. If you have to execute someone, execute me, but not for treason, for incompetence in the service of the Empire. I may have failed to serve the Emperor, but the rest of my team may still make up for this terrible mistake that is mainly my fault.”

It’s an impassioned plea. Even the soldiers that were cheering for your sentence are silent. Captain Pollo thinks for a moment and readdresses you.

“Very well. I suppose you have a point. However Kane still killed three men, his crime can’t go unpunished. He will still be executed for murder and treason. The rest of your team members will be freed, but I’m having them all separated and transferred to other places. I can’t take the chance of having another incident like this happening again. Maybe the Rask frontier would be a better place for them since they want to fight so much. Execution will take place tomorrow morning. Court adjourned.”

Before you’re taken away, you address the rest of your team one last time.

“Learn from my mistakes. Be a better Eternal than I was and live up to the name. Serve the Emperor well.”

You and Kane are taken to separate cells. You spend the rest of the night thinking about why you felt the way you did. It doesn’t make sense based on your training. Mistress beat duty and obedience into you, yet you rejected Captain Pollo’s initial request. Gruz certainly thought you were leadership material. He was obviously was wrong. A lot of questions go through your mind, but ultimately you realize it’s futile. You’re to be executed at morning and it’ll hardly matter what reason you had for any of your actions. You eventually fall asleep.

The next morning, you and Kane are taken from your cells and marched to the gallows. The pair of you say nothing the entire time until the hangman puts the noose around your neck and you are asked if you have any last words.

Kane continues to remain silent. You are slightly more verbal.

“Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empire!” you shout before the lever is pulled and your neck snaps like a twig.


Despite your desire to go on an official mission, you feel that it would be worse to leave one of your team members behind, especially what would lie in store for him.

“I will not leave a member of my team behind. We need to be together to produce the best results, captain.”
“I see. Well, we’ll see how true that is when you’re all cleaning out the toilets. You’re on clean up detail until further notice. That will be all.” Pollo says in a perturbed tone.

You leave Captain Pollo’s office with the bad news to your team.

“WHAT?! I was ready for a fight!” Edgar yells.
“What happened in there?” Roldan asks.
“Yeah, we were going on a proper mission and not we aren’t!” Gerald adds completely oblivious that he wasn’t going anywhere to begin with.
“Look, there will be other times, let’s not dwell on it, we’ve got toilets to clean…”

The rest of your team follows your lead and grumble a bit, but Edgar is doing the most of it. By the end of the day you’ve cleaned up a lot of the fort, but really, this isn’t what you want to be doing.

The next day, Captain Pollo feels that you’ve done such a good job that he says that your talents would be wasted in battle. He feels that other more experienced soldiers can now be freed up from such trivial duties that your team is performing. You’re kept at the fort doing all sorts of menial labor.

Day pass into months and the mocking never stops from the other soldiers in the fort who call you the “mop kids”. This angers all of you, but of course once again Edgar is the one that nearly comes to blows with other soldiers. You have to stop him several times. Eventually his anger is directed towards you.

“Fuck! This shit is all your fault anyway! What the hell did you do to piss off Captain Pollo all those months ago?”
“Nevermind Edgar! And you’re out of line, I am your leader!”
“Hah! Some great job you got us fearless leader! We’re making the Empire safe from filthy shitholes and dirty floors!” Edgar says getting in your face.

Before the others can break it up, you grab Edgar and slam him up against the wall.

“You wanna know what I did? I refused to leave Gerald behind to get fucked by that sick dipshit captain!” you shout in his face.
“What?” Edgar says.
“He…he wanted to fuck me?!” Gerald says in disbelief
“Well it was pretty obvious when we first met him, Gerald.” Brenda remarks.
“Surprised he didn’t just order you to leave him, or more logically order Gerald himself.” Roldan adds.

You let go of Edgar.

“I dunno, I think he’s playing some sort of game. Maybe it’s a test even. Like if I’m willing to leave a man behind or not.” You answer.
“Well I sure wish you had sergeant, because that would’ve been the smart thing to do! So what if Gerald would’ve had to please the captain? It’s not like it would’ve been a big deal. The greater good of the team and the Empire would’ve been better served with the rest of us chopping up some kobolds, not mopping floors and cleaning!” Edgar says unsympathetically.
“HEY!” Gerald replies.
“Right, Edgar, I’ll remember your speech the next time some sicko wants me to leave you behind instead.”
“Look all I’m saying, is you gotta make tough decisions like that if you want to be a real leader! Just think if we were on a mission and you had to leave Gerald or any of us behind to die, to complete it? You would’ve probably froze up and got us all killed. I’m not sure if I believe in you as our leader if you can’t make simple choices…”

Between the monotonous cleaning, the mocking, Edgar’s bitching and your own doubt about your leadership abilities, you can’t take it anymore. You punch Edgar in the face mid-sentence and knock him to the floor, he’s dazed for a moment, but doesn’t hesitate to attack you right back.

The pair of you are going at it which draws the attention of several passing soldiers, who take the time to mock you. This is a mistake on their part as you and Edgar are in a heightened state of anger causing you both to attack them instead. This then escalates into others aiding them, which in turn causes your team to aid you as well.

The brawl is chaotic and counter productive, but for a brief moment you actually feel “alive” again. You imagine most of your fellow Eternals do too after all this is the first “battle” they’ve had in months. Unfortunately Kane feels so alive, he forgets that he’s fighting fellow Empire soldiers and ends up killing three of them.

The brawl ends with the opposing soldiers running and the rest of you standing around looking at Kane who doesn’t know why you aren’t celebrating your victory.

When this is brought to the attention of Captain Pollo he’s furious and has you all put in the stockade and mentions that a trial will be held tomorrow to decide what to do with you. He already doesn’t like you, so you’re guessing it’s just going to be for show and then he’ll do whatever he likes anyway.

“Look, Kane is the one who killed them, he should be the one to take the fall!” Edgar points out.
“For the greater good of the team huh, Edgar?” Warrick replies.
“Damn right! Look you know I’m right! If we try to fight this, the captain is just going to punish all of us!”
“He’s going to punish us all anyway Edgar!”
“And you’re probably right, but Kane here is the only one who’ll get the noose. I mean no offense Kane, but come on even you know I’m right on this!”

As much as you’d like to punch out Edgar again, that’s what lead to this in the first place. Actually if you had just left behind Gerald, this could’ve all been avoided. Maybe Edgar’s right, the good of the many outweighing the needs of the few. You were taught that before in training, you don’t know why you questioning it now.

Still, it doesn’t feel right just throwing Kane to the wolves, just like it didn’t feel right leaving Gerald behind.
> You place all the blame on Kane
You already made one mistake by place one man’s welfare above the good of the team. You can’t afford to do it this time when all your lives may very be at stake.

Edgar is of course happy you came to this conclusion, the rest of your team isn’t as happy. A couple even argue with you a bit, though it isn’t over so much that you’re not standing up for him, so much as you aren’t consistent. Kane on the other hand seems oddly okay with your decision. He says if it’s for the good of the team then so be it. It’s almost as if he doesn’t care.

The next day all of you are marched into the cafeteria, which is serving as a makeshift court room. Many of the other soldiers are calling for your blood, but some of them are just sitting quietly. Captain Pollo asks both sides what exactly happened, and despite the other side making themselves look more sympathetic than they are, you do nothing to protect Kane in any way. You say that it was all his fault and you had no control over his actions. Kane accepts full responsibility and doesn’t even try to defend himself.

While this keeps you and the rest of your team from facing the gallows, it doesn’t keep you out of complete trouble. Since you were the leader of the team, you are stripped of your rank and busted back down to private. Captain Pollo says that all of you are to be transferred as well since he doesn’t want something like this happening again. Kane is scheduled to hang in the morning.

When court is dismissed all of you return to your room. Edgar goes on about how lucky you all were, but nobody is in the mood to hear it. Eventually he says he’ll be glad to get transferred from everyone anyway since you’re all holding him back, he then leaves to report to his cleaning duties.

The next morning when Kane is executed none of you attend to watch it, indeed you’re all wonder where you’re going to be transferred, which is supposed to be in a couple days.

As it turns out you didn’t need to wonder at all. Mr. Mol finds out about what happened and isn’t pleased about how it was handled. He allows the transfer of most of your team, since he believed you all would be better off separate to begin with, but you’re left at Fort Glory since he also believes that you utterly failed to show any leadership qualities. As such you’re not fit to be located anywhere important.

Captain Pollo, who never liked you to begin with is even more perturbed that he couldn’t get rid of all of you (At least not the one he found attractive) keeps you on clean up detail and other menial jobs. You’re a private now, so it’s not even like you can use your rank as an excuse of how your skills are being wasted.

The only thing that keeps you going is the delusion that maybe your service is still benefiting the Empire in some small way, even if you aren’t actively fighting for it. At least it does for a while.

Year 17

“But captain, you’ve got kobolds running all over the countryside, there are those desert nomads destroying entire towns in the southern part of Nalin, you’re starting to get bandit reports…at least let me go on patrol!” you say to Pollo.
“Everything is under control private, the last thing I need is your help! And why aren’t you attending your duties?”
“Captain, if I may say, we do need every man we can get out there. Most of the ones we got are reluctant to even leave the fort at this point. Surely you must see that someone who wants to fight is a benefit, not a hindrance.” Lieutenant Anu interjects.
“And when I want your opinion lieutenant I’ll ask for it! I gave you a chance to fight before and you didn’t take it, when you had the chance.”
“Oh fer…captain I’d think you’d want anyone going out there to fight if only so you won’t have to do it.”
“What are you implying lieutenant?”
“I’m implying you’re a fucking incompetent asshole who worries more about procuring young boys from nearby towns rather than the safety of this province! And I for one can’t stand by and watch it any longer! As of right now I’m invoking the right to take command; you have proven a complete fuck up since I’ve been stationed here. Private, I’m giving you permission to get on a horse and out to the town of Yalef. They’re in the middle of a siege from the usksha there. Hopefully you can get there and do something.”

Captain Pollo protests and he argues back and forth with his second in command, but when the guards enter the room, they are obviously on Anu’s side. Not wishing to get involved in this anymore than you are, you take the opportunity to follow Anu’s orders.

Part of you is very excited about this, at last you feel like a weight has been lifted off your chest and you’re finally free to serve the Empire in a more substantial way.

Your journey to Yalef isn’t an uneventful one. You’re actually attacked several times by kobolds. One of these ambushes succeeds in killing your horse. You dispatch the kobolds, but even with all your training you find that not being in any sort of combat for a year has made you slightly rusty.

You carry on to the town of Yalef, fighting and resting when you must. By the time you get within sight of the town, half of it is in ruins and multiple horsemen surround the place. These must be the usksha or the desert horsemen you’ve heard about. Some of them see you and immediately attack.

You do well against them all things considered that you’re outnumbered, fighting alone, tired and slightly wounded with your many skirmishes with the kobolds. The problems come when the usksha change up tactics and begin firing arrows at you instead. You’re caught by a couple of the arrows before you can get cover.

As you hide behind a rock, trying to figure out how you’re going to actually get to the town, you feel a sharp pain in your body. This is followed by several more and you slump into the rock, struggling to breathe. You notices several more arrows in you, but these are smaller and you from you’ve seen all the usksha were in front of your near the town.

Then sounds of inhuman high pitched giggling fill your ears. It’s another kobold ambush! The little fuckers must’ve been hiding in the mud and dirt nearby waiting for their own time to strike.

You see several approach you, while others go off to engage the usksha, but you know your role in this is over. Your eyes close and are just glad your last moments were fighting for the Empire.


Year 16

You are called into Captain Gruz’s office, when you arrive you see the well dress man that you saw four years ago standing with him… and debating with him again.

“I’m telling you Mr. Mol, I think they should work in the same unit. They’ve trained together and they’ve worked together so well at this point that splitting them up would be folly. Hell, these people have known each other since birth! You know that better than anyone!” Gruz says.
“Yes, captain I’m well aware of the situation, and normally I might agree if their were more of them, but I think their expertise would better serve if we deployed them separately in problem areas of the Empire.” Mr. Mol replies.
“You don’t break up a well oiled machine! I guarantee having them all in the same unit will be a better idea. I mean we still haven’t sent them into a real battle yet! Wouldn’t it be better to see if they can get the job done first before placing them in charge of others?”
“And what a perfect opportunity to lose them all, if something unexpected should happen.”
“Oh for…look that could’ve happened here! And if you’re so worried about them all getting killed in battle then what was the fucking point then? Besides, if they do prove to be useless in battle, better we find that out sooner rather than later when they’re in charge of others and getting them killed as well!”

Mr. Mol thinks for a moment and then replies.

“Hmmm, very well you do have a point captain. We’ll try it your way at first and go from there. Have them deployed in the Nalin province. Your services here have been useful as ever. Good day.”

Mr. Mol, steps out and commander Gruz addresses you.

“Well you heard all that, you and your fellow Eternal babies are being sent to the Nalin province. It’s not the Rask Frontier, but it’s a suitable first challenge for you guys. We’ve been trying to settle the conquest of that place for a few years now, and technically it is part of the Empire, but we’re still having problems with the Kobold population there. Little bastards are determined to resist and have been conducting a fairly effective guerilla war since we arrived. Though I blame that more on the incompetence of the commander in that region. If I was stationed there, this shit would’ve been taken care of a long time ago…but I’m not, so unfortunately you will have to report to Captain Pollo.”

Captain Gruz approaches you closer before continuing.

“Now I’m putting you in charge of your unit for reasons I’m sure you’re aware of. While I’m confident I’ve made the right choice, the burden will ultimately be on you to prove to be an effective leader. Remember, you’re not just a normal soldier, you’re supposed to be an Eternal. An instrument of destruction ordered by the Emperor himself. Failure is never an option for you. Even now there are rumors about your kind, and when you finally show yourselves you will be met by fear, awe, hatred and even distain. Prove yourselves and you will live up to the name that your were given. Anyway, the caravan picking you up will arrive tomorrow. Good luck and dismissed.”

With this you leave and tell the rest of your people about where you’re going and the general nature of what to expect. They all seem pretty excited to prove themselves, and to be honest so are you. At last you will get the chance to prove yourself and can only imagine that the Emperor will be pleased by what he will see.

The next day, you and your unit are picked up and the ride there is uneventful, but your unit spends a little time talking about things they see on the way. This is the first time all of you have probably been away from the training center you’ve spent all your lives in. Curiosity about some of the surroundings is natural, but it isn’t just the casual talk that’s different.

Your comrades are different. They are less reserved than they once were. Captain Gruz might’ve been a strict instructor, but in addition to encouraging teamwork he was also prone to encourage you guys to have a few hours of free time. This loosening of the reigns a bit, allowed a certain amount of familiarity with each other that wasn’t just on a professional level anymore. Even you have felt yourself changing personality wise.

Still you are all Eternals, and you are loyal to the Emperor. You will never forget that your duty comes first.

Eventually you all arrive at Fort Glory in the Nalin province where you are stared at by several soldiers who whisper among themselves. None of you pay it any mind though, you simply report to Captain Pollo. He doesn’t look anything like Captain Gruz. He’s human for one thing and wears lighter armor which is impeccably clean. When he sees you, he almost looks bored, like you were interrupting him, but you when you came in he was reclined in his chair and not doing anything of importance.

“So…you are the Eternals I’ve heard so much about. Humph. I don’t see anything special except that pretty one over there. Oh no, not you dear. That blonde muscular one in the back. Yes, delicious.” Captain Pollo says pointing to one of your men and not even getting out of his chair.

“Captain Pollo, we are here for our assignments so that we may serve the Emperor.” You say.
“(Sigh) I suppose you are this unit’s leader?”
“ Yes, captain. I am currently their leader and holding the rank of sergeant due to my excellence in my training exercises.”
“Sergeant? YOU? Why you’re a mere boy! All of you are just children! I ask them for more men and they send me children! The only thing you all would be good for is cleaning the fort! In fact that’s what you can go do right now, starting with the toilets!”

This is exactly what Captain Gruz said would happen. This is your first test.

“Captain, we have been trained in several forms of combat and fully ready to fight. Send us into battle and we will prove ourselves. We are here to perform our duty for the Emperor and all that entails.”
“All that entails eh? Okay, you want a fight? A few miles east of here, you’ll find a town called Dalt. Its filled with ignorant peasants that constantly whine to us that there are a nest of kobolds lurking in the hills near them. We’re stretched out as it is and can’t spare anymore troops to waste on towns that are of no military importance in the grand scheme of things. Go there and take care of their problem, then maybe we’ll have more to talk about.”

You nod and all of you leave, but before you are able to Pollo calls you back.

“Oh one more thing sergeant. Order one of your men to stay here with me. I think you know by now which one I mean.”

At this point you’re in genuine shock. You may be young, and even a little detached from normal ‘society” but you know exactly what Captain Pollo is implying. You can honestly feel more than surprised by this though.

“Captain, I will need all of my team to have the best chance to succeed in this mission.” You say.
“Oh? Well sorry, but you’ll have to make do like everyone else here does. Or you could clean the fort like I first ordered you to do, which you chose to ignore.”

It’s a no win situation, though you try to figure out a loophole that takes the responsibility off of you.

“Captain, you are of a higher rank than me, surely you could just order him yourself.”
“Ha ha, nice try. No. You want to be a leader of men? You need to make this decision yourself. Tis quite easy I would think. Sacrifice one for the good of the rest. If anything I’d say he’s the lucky one. He gets to stay here enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, and won’t have to be mucking about with kobolds and dealing with idiotic peasants.”
> You surviving Soldiers (Your Team)
There were eighteen of you that were sent to Captain Gruz, now there are only seven of you left, but that’s because you all proved to be the strongest and you proved to be the most gifted of them all.

While you were picked to be a “leader” fairly earlier on in your training, you never really interacted with your classmates as much on a social level since you felt as team leader you were supposed to keep a proper barrier between you and your subordinates.

Still, you have gotten to know them all on a personal level due to practically growing up with all of them, even if you haven’t been excessively close to any of them.

Gerald is blonde with fair skin and probably the tallest. You remember when Mistress first put you against him you were slightly afraid of him, though you learned that day that size does not always equal skill. Still, he has certainly improved since those times otherwise he wouldn’t be here. From other observations you’ve made, he is one of the more talkative members of your team, and tends to get along with everyone.

Warrick is a brown skinned youth with very curly hair. He tends to be more serious minded than some of the others, but can be talkative when he wants to be. Warrick’s fighting abilities were always good, but never anything special. He has proven to be a lot stealthier than the rest of you, but other than that nothing stands out about him.

Brenda is the only female that made it through training, though there weren’t many to begin with. Female Eternals weren’t given any special treatment, so the fact that she is here, means she has definitely proven herself. Her fighting skills are adequate, but it is with ranged weapons like a bow where she really shines. While you all were altered at birth to function slightly differently than a normal human, the biology of a teenager and all that entails still affects all of you on some level. On more than one occasion your fellow male Eternals have begun to look at her a little differently than each other and sometimes you hear discussions about her and her physical attributes (Mostly Edgar and Gerald). It is unknown if she thinks similar things about the rest of you. As always you have attempted to maintain a proper barrier, though even you cannot deny that you’ve let yourself get distracted a few times by her… green eyes.

Roldan, like Warrick doesn’t stand out in any meaningful way, however he does display a great sense of duty like you do. His combat skills are also about the same as Warrick’s. He tends to try to diffuse disagreements between others in the team when they arise. Almost like a “peacemaker.” You find this behavior a little strange for an Eternal, but you appreciate his efforts in helping to support a cohesive unit. If you were looking for a second, it would be Roldan. He’s a stable influence on the team.

Kane is probably the best warrior in the team besides you. Mistress pitted him against you in your first match as well. After you incapacitated Gerald, Kane nearly beat you, but you managed to pull out a victory. (Much to Mistress’ dismay) Since that first victory, Kane and you have had several sparring sessions. Most of the time you won, but there were times when he did. Every time he did though, he would always ask if you were okay. Outside of these sessions, he has always been very respectful of you. You might even consider him to be your second, but he tends to stay in the back even more than Warrick and takes no initiative on anything unless directly called upon. He barely speaks to anyone, has a rather distant demeanor towards everyone else and he keeps to himself even more than you do. Still, he works well in the team when the time comes and nobody can doubt his combat skills.

Edgar is your “problem” teammate with fiery red hair and an equally fiery temper. He’s always been a little more emotional than the rest of you though that doesn’t detract from his combat skills, which rank up there with Kane’s though unlike Kane, he’s never beaten you, but oh boy would he like to. Edgar would like to do a lot of things; one of those things is be the leader. He borders on insubordination at times and is probably the most outspoken of the group and will be the first one to point out flaws in something even if he turns out to be wrong (which he usually is). He also is an arrogant braggart that boasts about his abilities or successes whenever they arise. Unsurprisingly, he tends to rub everyone else the wrong way and if there is ever a major disagreement on the team, he’s usually the center of it. However, he can back up most of his boasts and is more than willing to prove himself and is not a coward in any sense of the word. Your own opinion of him is that he would be a much better warrior, and possibly could be a leader if he became more disciplined, a LOT more disciplined. You’re guessing his short stature (only Brenda is shorter) is part of what makes him behave the way he does.


Year 16

You are called into Captain Gruz’s office, when you arrive you see the well dress man that you saw four years ago standing with him… and debating with him again.

“I’m telling you Mr. Mol, I think they should work in the same unit. They’ve trained together and they’ve worked together so well at this point that splitting them up would be folly. Hell, these people have known each other since birth! You know that better than anyone!” Gruz says.
“Yes, captain I’m well aware of the situation, and normally I might agree if their were more of them, but I think their expertise would better serve if we deployed them separately in problem areas of the Empire.” Mr. Mol replies.
“You don’t break up a well oiled machine! I guarantee having them all in the same unit will be a better idea. I mean we still haven’t sent them into a real battle yet! Wouldn’t it be better to see if they can get the job done first before placing them in charge of others?”
“And what a perfect opportunity to lose them all, if something unexpected should happen.”
“Oh for…look that could’ve happened here! And if you’re so worried about them all getting killed in battle then what was the fucking point then? Besides, if they do prove to be useless in battle, better we find that out sooner rather than later when they’re in charge of others and getting them killed as well!”

Mr. Mol thinks for a moment and then replies.

“Hmmm, very well you do have a point captain. We’ll try it your way at first and go from there. Have them deployed in the Nalin province. Your services here have been useful as ever. Good day.”

Mr. Mol, steps out and commander Gruz addresses you.

“Well you heard all that, you and your fellow Eternal babies are being sent to the Nalin province. It’s not the Rask Frontier, but it’s a suitable first challenge for you guys. We’ve been trying to settle the conquest of that place for a few years now, and technically it is part of the Empire, but we’re still having problems with the Kobold population there. Little bastards are determined to resist and have been conducting a fairly effective guerilla war since we arrived. Though I blame that more on the incompetence of the commander in that region. If I was stationed there, this shit would’ve been taken care of a long time ago…but I’m not, so unfortunately you will have to report to Captain Pollo.”

Captain Gruz approaches you closer before continuing.

“Now I’m putting you in charge of your unit for reasons I’m sure you’re aware of. While I’m confident I’ve made the right choice, the burden will ultimately be on you to prove to be an effective leader. Remember, you’re not just a normal soldier, you’re supposed to be an Eternal. An instrument of destruction ordered by the Emperor himself. Failure is never an option for you. Even now there are rumors about your kind, and when you finally show yourselves you will be met by fear, awe, hatred and even distain. Prove yourselves and you will live up to the name that your were given. Anyway, the caravan picking you up will arrive tomorrow. Good luck and dismissed.”

With this you leave and tell the rest of your people about where you’re going and the general nature of what to expect. They all seem pretty excited to prove themselves, and to be honest so are you. At last you will get the chance to prove yourself and can only imagine that the Emperor will be pleased by what he will see.

The next day, you and your unit are picked up and the ride there is uneventful, but your unit spends a little time talking about things they see on the way. This is the first time all of you have probably been away from the training center you’ve spent all your lives in. Curiosity about some of the surroundings is natural, but it isn’t just the casual talk that’s different.

Your comrades are different. They are less reserved than they once were. Captain Gruz might’ve been a strict instructor, but in addition to encouraging teamwork he was also prone to encourage you guys to have a few hours of free time. This loosening of the reigns a bit, allowed a certain amount of familiarity with each other that wasn’t just on a professional level anymore. Even you have felt yourself changing personality wise.

Still you are all Eternals, and you are loyal to the Emperor. You will never forget that your duty comes first.

Eventually you all arrive at Fort Glory in the Nalin province where you are stared at by several soldiers who whisper among themselves. None of you pay it any mind though, you simply report to Captain Pollo. He doesn’t look anything like Captain Gruz. He’s human for one thing and wears lighter armor which is impeccably clean. When he sees you, he almost looks bored, like you were interrupting him, but you when you came in he was reclined in his chair and not doing anything of importance.

“So…you are the Eternals I’ve heard so much about. Humph. I don’t see anything special except that pretty one over there. Oh no, not you dear. That blonde muscular one in the back. Yes, delicious.” Captain Pollo says pointing to one of your men and not even getting out of his chair.

“Captain Pollo, we are here for our assignments so that we may serve the Emperor.” You say.
“(Sigh) I suppose you are this unit’s leader?”
“ Yes, captain. I am currently their leader and holding the rank of sergeant due to my excellence in my training exercises.”
“Sergeant? YOU? Why you’re a mere boy! All of you are just children! I ask them for more men and they send me children! The only thing you all would be good for is cleaning the fort! In fact that’s what you can go do right now, starting with the toilets!”

This is exactly what Captain Gruz said would happen. This is your first test.

“Captain, we have been trained in several forms of combat and fully ready to fight. Send us into battle and we will prove ourselves. We are here to perform our duty for the Emperor and all that entails.”
“All that entails eh? Okay, you want a fight? A few miles east of here, you’ll find a town called Dalt. Its filled with ignorant peasants that constantly whine to us that there are a nest of kobolds lurking in the hills near them. We’re stretched out as it is and can’t spare anymore troops to waste on towns that are of no military importance in the grand scheme of things. Go there and take care of their problem, then maybe we’ll have more to talk about.”

You nod and all of you leave, but before you are able to Pollo calls you back.

“Oh one more thing sergeant. Order one of your men to stay here with me. I think you know by now which one I mean.”

At this point you’re in genuine shock. You may be young, and even a little detached from normal ‘society” but you know exactly what Captain Pollo is implying. You can honestly feel more than surprised by this though.

“Captain, I will need all of my team to have the best chance to succeed in this mission.” You say.
“Oh? Well sorry, but you’ll have to make do like everyone else here does. Or you could clean the fort like I first ordered you to do, which you chose to ignore.”

It’s a no win situation, though you try to figure out a loophole that takes the responsibility off of you.

“Captain, you are of a higher rank than me, surely you could just order him yourself.”
“Ha ha, nice try. No. You want to be a leader of men? You need to make this decision yourself. Tis quite easy I would think. Sacrifice one for the good of the rest. If anything I’d say he’s the lucky one. He gets to stay here enjoying the pleasures of the flesh, and won’t have to be mucking about with kobolds and dealing with idiotic peasants.”
> You nalin Province (History Lesson)
The Nalin province exists on the southern outskirts of the Empire and is one of the quieter areas of it, one might even call it “backwards” but that wouldn’t really be a fair assessment. The people here are slightly simpler than in the other parts, but they maintain a strong work ethic and loyalty for the most part.

Due to its lack of importance, lack of “serious” problems and remoteness, only the barest amount of military is actually stationed here to oversee the province, probably not nearly enough, but until the Empire decides to explore the wilderness to the east of it or possibly the Usksha desert to the south, then the status quo will remain.

The major problem that the Nalin province suffers is mainly the kobolds that infest the area. Citizens have complained, but nothing has really been done to eradicate the problem. Without a concentrated effort to root them out, they’ll always be a menace and while they may be small they are can do a lot of damage in large numbers, and that always seems to be the case.

Other than kobolds, the only other common problem is with bandits, but lately there has been another threat coming from the desert. Odd nomads that ride lizard mounts have been sighted more and more on the edges of the desert and Nalin. There haven’t been many encounters, but the few there have been, have been hostile. Why they have been wandering from their desert is unknown, but they’ll be a bigger problem than kobolds if more of them decide to make sort of mass migration.


The pain is great and you want it to be over with as quickly as possible so you cry out and scream for mercy to Mistress. To this, she merely laughs cruelly and continues to step on your chest.

“Ha ha ha ha! If this was a real fight do you think an enemy would should you mercy? You truly are pathetic, how did the Empire ever decide that YOU would be a worthy candidate to be an Eternal? Begging for your wretched life as if it was important. It isn’t. Your life is nothing! ALL of your lives are nothing! Your lives will never be anything more than warm bodies to serve the Emperor! The question is, will you even be able to live up to that honored status? The answer is no, if you do not learn mercy is for the weak. Remember this.”

At this point Mistress finally takes her foot off of you and much like your other classmate hit by her magic bolt, you slowly get up and back in your seat, clutching your chest. You sniffle and try to keep yourself from crying, but the tears are still there. A glare from Mistress causes you to quickly wipe your eyes and try to compose yourself the best you can.

Time passes by under the harsh guidance of Mistress. She teaches you all that she promised she would and then some. Your lessons are not only that of a combat nature, but of an academic one as well. You wouldn’t be aware of it, but you and your classmates are probably much better educated than other children your age.

As for you, Mistress never lets you forget of how you begged for your life in front of everyone. While it is true that she sadistically taunts everyone at one time or another, it doesn’t make your emotional and psychological scars go away.

This shame you experience causes you to become more insecure and you constantly feel the need to prove to everyone that you aren’t weak. When you are called upon to spar with your fellow classmates, you always fight aggressively. For the most part you usually win, and you typically break a few bones of some of your fellow classmates. The lessons of being humiliated by Mistress have not been forgotten. You can’t ever let yourself be put in a vulnerable position again and you must be brutal, it’s the only way you’ll be able to please the Emperor.

Your personality doesn’t go unnoticed by your instructor and watchers, they make note of it and decide how you should be handled in the next step of your training.

Year 12

You are in a room with a few of your fellow classmates standing in a row. Most of your class has been separated for reasons unknown to you. All you know right now is there is a scarred orc in worn battle armor arguing with a well dressed man who is human. They are speaking about you, but not actually speaking TO you…

“What? I thought the whole point of this program was to create an elite fighting group like the Shadow Guard, why are you splitting them up and intending to put some of them in regular military units?” the orc questions.
“Things have changed since the program’s inception. Besides, if the latest military reports are any indication I’d say you could use a better quality of recruits, or at least I hope that’s the problem and it isn’t due to a lack of proper training.” the man dressed in black formal wear calmly retorts.
“Hey! I train every grunt I get to be the best killer they can be! I’ve conquered more territory for the Empire than anyone! My record speaks for itself and I could do a hell of a lot more if you put me on the front lines again, so don’t try to tell me I’m not doing my fucking job!”
“Be that as it may, I’d say you still could benefit by having a few Eternals in your ranks, if nothing else than to be a good example.”
“Good example? HAH! We haven’t even seen one of these so-called Eternals in action yet! It’s all been just speculation, and a waste of time and money if you ask me! The Empire should be providing better equipment and more of it, for soldiers on the Rask Frontier, it’s a fucking meat grinder out there and we’re constantly having to put down rebellions by the natives.”
“Well nobody ASKED you, captain and your problems are not mine to deal with. This is the Emperor’s project and he has his reasons. If I were you I’d watch your tone. Victories or not, you are a servant of the Emperor and you will obey orders or you will be replaced.”

The orc captain steps back from the well dressed man then he takes a deep breath, before speaking.

“You are lucky that I do serve the Emperor, for that is the only thing keeping me from ripping out your throat, human…very well I shall take these so called Eternal whelps, but let it be known that I shall be testing them to the limit and then some. If they fail, they shall die like anyone else unable to keep up.”
“As you wish commander, I leave it in your capable hands. You will keep me apprised of their progress on a weekly basis. Good day.” The well dressed man says and leaves the room, leaving you all alone with the orc commander. You’ve never seen a real orc in person before, but he looks every bit as intimidating from what you’ve read about them, even if he is much more articulate than you expected.

He walks up and down the row sizing you all up before speaking.

“I am Captain Gruz, and I will be in charge of the rest of your training until the Emperor deems otherwise. I imagine that your former instructor was that dark elven bitch, so I trust you all know by now that failure and weakness have no place here. Correct?”
“Yes Captain!” you all shout in unison.
“Heh, well glad to see her skills in teaching discipline are still as effective as ever. Good. Now let’s see how good your combat skills are…”

At this point you and your fellow classmates instinctively start to pair up to spar with each other, but Gruz stops you.

“What are you lot doing? I didn’t tell you to get out of formation!”
“But captain, you said to prove our combat skills.” One boy speaks up.
“I…oh wait I see. She had you fighting each other. Typical dark elven training. Create mistrust and loathing even when there is no need for it. (Sigh) I can see I’m going to have to undo some of the shit she instilled in you if I’m going to mold you into the proper killing tools.”

Time goes by and Captain Gruz begins to train you in various forms of combat, though it’s different. He teaches you and your classmates to fight as a team. This usually involves various large beasts similar to what you have already fought or even small groups of goblinoids. It takes awhile for you to adapt, but after seeing the first couple of casualties, you and the rest manage to pull together to defeat your enemies.

Academically speaking, you are not taught much. Captain Gruz figures that Mistress taught you enough math and literacy to get by in life. Besides not much need for all that fancy learnin’ stuff when you’re going to be chopping people’s heads off on the battlefield.

Captain Gruz is just as uncompromising as Mistress in his training, but he seems less gleeful about it. His verbal abuse is more direct and to the point rather than gloating about your failures. He still reminds you all regularly about how it is your sworn duty to serve the Emperor, but you hardly need him to tell you that, to believe otherwise is unthinkable.

As for you, you find yourself given a role of leadership. Captain Gruz noted your tendency to be one of the first to charge into battle. He however also has some advice for you.

“I respect your desire for battle, but if you do not control your insecurities you will one day find yourself needlessly unprepared. I suspect that dark elven bitch did something humiliating to you that has resulted in your behavior. Effective in some ways I suppose, but if you truly want to be a leader of men and command respect, you need to master your emotions as you would your weapons. You must do away with insecurities and be fully confident in your abilities. You must walk into battle already KNOWING that you will win, not charging in with a chip on your shoulder with some misguided desire to prove yourself. That’s a quick way to get yourself killed. Contrary to popular belief, your goal is NOT to die for the Emperor. Your goal is to survive and make the other dumb bastards die so that you may continue to serve the Emperor. Think on this when you lead your fellows into your next training assignment.”

The captain’s words carry much weight with you and in the years during your training you manage to purge most of your doubts about yourself as well as becoming an accomplished warrior.

Your instructor and watchers once again note your growth and skills, and as usual they make decisions on how you will best serve the Emperor.
> You captain Gruz and his kind (History Lesson)
While you were under Mistress’ class you learned that orcs were conquered by the Empire long before you were even born. They probably would’ve been wiped out completely if someone didn’t have the great idea of enslaving them for their strength instead.

In time someone suggested that they be used as shock troops for places where fighting was heavy. This wasn’t a popular idea at first, but was implemented with caution as by that time the first generation of conquered orcs had long died out.

It turned out to be a good idea as most orcs have an ingrained love of battle in the first place and while usually not that intelligent, it’s enough that one can tell them to “go kill the enemy over there” and they’ll do it. Orcs were eventually “raised up” from a slave race to a more indentured servant one where most served in the military; it also helped keep their population down.

Captain Gruz is a very rare orc in that he’s brighter than most of his kind. He’s probably smarter than some humans. Second, he’s in a much higher position than those of his kind are usually allowed. However he proved himself countless times in battle, and if there is something that usually gains respects from Empire officials, its combat victories. He also had the fortune to have superior officers that were open minded enough to promote him.

During his training sessions, he always speaks highly of the Empire and of the Emperor and always reminds you all of your own duty to them both. He also has a tendency to tell tales of past battles he has had as examples to follow or to learn from. You don’t know about the rest of your class, but you find these tales fascinating. You know he must love to fight with how he tells these tales, and you also know he must be a great warrior. All of which makes you wonder why he isn’t still on the battlefield.

Still, it isn’t your place to question such things.


Year 5

You are sitting in a gray room at a desk with several other children your age. All of you glance at each other a lot and it is obvious that there is much curiosity, but nobody speaks. This is very unusual for you, up until now, you have only had minimal contact with others. Most of them are male like you, but a few of them are female.

Soon the silence comes to an end when a dark skinned woman walks into the room. She has long hair and sharp features. One thing you notice is that despite her long hair covering her ears you can still see that the tips of them are pointed. She must be elven, but in the pictures you’ve seen in books, you’ve never seen one with dark skin before.

“Hello children, and congratulations on maintaining dignified silence during your time by yourselves. It’s nice to see that your previous human minders aren’t totally incompetent. Still, if you were Svelk children you would’ve been much better trained by now. Ah, but it is not my place to dwell on the limitations of the lesser born. I am merely here to oversee your training into proper Eternals so that you may serve the Emperor to your fullest capabilities. Now before we begin, I suggest you all ask questions now, because this will probably be the only time I will be in the mood for your ignorance.”

For a moment nobody speaks, but when the elven lady insists, one brave soul raises their hand.

“Yes, you.”
“Are you an elf?”
“Yes, I am. While the ignorant would use the vulgar term dark elf to describe me, my kind are more properly known as the Svelk. In fact WE are the purest of the elven race. All others you may have the misfortune of meeting are merely diluted members of our bloodline. They are truly pitiful creatures really only fit for extermination. Remember this.”

“Yes, you.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is unimportant, but you and the rest will always address me as Mistress. Failure to do so will earn my wrath, and more importantly the wrath of the Emperor. Remember this.”

“Yes, you.”
“What will you teach us?”

A second passes after the question, when a small bolt of light from the Svelk’s finger tips and hits the child in the chest asking the question. He falls backwards out of his chair and on to the floor. The rest of you jump in your own chairs and look back at him. He is breathing very erratically.

“I will teach you to OBEY my commands when I give them!” Mistress shouts, she then warns the rest of you.

“Don’t you dare touch him, let alone help him! (Sigh) And here I thought you lot had been trained better! It occurs to me that I will have to be extra strict in my discipline. As to the question about what I will teach you… I will teach you to be warriors. I will teach you to be wizards if you display the talent. I will teach you to shed yourselves of weakness. I will teach you to serve the Emperor without question and kill without mercy and you will always obey for you will find strength in obedience. You will find joy in order. You will find love in murder. You shall be instruments of terror and genocide if he so wishes it. You will be Eternals…or you will die. Remember this.”

After Mistress’ speech, the child she struck down eventually struggles back up and gets back in his seat, clutching his chest and still wheezing.

“I trust you have learned your lesson?”
“Y…yes…Mistress…” he gasps.
“Good, now one more question before we begin…you there. What is your question? Speak up!” Mistress demands while pointing at you, though you have not raised your hand.

You don’t wish to disagree with Mistress, so you stumble and try to think up a question.

“Uh…er…I was just wondering when will you teach us to fight Mistress?”
Mistress raises an eyebrow and gives a smirk as she approaches you.
“Fight? And what makes you think that YOU are even ready to learn yet? Do you have even the slightest knowledge of combat tactics?”
“No, Mis…” before you can even complete the sentence Mistress knocks you out of your chair with a quick jab with her hand, the pain from your face spreads to your chest when Mistress steps on it with her boot. She digs it into you and presses all her weight on it, while the rest of your class looks on.

“Damn right, no you don’t. You weren’t even alert enough to anticipate my attack. You let me get in close and now look at you, you’re completely at my mercy. I am in a position to do whatever I like with you, while you are only in a position to beg or die. So what will it be worm? Are you going to beg for your miserable life, or should I save the Empire’s time and money by killing you now?”
> You die
The pain is great and you want it to be over with as quickly as possible, but you know to beg for mercy would be shameful, so you gasp say you’d rather die than beg. This response surprises her to a point that she actually takes her boot off your chest giving you relief.

“Truly, little one? You accept death so quickly? Have you no instinct for survival, or are you merely a fool? Still, your refusal to beg at least shows promise. It also shows that you know your place and that your life is ultimately not your own. It is nothing. ALL of your lives are nothing! Your lives will never be anything more than warm bodies to serve the Emperor! Remember this.”

At this point much like your other classmate hit by her magic bolt, you slowly get up and back in your seat, clutching your chest. It hurts, but you compose yourself the best you can.

Time passes by under the harsh guidance of Mistress. She teaches you all that she promised she would and then some. Your lessons are not only that of a combat nature, but of an academic one as well. You wouldn’t be aware of it, but you and your classmates are probably much better educated than other children your age.

As for you, Mistress doesn’t treat you any worse or better than any of the other children, but your first experience with her did have an effect on your behavior. You take her lesson that your life ultimately not being important to heart and you become more and more withdrawn. So withdrawn in fact that you almost become invisible to your fellow classmates and even Mistress sometimes forgets that you’re there at all. If it was not for group projects and sparring lessons you probably would be forgotten.

You obey commands and do your training and that is all. Why bother worrying about anything else when your life is not your own? You must follow orders even if it means your death, it’s the only way you’ll be able to please the Emperor.

Despite your low key nature, your personality doesn’t completely go unnoticed by your instructor and watchers, they make note of it and decide how you should be handled in the next step of your training.

Year 12

You are in a room with a few of your fellow classmates standing in a row. Most of your class has been separated for reasons unknown to you. All you know right now is there is a man in a dark robe speaking with a well dressed man. They are speaking about you, but not actually speaking TO you…

“Far be it from me to question orders, but I thought the whole point of this program was to create a separate elite fighting unit. Why are they now being split up and more importantly why are some being placed with us?”
“Things have changed since the program’s inception. Besides I would’ve thought the Shadow Guard would’ve appreciated such an honor of receiving such worthy candidates.” the man dressed in black formal wear calmly retorts.
“That remains to be seen. I’m sure you’re fully aware of our strict guidelines on who is accepted. There are tests and rituals to go through.”
“So, put ‘em through whatever it is you do. Look, I’d say you could benefit by having a few Eternals in your ranks, if nothing else than to keep you from getting lax.”
“Lax? Our group has been the eyes and ears of the Empire for centuries, and our vigilance is beyond reproach. We haven’t even seen one of these so-called Eternals can do. It’s all been just speculation, and if I may be so bold, a misguided appropriation of time and funds. The Empire should be providing the regular military better equipment and more of it, so that we don’t have to be sent in to help them on the frontlines when we could be doing better things with our time such as keeping the Empire safe from subversives and other internal parasites.”
“Your concerns are irrelevant. This is the Emperor’s project and he has his reasons. If I were you I’d watch your tone. For someone who doesn’t question orders, one wonders if you have to be reminded that you are a servant of the Emperor and you will obey or you will be replaced.”

The robed individual steps towards the well dressed man before speaking.

“Fortunately for you, I do serve the Emperor, for that is the only thing keeping me from ripping out your throat. Never question my loyalty again…very well I shall take these so called Eternals, but if they fail to live up to Shadow Guard standard, then they shall die like anyone else.”
“As you wish brother, I leave it in your capable hands. You will keep me apprised of their progress on a weekly basis. Good day.” The well dressed man says and leaves the room, leaving you all alone with the robed man. You’ve never seen a Shadow Guard before, but while he doesn’t look quite as menacing from what you’ve heard about them you know that he is a force to be reckoned with by reputation alone.

He walks up and down the row sizing you all up before speaking.

“I am Brother Gray, and I will be in charge of the rest of your training until the Emperor deems otherwise. I imagine that your former instructor was that svelk woman, so I trust you all know by now that failure and weakness have no place here. Correct?”
“Yes Brother!” you all shout in unison.
“Hmm, well glad to see her skills in teaching discipline are still as effective as ever. Good. Now let’s see how good your combat skills are…”

At this point you and your fellow classmates instinctively start to pair up to spar with each other, but Gray stops you and immediately knows what’s going on.

“Oh no, you won’t be fighting each other. The svelk’s cultivation of mistrust and loathing in all of you has its place, but not for our purposes. As a Shadow Guard you will learn that the reliance on such emotions to be a hindrance, as all emotions are. I can see I will have to undo some of the foolishness she has instilled in you all.”

Time goes by and Brother Gray begins to train you in various forms of combat. It’s actually similar to some of the stuff Mistress was starting to teach you as he goes on about unconventional warfare such as poisoning water supplies and assassinations. However he also teaches you and your classmates to work better as a team. One test involves fighting a strange beast called a Thought Lurker. It is one of the most grueling battles you’ve ever had and it doesn’t require weapons at all. It takes place all in your mind and it utterly destroys a few of your classmates. It is only when you and your classmates concentrate together as one you are ultimately successful in defeating it.

Academically speaking, you are still given a well-rounded education. A strong mind and knowledge wins more battles than any blade did as Brother Gray says.

Brother Gray is just as uncompromising as Mistress in his training, but he is not gleeful about it at all. His verbal abuse is a cold disappointment rather than gloating about your failures. He still reminds you all regularly about how it is your sworn duty to serve the Emperor, but you hardly need him to tell you that, to believe otherwise is unthinkable.

As for you, you find yourself fitting in better here. It might be due to the conditioning that emotions are a hindrance and the emphasis on duty since you already had a slightly stoic personality coming in. There is a calming peace of knowing exactly what you need to be placing importance on. Despite your nature of blending into the background, you have not gone unnoticed by Brother Gray who approaches you to give you direct advice one day.

“You are a little different from your fellows. I have noticed that you adapted much better to training than they did. You may even survive the ritual when the time comes, however I will give you a little advice. I can see that you do not believe your life is truly important. You believe that you feel it is merely your duty to serve and if you die in the process, then you will die. I imagine this might be the result of something that the Svelk woman did to you…in any event, this approach will not do. There is no weakness in maintaining a survival instinct while serving. Yes, you will be called upon to perform dangerous duties or even suicidal ones in the service of the Emperor, but you should always try to survive even if the odds are against you. The Shadow Guard has been doing it for centuries. Remember, the longer you survive, the longer you can continue serving the and there is no greater honor. Think on this on your next training assignment.”

Brother Gray’s words carry much weight with you and in the years during your training you begin to discard your overly fatalistic approach to life well as becoming an accomplished warrior.

Your instructor and watchers once again note your growth and skills, and as usual they make decisions on how you will best serve the Emperor.
>
Year 16

You and four of your fellow Eternals stand once again before Brother Gray this time though he is joined by another one of his fellow shadows. This man is almost indistinguishable from Brother Gray, similar robe, head covering hood, the only thing really different about him is that he’s slightly taller.

“Eternals, you have survived this far when some of your fellows have not. This means you show promise in joining our order, but it does not yet mean you belong. There is one more test that you have to pass through, before that can happen. I shall let Master Ebon explain more.”

With this, Master Ebon steps forward and begins to speak, it is at that moment you notice that something is slightly off about him. Like part of him is becoming translucent momentarily.

“Eternals, I have heard much about you and how skilled you all are. So far I am not impressed. You have been given gifts and advantages from birth yet only a few of you actually made it this far. However, given Brother Gray’s sterling assessment of all of you that do remain, perhaps I just need to see it for myself. In any event, all of you shall be undergoing the Ritual of the Shadow. It is in this important ceremony that you will gain abilities such as this…”

Master Ebon, suddenly disappears completely and before you know it, he is behind all of you, forcing you all to turn around.

“This is just a simple ability, compared to others you will gain in time, assuming you survive the ritual. I should also mention this ritual will also open your eyes to the truth and bind you…all of us in a way you have never even pondered before. I am not sure if you Eternals have bonded despite growing up together, but you even if you have, that bond will not compare to that of the shadows. Our order has existed for a very long time and will continue to do so long after other systems haven fallen to the dung heap of history.”

Master Ebon at this point turns around and begins to chant in some strange language. After about five minutes of this, a shimmering portal opens up, though it sort of fades in and out of existence.

“And now Eternals, the ritual begins. You two, enter the portal together.” Ebon says pointing at Cyrus and Brian. The pair of them nod and walk into the portal.

After a few moments have passed, Ebon speaks again.

“You two, enter the portal together.” He says and Talia and David enter the portal leaving you by yourself.

A longer stretch of time passes and even you begin to feel a little anxious despite your best efforts.” Master Ebon naturally notices this.

“Since you have been spoken about in such high regard from Brother Gray, I have decided that you do not need to take this test, you are already skilled enough. In fact I believe that you probably do not belong in our order, and you would best serve the Emperor as a soldier. I will inform Mr. Mol of this and he will probably have you transferred to an appropriate post of your skill.”
“Master Ebon, I’m not afraid to go through the ceremony! I want to do this!” you protest.
“Hmm, didn’t expect you to protest. I was told that you have a habit of not questioning orders almost to a suicidal degree, though due to your skill, you manage to survive, so I know you are not afraid. However, while loyalty and obedience are certainly important traits to have, I believe that your particular mindset really would serve the Empire’s military instead. The military is a very simple place. Your superiors tell you to kill and you kill. They tell you to die, and you die. The Shadow Guard is a less…absolute branch that requires questioning and deeper thought at times. Contrary to popular belief we do not just snatch people off the streets because someone criticizes the Empire. Such a policy would undoubtedly depopulate countless cities and towns. No, we only seek out those that truly desire the fall of the Empire and sometimes that requires investigations.”
“So you are telling me I am not intelligent enough to be a Shadow Guard.”
“I didn’t say that. Again from what I’ve heard, you have exceptional intelligence. No, what I’m saying is your mindset is different. Now I know Brother Gray said he spoke to you about maintaining a survival instinct, but mere survival isn’t enough.”
“I know this. I survive so that I may serve the Emperor longer.”

Master Ebon at this point raises his hands and drops them.

“And that’s exactly why you would better serve in the military. There is no shame in this, not everyone is meant to be a Shadow Guard, not even an Eternal. I will make the preparations to have you transferred.”

Master Ebon turns from you to speak to Brother Gray and you’re left speechless. You’re also left with a lot of conflicting feelings. You feel disappointed, angry and confused all at the same time. Part of you is content on accepting Ebon’s assessment. He may even be right. He’s talking about questioning and complex thought and you don’t exactly know what he means by all that. What else could there be other than serving the Empire?

Another part of you feels defiant. You want to prove that he is wrong, you want to jump into the portal before he can do anything about it. Maybe he’s expecting you to do that though. Maybe this is a test? But why would there be a test that encourages disobedience?

In any event, if you’re going to make your move, you need to do it now.
> You stay where you are
You might not agree, but you aren’t going to disobey orders. Besides, maybe the military would be better for you. To be quite honest you thought you were going to be serving in it anyway.

You are taken back to your room by Brother Gray who says he will be sorry to lose one so talented, but if Master Ebon feels you are not right for the order, then you should not be here. He says that Mr. Mol will be informed at once of the situation and he will give you your new assignment from there.

You aren’t too sure what to think about everything, but you’re confident that you will be placed somewhere fitting to your skills. Hopefully soon, so you can start serving the Emperor properly.

A couple days pass and it is all straightened out. Mr. Mol seems slightly disappointed that you’re being transferred out, but mentions that he knows where to put you. He has you transferred to the Rask frontier, specifically a place called Fort Defiance.

It’s a long carriage ride to a cold snowy land, but eventually you make it there. You haven’t gotten off the caravan five minutes when a man wearing battle armor approaches you.

“Hey are you one of those Eternals?”
“Yes I am.”
“I’m Captain Ian, I’ve heard about you and while you don’t look like much, we’ll take anyone at this point. Though I would’ve preferred more battle mages or even orcs at this point.

Captain Ian begins to give you a run down on the entire area. He mentions that the mortality rate here is high so morale isn’t the best. He goes on to mention that Shadow Guard detachments have been assigned here to help out, but between the ogres and the giants there’s only so much that even they can do. He mentions the new unit you are to be assigned to and to report to it as soon as possible.

With the caravan leaving, you head to your new unit. When you see them, quite a few of them are predictably much older than you, but surprisingly you see that half of them are around your age. Your superior gruffly introduces himself as sergeant Baily and that he expects you to pull your weight and then some, because there is no room for slackers here. You of course say you have no intention of slacking, and are thrilled to be here to serve the Empire.

Your enthusiasm is met with dismissal from Baily and a couple of snickers from other soldiers, but nobody else really says anything. You are told to find a bed and make it your own.

You settle in as you begin your assignment at Fort Defiance.

Year 17

Knee deep in snow with minimal visibility due to a blizzard and chilled to the bone. This situation would be unpleasant even without ogres trying to cave in your skull at the moment.

You dodge the ogre’s swing and cleave one of his legs causing him to fall into the snow, then you finish him off. You look around and see the bloody dead bodies of several members of the squad and of the ogres that ambushed you.

“Damn it! I knew this was going to fucking happen! He does this every fucking year! He sends a bunch of unlucky bastards to patrol this pass during the worst winter month and they get torn up every time. To hell with this, we’ve been out here long enough, we’re getting outta here!” Sergeant Baily shouts to you and the remainder of the squad.

You have to admit you didn’t see the logic in sending a group to patrol Kragen Pass either, but then you’ve noticed that Captain Ian isn’t the greatest mind for tactics or strategy. Your whole time here hasn’t been what you expected, but then you’re just glad that you’re doing something meaningful to serve the Emperor.

Your squad leaves the bodies behind and makes its way through the blizzard in silence. You briefly think about how this time last year, you were a potential candidate as a Shadow Guard, funny how things change so quickly. You’ve seen some of the Shadow Guard that have been stationed here, but you’ve never spoken to any of them, they tend to keep to themselves, like they’re hiding secrets nobody else is supposed to know about. In any case, you appreciate their combat training, its certainly helped you survive in this harsh environment.

During this momentary retreat into your own thoughts, a large rumbling is heard. You look overhead and even in this blizzard you can see the large figures looming on the cliffs. Given that you can actually make out the figures in this snow, you know that these aren’t more ogres.

“GIANTS! RUN!” Sergeant Baily shouts to you and the remainder of the squad. You all attempt to run as fast as you can out of the pass. Large boulders crash down along side the cliffs with an equally large amount of ice and snow. You see two of your number crushed by the boulders thrown by the giants. You and Sergeant Baily make it a little further, only to be engulfed in snow and buried in the stuff.

You’re disorientated, tired, freezing and slowly suffocating, but with determination, you manage to dig yourself out. You look around to find Baily, but apparently he was killed immediately or didn’t have the strength to dig himself out. It’s too bad, because you could’ve used his help when you see several giants now advancing on your position, though perhaps it wouldn’t have mattered.

You know that this is most likely going to be your last battle. You draw your sword and walk towards the giants. It will be a good death, but your only regret is that you will not survive to serve the Empire for longer than you would’ve liked.