Welcome once again. Today we will once again look at the early days of our history on this land. This time, we will focus our attention on the birth of the Empire, and one group of people that went from mundane to elite in a short time. Let us not rush, and start from the very beginning. And it is like this…
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Cerbane, year 62 of Era II
Five years after their arrival, the Generals had defeated the Southfolk colony that existed on the Eastern lands at the time, known as Arraedon. Its once mighty capital, Dora, had been burned to the ground, and in its place a new capital was born. However, it was still uncertain who would assume power over the state of the newcomers. Carthen the Cruel was the first to lose his chance – his bloodthirst made him lose trust among people from outside his unit, so he decided to take a few dozen men with himself and embark on a journey to the moist forests of the Capes. Rayoh the Insane was an unpredictable man, and had the least ambition to rule out of the three. For this reason, it was Nyther that received the honor of being the Emperor of Humans – an unfortunate title from our perspective.
Even though Nyther was respected by the soldiers, after the war he knew well he could not have full trust in all of them, and that the threat from the side of Southfolk was still present. And so, he decided to create a personal guard for himself. At first, he would just use a few of his former soldiers for this purpose, but as time passed, and incidents occurred in the city, he became more convinced that even men from the elite unit are not sufficiently reliable. He made the decision to test all willing soldiers from the Empire’s army in order to find the most suitable through a great contest.
Over a hundred men signed up for the event. The trials they had to go through were exceptionally tough. Over the course of ten days, they were faced with five challenges. The first tested their physical endurance on a five-mile-long track in hilly terrain. The second was supposed to challenge their self-sufficiency, and was based on surviving in the wilderness while completing tasks. The third trial tested the soldiers’ mental endurance, and consisted of a series of assignments they had to perform under stressful conditions, such as fixing a shield on a weak bridge or writing a letter among burning stakes. The fourth tested their expertise in strategy – the challengers were to create optimal guard allocations in various buildings in the city. On the last day, the best of all, who had survived this long, stood the final trial in front of Nyther himself – they were supposed to protect the emperor from incoming ‘enemies’, without letting any of them land a single strike.
After the last challenge, Nyther spent a few hours discussing the candidates with his advisors, Naman the Counsellor among them. Eventually, he announced the names of five men chosen for the task. They took a solemn vow in the temple of the Twin Gods and were given copper bracelets, forged from the weapons and armor claimed from defeated Southfolk. Due to this, they soon got the name Copper Guard, which is still commonly used in reference to them.
That’s all for now.
Aedilër 