I was born and grew up in Sigilstar, a fairly large trading hub in Thrane. Seeing as how the city is connected to the Orien trade route, the lightning rail, and the Thrane River, there’s plenty of work to be made dealing with sensitive cargoes that merchants would prefer the city watch not knowing about. I always knew I liked to fight and if I was going to be getting paid to fight anyone who got in our way, all the better. The way I figured it, having the city watch and rival armsmen would only serve to improve my chances of facing tough foes and getting paid to do it.
While that was fine for years as I honed my skills during my teens, as soon as I hit the age of enlistment, I ditched that work to join up with the army of Thrane. While I don’t like the religious slant of the Silver Flame that you’ll hear being preached throughout the kingdom, who wants to follow some mystical light show anyway? It was pretty obvious that the best place to learn more about the art of fighting was to get some formal training. I could put up with the ridiculous regulations and religious propaganda as long as I continued to learn, and that I did. After a few brief weeks of drilling about with a horde of inept fighters, we were sent to the front lines with Cyre and thrust into combat.
The thrill of the fights were glorious and each battle only served to bolster my confidence and battle lust as I vanquished foe after foe and managed to come out on top. It didn’t really matter to me that my “comrades in arms” didn’t manage to survive due to our commander’s idiocies, but I had enough of a challenge keeping myself alive, let alone those around me. Anyway, I managed to hang on there for another two years before what was left of my regiment was redeployed to the western border with Breland.
I have mixed feelings about that move. The fighting with Cyre was always vicious given the history between the original monarchs of Thrane and Cyre, but it always led to the best battles and the toughest foes. Of course, less than three months after I left, the Day of Mourning occurred that ended up destroying Cyre and the forces battling there… I have no doubts about facing foe’s with a weapon in my hand, but I loathe to admit that a cataclysm of magic and destruction might just have overwhelmed even me.
The war continued for another two years of course, before the signing of the Treaty of Thronehold, and that’s when my service for the army of Thrane ended. With the façade of peace, battles would change to become more secretive and I wouldn’t get to enjoy the massive battles that the war provided. Ironic as it sounds, the order and discipline the army provided, to those willing to learn, allowed me to attain the mental discipline needed to focus on improving my combat techniques beyond those of the common soldier or fighter. Looking back, I’m surprised that I stuck with the army for so long; though they were paying me to fight and I got all the fighting I wanted so I guess it really just suited my purposes at the time.
After that I pretty much just wandered looking for situations where my talents could be best applied and where I would be well compensated, one way or another. I managed to live that way for another two years, but now I’ve come to recognize that I should not be limiting my battlefields to those just of the sword. The peoples of Eberron come into conflict over commerce, ideologies, theology, magic, and love. While a blade can be used in all of those fields, who’s to say that that is the highest form of conflict for the respective fields? Not I, I realize that now. I will continue to play to my strengths but be on the lookout for ways to improve my style.
Well I’m off to Sharn. I’ve answered an ad in the Korranberg Chronicle for a singles’ meeting at The Tavern, the first of many new battlefields, hopefully. We’ll see who and what I can best, and where that takes me.
-A.N.-
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