Chapter I
We stand at the precipice of disaster; our very Empire stands on the edge of the dagger that is fate. We must rally our hearts to defend our homes and our families, for if we do not, this land shall become the memorial to our failure. I am sure that you have all heard now that the Imperial Capitol has fallen to a band of traitors, and I am equally sure that many of you wish to see this wrong righted. But now is not the hour of internecine war, we must stand together lest we are overwhelmed. But do not fear that vengeance will not come, for it will. In due course the Gods will issue the punishment of those who would usurp the Purple. And do not think that those across the Oceanus Neptunis (The Neptunic Ocean) will be safe from the wroth of Crepuscallatum. Those who follow the testaments of Kyros will face our fury; we will make them pay for our losses, and they will pay in blood. With Aevus as my witness, I swear that we will have our vengeance. Imperator Pannoniae, Aetius Maximillius Regalis Fidelis Thedosinius – Shortly after the coup d’état in Lux Invictum
Dies Lunae, Maximillianus, 49912 Praesens
Tacticus awoke to the crisp mountain breeze flowing though his open window. He had short, caesarean, black hair. His face had grey eyes with high cheekbones and sharp features. He looks around his small, sparsely furnished room. He sees a small, wooden bed, a wooden dresser, a small wooden chest and a wooden table, doubling as a desk. He gets up from his bed, revealing his argent skin. He stands at 12,0 decicorpi (229.8cm, 7’6), with broad shoulders and a lean and toned body. He walks over to the dresser chooses a linen, grey-brown, tunic and a set of brown linen pants. After dressing himself he walks over to the door and leaves his room. Stepping out into the corridor he turns left and walks to the main room of the house. Walking into the room he greets his parents.
His father, Saturnius, is the Captain of the local Vigiles, the peacekeepers. His father has the same grey eyes and cheekbones, but a harsher face, a large scar tracing from his hear to his mouth. His black, caesarean, hair has streaks of grey tracing through it. His body is bulkier than his son's, standing at 11,6 decicorpi (222.2cm, 7’3 feet). His skin is same argent skin that seems to almost glow, a trait of the people of Crepuscallatum.
His father is also learned in the three traditional schools of warfare, which he has been teaching to Tacticus. The Schola Draconis, the School of the Dragon, which specialises in using magic in conjunction with a weapon. The Schola Lupi, the School of the Wolf, which is centred on a primary belief, that the body is a pack of wolves, each member is an individual wolf. Therefore when in combat, no member is put into risk, the pack wears down its opponent. The school is focused more on teaching endurance and athletics rather than on teaching advanced combat styles. The final school is the Schola Aquilae, the School of the Eagle. This school specialises in Strategy and Tactics on the battlefield, and in politics.
Tacticus then turns to greet his mother, Catilina. His mother has long black hair, reaching just past her shoulder. Her eyes are a piercing azure; here features are sharp and refined. Her body is 10,9 decicorpi (208.7cm, 6'10 feet) tall.
His mother, like many wives in the continent, fulfils the role of mistress of the household, handling the maintenance and administration of the household. In the words of an old Grecian philosopher, “to men the Farms and to women the Houses”.
“Tacticus, Antonius wants to see you at the Villa, after breaker fast hurry over to him” – Saturnius
“Yes Father” – Tacticus
After eating a rabbit, carrot and potato broth for breakfast, Tacticus hurried over to the villa. The villa is the centre of activity for a gens, which is either a noble house or a collection of plebeian families with the same nomen. Tacticus was part of the Remuli, a plebeian gens. Entering into the Villa, Tacticus rushs over to meet Antonius, whom was the current head of the Remuli. His hair is a series of brown and grey streaks, a reflection a lifetime spent labouring. His bodi is scrawny and slim, with brown eyes and a soft face.
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“Tacticus, there you are, did you sleep well?” – Antonius
“Indeed, yourself?” – Tacticus
“Yes, yes. Follow me now, the rest of the gens wish to see you.” - Antonius
“Why?” – Tacticus
“You will see.” – Antonius
The pair walked in to the open area at the centre of the Villa, the meeting place of the gens. Upon their arrival old Hippolatus, the oldest man in Gabinaculum, gets to his feet and rushes towards the pair. His left leg has a slight wabble, is sking sticks to the bone. His hair is grey, dead from years of strain. His eyes are a grey-blue, filled with a century and a half of experience and wisdom.
“Boy, boy, look at you now. I remember back when this little one wandered around this villa, dressed in the same clothes as when he first met is mother. But that aside, I have something to give you little one.” - Hippolatus
The old man then pulls out a black cloth wrapped around something. Then, handing to Tacticus, with a toothy grin that could put an infant to shame, he watches as Tacticus takes the cloth and grabs hold of what lies within. Tacticus, after pulling out the object, is awe-struck by what he is looking at. Looking up he can see that everyone gathered has an expectant look on their faces.
In his hands is a Gladius, a thrusting sword used widely throughout the Empire. The hilt is made of a red wood with the pommel and cross guard being made from Gold tinted mitrillium (mithril). The blade itself though is a masterpiece. Made of umbrium, a black metal forged through the refinement of noxium (dark matter). The blade is gilded with gold tinted mitrillium and the sword itself is impossibly light. Tacticus looks with confusion at all those gathered.
“My sincerest thanks but…why?” – Tacticus
“Because the prodigy of Gabinaculum has just reached his fifteenth year of life, why would we not reward you for your efforts? I have also heard that a certain prodigy has been begging his father to let him travel around the nearby forests” – Antonius
The reply from Anotonius, with a grin reaching from ear to ear, leaves Tacticus stuck in place, petrified from this unexpected development. Just as he begins to recover from his shock Polibius Albulus Gabinaculus, the grandson of Gabinius Albus Ocotdrianus, the founder of the town, walks into the Villa.
“Where is the prodigy, come on where is he? The little bastard better not have left yet or so may the Gods help me” – Polibius
The roar of the middle-aged patriarch of the Albuli startled the young Tacticus. Tacticus turns to face him. He see a man, around 90 decicorpi (172.4, 5'8) tall with a bulky figure and brown hair. His breen eyes sweep of the crown of people searching for the young Tacticus. When he finds his prey, his thick eyebrows visibly relax.
“There he is, now come here boy, I’ve got a gift for you.” – Polibius
Tacticus walks over to him and stands there, anxious to see what is going to happen.
“Here boy, take this. I was to lazy to carry the damned thing myself so I borrowed one of your father’s arcalae (storage crystal).” - Polibius
Tacticus then took the arcala and infused some of his numen (mana/magic/qi) into it and then examined its contents. What he saw startled him, he brought it out of the arcala to examine it. It was a set of lorica musculata (look it up). It was, like the blade of the sword, made of umbrium, gilded with gold-tinted mitrillium. He just looked back at Polibius, then to Antonius.
“How did you get this much umbrium and mitrillium, the imperial foundries closed a millennium ago?” – Tacticus
“Well little one, your father, many years ago, used to travel the mountains of Alpina, searching for the treasures of the land. Whilst on one of his adventures he stumbled upon an old supply cache, reserved for the Imperial Family. It was filled with ingots of umbrium and mitrillium. Whilst he sold most of it in Diocesan Capitol of Patavium, he kept some around for himself.” – Hippolatus
“What?!” – Tacticus
“It’s true Tacticus, you father came to me, saying that if I paid for the smith to make the armour, he would provide the materials” – Polibius
“wha…” – Tacticus
Before Tacticus could finish his sentence
“Tacticus your father would like to see you now” - Catalina