Prologue

‘Death to the enemies of Kith!

May their blood further temper the metal of our swords!

Death to the enemies of the Empire!

May Dakur grant us victory or suffer us to die with honour!’

Kithian War Chant

Since the beginning of time, fear of the unknown persisted amongst all inhabitants of the savage and unpredictable world of Baltrath.

Death, the greatest unknown of all, being a state or condition that all living creatures must eventually succumb to, contributed to being the greatest cause of fear.

It was ages ago that the first of the great warriors dared to crawl forth from the mire of fear, and spat defiantly into the face of death.

To him, tempting death was tasting the fruits of life. The more daring he became, the more flavourful and meaningful became that short existence between the cradle and the grave.

Through this perverted, symbiotic relationship, he learned to understand and control the great power that fear was to bestow upon him.

With fear and death to command, he was soon to carve his name into the flesh and minds of all those who dared to challenge his will.

This warrior was Kith, father of the Kithian nation, ancestor of Baltrath’s mightiest empire.