[center][h2]And So It Begins[/h2][/center]
[center]Sekritter[/center]
[center][b]Day 1, Crack of Dawn[/b][/center]
[center][i]Peredur[/i] [/center]

So, this is where we wish to begin my tale, eh? I suppose there are worse places to begin, and this was definitely the beginning of new chapter. But forgive me, if I'm less than ecstatic, after all, what man enjoys hearing that there life only had meaning from a certain point on. Was the rest of my life truly that boring? But I digress, there will hopefully come a day when I can relay the marvelous story of my origins. I'm sure you would all love to hear the tale of how a simple son of a carpenter became the great man you see before you. 

What? Do you doubt me? Do you reject that I was the miracle child of an ordinary carpenter? 

Well, believe what you will, however I suppose if we're going to do this, I should lay forth a few ground rules.

Number one, since I'm going to be revealing so much about myself, I suppose it's only fitting that I gave you my word. Contrary to my usual nature, I'll refrain from lying, only truths regarding this tale will escape my tongue. Which, mind you, will be quite difficult, but it wouldn't make for a very good tale if you doubted my every word. So trust me alright? When it comes down to it, you'll hear the truth. 

Rule number two, keep in mind that while this may be rather personal for me, for the sake of continuity I won't be addressing you all that much later on. After all, this is my story, not yours, so just shut up and listen to me the entire time. Comprehendo? Don't get too annoyed when I stop referring to you by pronoun. All this "you" business is just a temporary thing for settling in. 

Number three, certain details will remain in my own jurisdiction, it's a fun little tale but I need not tell you everything? Half my life is probably spent in the bathroom, asleep or both at the same time, you don't need to hear about those little escapades. Simply put, I reserve to right to hold certain details back. 

Number four, well, we can skip number four. 

Finally, and most importantly, is rule number five. Simply put as I am entrusting you with my tale, I trust that you will trust me to be a trustworthy person who you can trust and receive the trust of, to this purpose offer up your trust to prove the worth of my trust in this trustworthy embarking of my tale. Confused? Don't be. Just... [i]trust [/i]me. 

Alright, I've wasted enough time, let's begin in earnest. 

The morning, started like any other, I awoke in my room within the Knight's tower. A lovely little space granted thanks to the degree of dedication I'd shown as a knight in this order. It was an odd experience for me to serve as a knight, old virtues of chivalry seemed less than worthwhile, they were something to be reserved for my youth. Then again, these hypocrites seemed less knightly in their manner and more like some odd mixture of a police force and a PMC. But who am I to complain, I'm getting paid, and receiving room and board, to punch people in the face. Well, sometimes I cut them in half, and sometimes I just talk them to death, there was that one time I escorted a donkey to its home, oh, and I once tied a man to a goat for ease of travel, but yeah, I basically get paid to punch people. 

I went on a tangent again didn't I?

So I awoke that morning, dragged myself out of bed. Brushed my teeth, took a shower, and otherwise underwent a fairly normal morning routine. Truth be told I was fairly proud of myself, I'm generally not an early riser, but I was up at the crack of dawn that morning. At most places I've frequented that would have been enough to leave me as the first one up, but the guys at this tower tended to be a bit too disciplined for my tastes. 

But again,  I can't complain, I'm getting paid to punch people. 

So there I was, crack of dawn, hearing tale that the Master of Blades was currently available. I hadn't had the pleasure of interacting much with him in the past, but I had heard of his considerable skill. Normally I'd be a bit more skeptical, but when you were named Master of Blades in a tower full of swordsmen, you kind of had to some semblance of credibility to your name. 

As I walked towards the training fields, a location I had garnered from one of the handful of knights still up, I couldn't help but think how quiet the tower was at this time of day. Normally, the tower was a bustle with all sorts of knights setting off on daring quests and challenging jobs. The noise of the place oft rivaled that of local pubs. Honestly the size of the crowds were something I could probably do without, I'm a quiet guy, loud noises don't suit me. However to hear things this quiet was, truth be told, unnerving, for the whole tower was but a man on his death bed. 

I guess that spoke volumes about this mess of current affairs. 

I swear, if not for the great perks, I would never have taken this job. 

But again, [i]paid[/i] to [i]punch[/i] people. 

As I walked out onto those training fields, I was greeted by an even eerie silence. Only a single man, practicing his sword form, laid claim to the fields at this hour. It was a rather peaceful sight, watching a master hone his craft, rather like the drunken samurai I once trained under. I actually felt a little bad for interrupting him, but there wasn't much I could do it. 

"Yo." I raised a hand in greeting accompanied by a jovial grin. 

I was good at those.