Watch Officers Tent:

Final Night before the Red Wave.

Your Sergeant was born Hyu Han, and never did a more stubborn bastard live but that was not his name. Not after Naming Day.

“Han? Of the Noble Han Clan?”

Irked, Tsea-gong levelled a look of disdain on the newly minted fool, waving off his Preafect from punishing the boy.

“You are new to your position and the breeding that is expected of you, so I will forgive your interruption only once. Do not do so again of your Seniors, Captain. They will delight in your punishment.”

“Yes, of House Han, you fool. Who else would be walking around with another Houses name? But this was long before their fall from grace, back to a time when there existed eight Clans. I won’t tell you their name because such things are forbidden, but I can say that this was the Clan at the centre of the Heretic wars. Or rather, the wrong side of them.”

“They were exclusively of round eye and pale skins, with strange colourations to their hair. It’s also why over a hundred years later we still associate their strange names with heresy. They were a Clan that openly denied the deity of the Twin Sisters and was accused of foul practises...”

Tsea-gong snorted in humour.

“… more so than usual of the Nobles. Unfortunately, these rumours proved to be true. None were prepared to face honourless witches in battle, their foul magics tainting the Cultivation of noble Cultivators. It was in the beginning that it looked like they might actually win against the five other houses, slaughtering thousands in the outposts they overran.”

“It was only when the Sacred Artists entered the fray that were they finally brought to heel. Their foul magics countered by the Artist's Runes. The dishonour with which they fought earned their entire Clan obliteration, they were slaughtered down to the last Cultivator.

“It was only amongst the varying Clans whore houses, that a remnant of this house survived. Kept as trophies thanks in part to their monstrous hair colour variations and even then, only as Coreless young woman.”

“As a young man Hyu, fool that he was, committed the sin of all undisciplined young men. He fell in love with a whore, a redhead.”

“Together the pair hatched a plot, dying her hair over time and convincing the painted Mistress that it was natural for her hair colour to fade. The Mistress agreed to sell the slave girl before she lost all value and with her hair still dyed, the pair quickly eloped.”

“When they were finally discovered by Hyu’s father, she was already heavily pregnant with child. Furious at the wilfulness of his son, he disowned him. Forcing Hyu to take sanctuary within the Watch. The Houses were still crippled by their civil war and there was still much infighting. Whereas the Watch was at its zenith under Miki-yeoseo. Hyu and his family were safe so long as he served faithfully.”

“Due to his age of only eighteen, he could not be raised to a Captaincy even though he was of noble blood and was instead given a sergeantcy. Highly comical due to his timid nature. So you see, the man really wasn’t averse to round eyes or their peculiar names.”

Tsea-gong saw the young man’s disbelieving frown and snorted.

“He was a different man, Captain, and younger than you when his journey started. It was only after he changed his name that death lost its hold over him. That first wave afterwards, one of his men fell off the wall and survived with a broken leg by cowering under the walls defensive spikes.”

“Damn fool tied a rope around his waist and jumped right off the ten-metre wall. Ran down it, grabbed him and then had the men pull them both backup. All whilst Beasts threw themselves at him with nothing but a spear in one hand. He was fearless. The men would say of him that he ran around pursuing his own death with a spear in hand.”

Tsea-gong retrieved the Doa dagger belonging to the late Sergeant and tried to unscrew the large Beast Core attached to the end. With a grunt and a silent curse he broke it off. The damn thing had been glued on, most likely a self-repair job over the ages.

The audible crack was enough for Tjien to cry out in dismay at the damage done to his Sergeants honour-bound blade.

“Hold your tongue or present my Preafect another finger. It’s an aged Core, junior. Almost a century old and a Doa dagger one at that. This thing is entirely attuned to Kevin alone. Its only use now to anyone else would be as a doorstop.”

Tsea-gong placed the Core into the young Captains shaking hands and pushed him closer to the glow of the lanterns.

“Hold it up to the light Junior. Do you see the engravings?”

Tjien frowned but nodded when he saw that familiar scratching on it.

“Well? Read it!”

“I… I can’t read my lord.”

The Shogun snatched it back, muttering sarcastically. “Ofcourse you can’t.”

“Arch-tenant could you please spell it out for our godless, suicidal arbalist.”

The man snatched the throw, holding it up with a scowl before arching an eyebrow in surprise. Dutifully he read it out loud.

“K. E. V. I. N.”

Tjien scowled as Shoguns servant returned the core to him. Carefully he inspected it again, as if he could somehow determine whether they were telling the truth of it. They were indeed five scratches on it.

“Are you satisfied now, junior?” The Shogun asked.

Tjien felt conflicted and hesitant to trust that which he did not fully understand. Even if they were telling him the truth about the letters carved on the Core. They had still failed to tell him why.

“Why choose Kevin, Shogun?

The Shogun nodded his head, with a sigh and a smile.

“As a Captain, I asked him that very question one night, although I should add that he was heavily into his cups at the time. The man would often drink his whole team under the tables at the Thorns. But he said it was so that no other women would tolerate being pushed into a marriage with him.”

Tjien frowned in confusion at the Shogun, who noticed immediately.

“You should be aware, it is common practice amongst the Watch to ensure all officers have families. We will hold off on you for the time being as you are to be placed on the First, but Kevin was afraid Miki-yeoseo would force him to remarry.”

Tijen’s face only deepened in confusion. “I don’t understand Shogun.”

Tsea-gong himself was just as surprised by the junior’s reaction.

“He never told you?” Tsea-gong took his blank expression as confirmation.

“She’s dead boy. She died in childbirth, just weeks after joining our order. For a crack shot, you’re quite blind, junior.”

Tjien jaw went slack in disbelief.

“no…No!”

The silent look that passed from Shogun to Preafect had Kido stepping forward for another lesson in discipline. But when Tjien reached about his neck and pulled out a pendant, the man hesitated.

“See!” Tjien thrust the pendant towards Kido, who after receiving confirmation, handed it over to a curious Shogun.

“I have to bring it back to her! I have to tell her that…” he’s coming home.

Tsea-gong clicked the pendant open, scowling at the peasant who appeared unsteady on his own footing, breathing heavily.

It is not uncommon for an uncored woman to suffer difficulty in childbirth.” Tsea-gong clicked it shut and handed it back. “Her and the child were both lost.”

“If it’s a grave you want to visit, the Arch-tenant can provide you with a note of admittance. She’s buried with the rest of her kind, as no other would have her and the boy. Lucky for you, the tombs are just before you reach the broken bridge.”

“You do not want to climb any higher even if you could. There is a fallen monastery up there, the Rose Court who I just learned a few days back still have some surviving members. They are not to be trusted.”

“When it came to their funerals, the Monks refused to pray over a heretic and her dead child. Hyu would not accept it. Managing to get himself thrown out of the two biggest Temples and banned from the others as word of his efforts spread.

“When Hyu came of age and was brought before the monks for his Naming Day, Miki-yeoseo was there. As is the duty of every Shogun. We observe the ritual infusion of Essence we provide our Captains, ensuring they are absorbed fully from Seedling to Core.”

“They might have refused Hyu, but as the Watch, they dared not refuse Miki-yeoseo. Stubborn fool that he was, Hyu set in place a grievance that would come to involve thousands and go on for almost a century.”

“He renounced his name and took on a new one. One he had carved into the very Core he had placed in the Abbots hands, forcing him to bless it infront of thousands of spectators. As tradition stands, by choosing a new path the old one must die. And so, a lantern was lit for Hyu Han and Kevin was born.”

The peasant was silent now, but it galled Tsea-gong to see a Captain of his with wet eyes.

“Why… why pick that name, Master?”

“Kevin? That was the name of his boy, the name his wife had chosen. He said couldn’t undo it, but he could swap it. So, he took that Monk-blessed lantern with a prayer inside and placed it over the grave, carving Hyu Han into the rock. Religious fool.”

Tjien bowed and silently left without another word.