2. Devron Valian

     "Devron Valian?"
     "Yes, sir."
     "By order of his most sovereign majesty and with the blessing of the Church, you have been selected to join the Salvorian Guard."
     "My lord, is this true?"
     "Of course it is you stupid green whip of a lad, do you think I make things up like this for jest and idle play?  Get on your knees and swear the oath as the sergeant reads it out to you."
     Devron fell to his knees as the commander of the guard instructed, and repeated each word that was read out to him by the passive sergeant, who seemed to have grown used to administering the oath on a repetitive basis.  In fact, as Devron was soon to learn after he was hustled out of the commander's chamber and on to his new dwelling in the third barracks of the Haveron Palace, many new recruits had been pulled into the service of the Salvorian Guard quite recently.
     "We lost a lot of men at the Battle of Twin Peaks," said one of the regular guard, a man who was twice as large as Devron wanted to be, towering over him as if he were a mere hafling.  "The emperor had ordered Sevroth to triple the guard by the next month, but it will be slow going.  There just are not enough, well, strong men out there to add to the strength of the guard."
     Devron had wondered about that very point.  He was not by any means a weak or skinny man, but he was definitely much more on the limber and thin athletic side.  It was a frame of build that had passed on down the line from his father, and fathers before him for as long as he could recall.  Originally the Valians had been from the northern regions of the Dragon's Teeth mountains, lands often dominated by tribal groups that had depended more on raiding than agricultural pursuits.  The Valians were always followers, and had moved from band warriors to common peasants, and eventually farmed the land until one of them had dared to do something a little more independent, such as standing up to a local baron who was demanding too many taxes from his subjects.  The situation was bleak, but the leader of a local monastery, an abbot by name of Rosenthis, took up the case of the Valians, and was able to persuade the Church to bring to bear a strong sense of displeasure on the baron.  The common folk won in this instance, and though of course it had more to do with the intervention of the abbot, the Valians realized as a group that they could stand up for themselves and sometimes win.  This brought about a change in the fortunes of the family.
     With a little bit of good common sense, some informed descions, and not to mention a little luck, the Valians became merchants by trade, and began to increase their fortunes substantially over the years.  A few noblemen were found in their ranks by marriage or elevation, and in recent years the family had earned a place of some limited distinction.  The branch of the family headed by Therus Valian had produced an enormous amount of sons in the last few decades, all of whom needed some sort of stake in the eventual inheritance from their father.  The youngest sons of course tended to get the least amount of consideration, and this Devron was given one good thing by his father with regards to his future vocation.  He was enlisted in the city guard rather than the army, and it was a position that would earn him a decent pension in thirty years if he stuck to it well.  That was enough to get him something in the world, some security it would seem, but that was about all that Therus could give him.  The rest was unknown and dependant upon what opportunities came Devron's way.  A selection to be in the Salvorian Guard was certinaly not one of the possibilities he had imagined.