rel
If Va’Annu were ancient Greece, the rel would be the Spartans. Known for their warriors, the rel were tempered in the frozen northern regions of Va’annu. As fighters without equal, since very ancient times, the rel have plied the trade of the mercenary. Their adherence to a strict code of honor has done as much to make them successful mercenaries as their fighting skills. Rel fight for one side only and are fiercely loyal once employed.
Rel warriors also make up a substantial portion of the imperial guard (The 88), and at any given time the ranks of the emperor’s personal guard, known as The Thrones are generally all rel.
The rel do posses a dark side, however. Its only been a little more than a generation since the previous emperor outlawed the practice of “culling” amongst the rel. Prior to that, sick, infirm or deformed children were culled from the clan (usually murdered at birth). Culling and honor killings, while now far from common, do still happen among the rel.
Common saying with reference to the rel:
“Hard as a rel.” — Tough or immovable.
“Sharp as the edge of a rel blade.” — Smart or clever.
“Better a rel before me, than a xel at my back”
The eternal enemies of the rel are the sed. If the rel are the Spartans, the sed are the Athenians. Crafty, clever and treacherous, the sed are also the richest of the clans. The animosity between the rel and the sed goes all the way back to one of the first rel emperors, Usa Ben Ledo rel Ghonqua who became Va’annex I, the second emperor and the first to become emperor by his own hand. The first emperor Va’animax, was a sed who recruited rel generals to fight his war of conquest while he used guile and political treachery to accomplish off the field of battle what he could not accomplish by force.
Battle-scarred and blinded in one eye, Usa Ben Ledo sought an honorable death in the frozen wastes. But his will to live was strong and he made a life for himself in the land bordering the rel and yoj lands. When word reached him of Va’animax’s ascension he walked more than 1000 miles to the capital and challenged the first Emperor’s right to rule. In an attempt to save himself from single combat, the emperor pressured the Ru (see Tir’a Aristocracy) to declare the emperor immune from personal challenge. Instead they created the challenge of “The 88″. This offered Usa Ben Ledo the chance to be hunted across miles of thick forest by the palace guard (the 80), before facing the emperor’s personal guard (the eight “Thrones” who never leave his side) and finally the emperor hmself.
Usa Ben Ledo took the challenge. With tooth and claw he fought the guard, killing many of those that stood before him. Finally, beaten and bloody he faced Va’animax himself. Before the Emperor could raise a hand in his defense, Usa Ben Ledo was upon him and strangled the life from the emperor with his bare hands.
