The Praetorian

Overview:
Aut cum scuto, aut in scuto; Either with shield or on Shield. These are the words every Praetorian lives by, having been bred their entire lives for a single purpose – victory above all else.

The Praetorian were established by Alexander and Azazel Valkyrion during the Aevum Aurum of the Illian Empire and since have served as the personal army of the two brothers. Following their victory of their homeland, and their subsequent forceful takeover of the Illian Empire; the need for an elite unit loyal only to Alexander and Azazel had become apparent. After all, they had inspired the loyalty of both their father’s army and the Illian Legion and with it had conquered what was at the time their known world. They needed a contingency plan, a way to prevent their generals from doing the same thing in turn. The Praetorian became that solution, the most terrifying fighting force the world would every know loyal only to the two eldest of the remaining Valkyrion line.

With their inception, this militant body became an immediate threat on the battle field, dominating every enemy they faced. They were instrumental in Illian’s doctrine of expansion capable of taking on armies much larger in number. Their superior martial talent coupled with their unique magical enhancements and unparalleeld ability to work as a single unit made them nigh unstoppable.

Recruitment:
The brothers took a unique approach in their recruiting efforts for the Praetorian. Two demographics were identified as having the most potential, both children between the ages of five and eight. They selected children because they viewed them as a clean slate, raw clay to be shaped and molded into what they would become. For the first of the Praetorian; 20,000 children were brought in from all corners of the empire to the Legion Stronghold and Imperial Prison at Ostview. Only six hundred left the compound.

Some of the children were orphans, taken off the streets from major cities through the Imperium. Others were not so lucky. The majority of the “recruits” were children forcefully taken from the families of conquered territories. When possible, children of ruling families were made a priority. This served a dual purpose. It not only increased the number of recruits they would have to work with, but also acted as a way to beat conquered nations into submission.

Training Preparation:
Torturous. The training of the Praetorian was brutal and draconian, exceeding levels of twisted cruelty unimaginable to those who hadn’t lived through it. Recruits were broken and rebuilt, time and time again. From the day they arrived in Ostview, they were denied sleep and food. Their first two weeks there, they were provided only enough water to keep them alive. At the end of the two weeks, children were made to fight one another bare-knuckled. These fights were to the death, and only the victors were allowed to eat. Those who wouldn’t fight, were killed before the horde. On the fifteenth day, ten-thousand children died while the remaining half feasted. This was far from the end.

The cycle continued, two weeks without sleep or food followed by a single day of brutal carnage. Each time, the children were more willing to engage one another. Forty-five days in, and the recruits numbers had dwindled to only twenty-five hundred children. They were made to bury the bodies of those not strong enough to survive. In the rocky terrain of the Forsaken mountains, the remaining group was forced to dig and stone without tools or adult help. Daily, children were publicly beaten to death to encourage the remaining group to work harder, faster. By the time the dead were buried another five hundred had died to the beatings or the disease of the now festering corpses. Three months in and Alexander and Azazel had caused the death of eighteen-thousand children. The remaining two-thousand were castrated before their actual training began.

Martial Training and Education:
For the next five years, recruits were subjected to non-stop training and education. Eighteen hours a day, these children were only allowed to train their bodies and their minds.

They were taught combat both on foot and on horseback, in and out of formation. Martial instruction and a deadly regimen of practice was instituted for every conceivable weapon be it melee or ranged, flexible or fixed in every type of armor imaginable. They studied as well; educated in the art of war, strategy, and tactics with required adherence to the Proximian Faith. Another five years and another five hundred dead. Now, only fifteen-hundred remained.

Augmentation:
As though their bodies and minds had not been broken enough, Alexander and Azazel saw it necessary to change their biology. They did this through the use of divine magic, in conjunction with the power possessed by the Vitemium and Mortemium blades. In a series of rituals, developed over the last five years with the Legionairres at Ostview, the recruits were created anew.

Bone density was tripled leading to amazing skeletal integrity. This allowed for increased muscle density as well as the augmentation focused on incredible strength without the bulk that would normally be associated. Lean, white muscle became the focus leading to superior strength and speed. As part of the anatomical changes, each recruit acquired a second heart—a necessary adjustment to provide blood flow to the additional muscle groups. So much was their cellular composition changed through magical means, a new race—unable to reproduce—had been created.

Of the fifteen-hundred that entered augmentation, only six hundred survived. The number for the order had been set. The process had produced a three percent success rate.

Divine Magic and Further Martial Training:
Those who survived augmentation entered the personal tutelage of Alexander and Azazel. From Azazel, they received further martial training ensuring that they would be the most skilled and organized combatants on any battle field. From Alexander, they were trained in the use of Divine Magic.

Rather than teaching them as casters, an approach was taken to use Divine Magic to further augment their already impressive physical prowess. Through the use of Divine Magic, the Praetorian were taught to further fortify their bodies, to increase their speed and strength, to heighten their sense and their reflexes. They were also taught to augment their weapons. Education was provided in the four cardinal elements as a means bolster their equipment. The result was an uncanny ability to enchant their weapons and armor as needed. From flaming swords, to arcanely hardened armor – their magical prowess was such that they could not be outmatched in either ability or equipment.

The Cleansing:
For over ten years, the Legionairres that had brought the recruits in and those that had already been stationed at Ostview had not been allowed to leave. They missed their families and worried for their well being as they had been allowed not contact witht he outside world since the first child was brought in. The hop, was that graduation day would change that. Their hopes were misplaced.

A massive ceremony was put together in the fortress, the revealing of the Praetorian Cohort. Every soldier at Ostview was required to attend. They filled the courtyard before a stage that had been constructed in the days leading up to the ceremony. From the bowels of the stone monolith, the Praetorian emerged  in a phalanx that moved as though it had one mind. Shields and spears glistened in the light of the early morning. As they took the stage, silence fell. The Legionairres looked on in awe.

In the silence, the gates were sealed—each portcullis shut with a ferrous whine and sudden crash. It did not go unnoticed. Once escape was rendered impossible, the Praetorian wasted no time. They had been instructed in what needed done. Like the wrath of the gods, they descended from their podium slicing through the soldiers before them. Within an hour, six hundred Praetorian had slain fifteen thousand men. Not one was left alive, each of them deemed a liability having witnessed the atrocities that took place to create Illian’s elite warriors. Once again, the Praetorian were made to bury the fallen, though none struggled this time. Ostview was never used by the Legion again, reserved to this day as the primary location for new Praetorian training. Stories are told by the locals of the place and none dare venture there for to do so is a death sentence—even for the bravest of traveler.

The Praetorian Now:
In the current day, the Praetorian are split between two cohorts of three hundred each. One stationed in Nova Indomitus and the other in Nova Carthago. Their numbers never change, each time a Praetorian is felled in battle another one is ready to take their place. Six hundred, no more no less.

Their methods of training remain to this day just as brutal and vicious as they started, though now it is reserved to the Veterans of the unit to carry out this duty. Alexander and Azazel’s involvement is limited now only to the augmentation process.