Role

Chapter 4

"Line them up in the center of the town, on their knees." The imperial
soldiers pushed the men of the village to the town square, herding them
together like sheep. With rough kicks to the backs of their knees, each
man was brought to his knees on the cold mud. The weather had been
particularly harsh in the far north of Thera, and Maugauth despised trips
to the far north, short of the visits to the Fortress in the mountains to
slaughter their soldiers. He could feel the cold of this day in his very
horns. Surveying the men before him, he spoke out "Bring the women, and
the children. They are to witness this." As the imperial soldiers prodded
out the other villagers to witness, he cocked his head to the side and
eyed the first man on his knees. "Worthless human, I offer you a choice.
Take the bloodoath, or have your head on a pike outside the village." The
man trembled as he spoke up, "We are but simple farmers and peasants, not
soldiers. We are loyal to the Archon lord. Our praises go to him..."
Before he could finish speaking, Maugauth raised and dropped his fist,
ordering the solder standing behind the man to swing down his axe,
decapitating the man instantly. Maugauth moved on to the next man on his
knees. "And you?" In tears, the man just looked at the dirt, shaking his
head. "May the lord of archons have mercy...." Maugauth raised and
lowered his fist again, and another head rolled free to the mud. As he
moved to the next man, the man gazed up at him and spoke, "My heart, my
soul, my life for the Empire." Maugauth pointed to the freshly
bloodoathed man and said "Brand him." The man cried out as a hot iron was
pressed to his neck by the imperial soldiers, branding the mark of the
imperial codex into his neck. As Maugauth moved to the next man, he too
took the bloodoath, and the next, and the next. All the rest of the men
had seen enough, their wills broken, and swore allegiance to the Empire.
Each one after the next felt the hot iron of the branding stick on their
neck, reminding them of their oath. Maugauth ordered the Imperial
soldiers to tie the bloodoaths to the back of each of their horses, so
they would keep pace as they traveled. He looked to the rest of the
villagers, and spoke to the imperial soldiers. "Gather all the young
women, and have them placed in that hut. I will leave my mark here." The
children stared in horror as their sisters and cousins were dragged off
into the hut by the soldiers. Maugauth looked at the remaining children,
all young boys and barely men and spoke to them "I will return for you in
a few years." Maugauth then disappeared into the hut for near an hour,
the screams of the young girls drowning out the cries of the freshly
bloodoathed men and young children left to listen. When he came from the
hut, he said "It is done, they are seeded. Onward north now, we have