The Mourning Field
"I've fought in my share of skirmishes since I enlisted in the Legion, but the tour I'm most proud of was the one that was never supposed to fight. I served a full two-season stint riding sentinel around the Mourning Field. There's no more honored post to have. Winning the assignment was murder; I had to do meticulous prayer services, ride stable enough to put a Marukani to shame and write out parts of the military records of the Sixth and Ninth Imperial from memory. They say that more than four men out of every Fang that applies fails the test.
"Good thing, too; it's the most demanding post you could have. A Fang rides a slow trot around the Field in full military kit - superheavy plate, lance, short sword, shield and bow - for an hour, leading a second horse in full barding, same as the first, behind us as we ride. Every 10 minutes it's stop, dismount, sprinkle salt, sing a prayer. When you're done, you've got an hour off to clean the horses, polish the armor and be back to do it again. A full day on duty, a day off, a full day on, another off... It's a grueling, impossible pace.
"But one look into the Field is enough to remind you why we do it. It's not that the Field is a shadowland, or even that what little life was in there's been blasted to ash. Essence cannons exploded there, hundreds of years ago; we lost two whole Field Forces to the mistake. What's left of them are inside the Field; poor, broken ghosts, mindless and sad. They're the reminder of our mistake and our shame. We ride to honor them, and remind ourselves to take greater care in the future."
-- Chegef Ixos, Gunchei (sergeant), 1st Fang, 5th Scale, 3rd Talon, 2nd Wing, 1st Dragon of the First Field Force of the Seventh Legion
