Required by law, this would necessitate Anson completing three months of basic training in the King’s armed forces, followed by periodic exercises as a permanent member of the royal reserve.“What nonsense,” his mother muttered. Both were on horseback, ambling their way toward the capital city.“Mom, I’ll be all right.”“You must be careful!” she snapped. Of course, this was the same plea any mother would give a son upon entering military service, though both knew the deeper meaning.Thoughtfully, Anson stared off into the distance, catching a flicker of lightning on the horizon. Usually one couldn’t see the Outlands during the daytime, though occasionally on cloudy mornings the frequent electrical storms buffeting that mysterious area burst into view.Few people traveled into the Outlands, and even fewer lived to tell the tale. As far as anyone knew, it was inhabited entirely by an aggressive species of smallish, wild humanoids called Kardens. It was to combat the occasional Karden incursions into the Kingdom proper that the King primarily maintained his infantry battalions.The secondary rationale for a military force was domestic suppression.
