Appendix: On the Warrior Nobility of Eastern Bhaile;

  Extracted Chapter of the Book; ‘Warriors of Terra Ferax!’ - Published TA421.

  Over the last two millennia of planet Bhaile’s Eastern continent, there have been many warrior clan traditions. Over such a long period of time, many of these have faded, merged or disappeared entirely into the waves of history.

  Perhaps the most well-known surviving clan is the Bachika line. Dubbed for their archery, the Bachika are one of the larger noble houses of Terra Ferax, continuing to maintain their craft and rule their region to great renown. They came to more global notoriety during The First War, where clan head Colonel Bachika proved to the world the warrior part of his title still held true.

  Of course, as romantic an image as a bow and arrow versus a Vijiak might be, Bachika instead led a battalion of tanks throughout the ground invasion of Bhaile. Tanks had a mixed rate of success against the early Abhailen mechs, but it is said no force had more kills than Bachika’s often undersupplied and overburned battalion did. Many claim that the country never falling to the Abhailiens (even as the rest of the continent collapsed) owes much to the 'Hero of the East'.

  By the war's end, his tanks were aided by the Casnel Ground-Type, the very first limited-production Casnel. It had reduced scope in some areas to save on cost and optimise for in atmosphere use, but with it, Bachika swept a path across the land, dealing massive blows to the invaders time and again. He has passed his skills in archery down to his daughter and heir, Hoki Bachika, and it is thought the clan's future is as bright and prosperous as its past.

  In contrast, far more of these clans have disappeared, as is perhaps only natural after so many centuries. One particular clan of note is Clan Kigen, which was thought to have simply vanished for most of the Third Age.

  It was known that much of its land’s population was mass deported to become part of the first settlers of Abhaile. Their region was poor; farming had always been harsh due to poor soil quality. By the end of the Second Age, they were a prime example of the planet's overpopulation issues, struggling for food and with mounting disease and virus problems.

  It was speculated by the other clans, therefore, that Count Kiyo Kigen, having exhausted all negotiations with the union government, chose to leave behind his lands and fortune to follow his people into space. A suspicion was all this was for four hundred years, until the Remembrance Incident occurred two years ago.

  During this violent guerilla war, an unexpected discovery was made: one of the two Supreme Commanders of this terrorist force was none other than Kiyo Kigen.

  Now, dear reader, this was not, of course, the original Kiyo Kigen, but it was a direct blood descendant and no less than the current clan head, holding a rank of Count within the now defunct Abhailen nobility system.

  After the war's conclusion, a team was formed to investigate thoroughly and piece together just what exactly had become of this once great Bhailien warrior clan - and so, with the sponsorship of the Governor of Abhaile - that investigation began.

  The team went in with high hopes; while it was known Kiyo Kigen had died in the war, there was much anticipation that other members of his clan might yet live to provide a firsthand account of their history. The team would be sourly disappointed.

  Kiyo's father (Kaleb Kigen) had died a couple of years before the incident. Meanwhile, his mother had perished two decades ago during childbirth, her newborn dying with her (it is apparently not uncommon on Abhaile for this to occur despite infant mortality rates being near eradicated on Bhaile).

  Kiyo's father once had quite a few siblings, but as the team searched, they were soon faced with more disappointment. Almost every one of the Kigen aunts and uncles had either perished in the war or from natural causes. Desperate, the search was broadened, and at last, the team located a cousin of Kiyo's, daughter of his aunt and also dead - but not, much to the benefit of this study, before having a child of her own.

  Kaleb's Grand-niece and her mother had been going by their husband's family name. Like so many others, the man had died in The First War, with mother and daughter decided to move to the Kigen lands a few months before the occupation began.

  With some effort, the daughter was tracked down, and from her came our greatest source of information on the clan's final days.

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  She told the team of her mother, who had died during an altercation in the capital. Seemingly, a group of TSU garrison soldiers were...inebriated. Stella Allard Kigen intervened, disarming the runaway troops, but when another patrol came by, they mistook her for the instigator, shooting her dead. A request to the Governor provided us with a report on this matter, confirming the story.

  Ella (the daughter) herself was not taught the Kigen arts past a rudimentary level. With her mother's death, she stayed on with Kaleb Kigen until his passing in his early sixties of old age (this may seem shockingly young to a Bhailien reader, but on Abhaile, life expectancy for males much past seventy is rare).

  Ella was able to reveal a few surprising details from this time period, one being that Kiyo Kigen had apparently returned, having something of a confrontation with his father before leaving. This was the last time she or Kaleb saw Kiyo.

  She also detailed Kaleb's activities following the First War and prior to his death. It is well documented that the Abhailen war killed many villages. The occupation has prioritised rehabilitating the larger population centres. It has not had the funds to recover these smaller locals. Curiously, however, the town capital of the Kigen lands is thought to be the village that lasted the longest in the entire region, not just weeks or months but years.

  Ella told us this was because her Gran-uncle sold the entirety of the Kigen Clan's assets. From furniture to heirlooms, everything but the buildings, which no longer held any value, Kaleb sold. The money was used to maintain the village for a time while helping to immigrate its population. Some were even sent North across the border into Fal-Dara (a request submitted to the Duke of Bannerman’s office confirmed this migration as fact).

  To further confirm her story, we were able to track down an old resident of the town who is now living in the capital with his adopted nephew. The man corroborated much of what Ella said about Kaleb’s actions and character.

  It is here we can see an intriguing contrast. Both Kiyo and Kaleb Kigen sought methods to restore their people in the wake of the war - Kiyo through further conflict, Kaleb through direct support of those nearest him - this speaks to who the Kigen clan were four hundred years prior.

  The aforementioned Bachika clan were instrumental here as they had once been close to Clan Kigen and still maintained some records of them from centuries ago. These records detail that unlike most of Bhaile's warrior clans, the Kigens appeared altogether suddenly, being granted their title despite having been relatively unheard of; this, it turned out, was by design.

  The Kigens had been assassins; their school of swordsmanship focused on swift killing blows and lesser, maiming and disarming strikes.

  Having been made nobility, the clan seems to have swapped tact: Its ruling lord would hold power for thirty years, largely controlling the activities of the clan that happened in the dead of night. After thirty years, the role would be handed to the next heir, while the prior head would take on a more public role, a friendly face to rule the lands, attend functions and even teach a watered-down version of the school to outsiders.

  Of course, over the centuries of the clan, this changed significantly. Much like the Bachika clan used tanks in the Third Age, not a bow and arrow - the Kigens had already been long redundant of their assassin ways by the end of the Second Age, dawn of the third.

  This led to a modern version of the clan that still thought the same sword style but primarily out of ceremony.

  In Kaleb and Kigen, we can see an interesting call back to this, with Kigen, a bonafide terrorist, as averse to his father, a man who more embodied the modern clan; a compassionate ruler who, like the first Kiyo Kigen four hundred years ago, chose to lose land and wealth in order to aide his people.

  Sadly, the unravelling of this mystery as to the disappearance and now reappearance of Clan Kigen comes to an untimely conclusion. Like many of the Bhailein houses before it, it seems destined to simply fade away.

  Ella, the sole living family member we could find, has, as mentioned, not been fully trained in the school, nor when asked, did she express any intention of taking up the Clan's name. Moreover, the Abhailein nobility has been defuncted, and any claim she might have to the Countship aspect is mute.

  She explained that with the death of her Grand-uncle, she has no ties left to the family and desires to live in peace - for that reason, we have obscured her personal details as needed and used fake names for her and her mother.

  In some ways, it could be said that the Kigens and Bachikas were the epitome of the old warrior clans, both powerful warrior traditions and beloved rulers, both surviving into the Third Age of firearms and explosives. Perhaps the only real difference was the side of battle they found themselves on. Whatever the case, they likely represent the end of that romantic time when a single blade or arrow could change everything.