Introduction

It's been many years since each of you have set foot in the T'orgh palace. The Temple, The Tower and the Arena have been your homes for many years now, training with the other young dark elves of both noble and common families. Time and time again, you have had to prove yourselves. It has been hard, but now that you are finally done, that you are finally of age, it's time to show your worth to the House, to your family, and most of all, to your father.

Your father, who has summoned you all. You and your brothers, whom you haven't seen much neither, all stand in the antechamber to the T'orgh temple, where your father does most of his business. You all stand, because there is nowhere to sit - waiting for your father was never supposed to be a pleasure. Even the guards, who are stationed here for eight hours at the time, have nowhere to rest. "Dark elves should always be ready" your father always said when you were kids. As you quickly learned, "always ready" meant "don't even lean against the wall to relax". The guard who did that once was never seen again.

So you stand. And wait. And do not lean against the wall. The two guards standing at the door do not move a muscle, do not look at you. They might as well have been dead.

The doors finally open up, and a dark elf servant beckons you to enter. As you walk through the large temple, towards the throne on the dais at the end, you can't help to admire the mosaic of the Lord of Light in all his glory covering the back wall. That mosaic has always been the pride of the House, unequaled by any temple to Asmodeus.

As you approach, you can see your father is on his knees in front of the altar, off to the right, reciting the litany every dark elf knows by hear:

All trust is foolish
Ambition leads to ascension
Death is not the end, but the means

Dishonor lasts a lifetime, but death is instant
The best dagger is the unseen one
To walk apart from House and Lord is to walk into the grave
All glory to Asmodeus, the Lord of Light

As he finishes the litany, he rises and turns, walking towards you, holding his platinum rod with six snakes. Looking at you with his left eye, the only eye he has left, he says:

So, fruit of my loins... Sons. Are you ready? Are you ready to die for Asmodeus and the House of T'orgh?