The Tale of Yugie
Birth
Yugie was born into the Totacocohua (Our Father's Serpents), a Dray Clan bound to Tectuktitlay, Sorcerer King of Draj.
Formerly the Desert Maw clan, the Totacocohua were incorporated into Draj society several centuries ago, after a long history of trade relations and serving as mercenaries for Draj. Valued for their abilities and their loyalty to agreements, they were essentially 'bought out'; signing a contract for every member of the clan to serve until death in perpetuity. Thus they became an elite arm of the Draji Templars that work alongside the Jasuan Knights, enforcing the will of Tectuktitlay, serving as elite troops and commanders in his armies.
In addition to calling upon their combat prowess as elite mages, many of the Spellscale sorcerers were inducted into the secrets of the Sorcerer King, and worked on Draconic research. Tectuktitlay was obsessed with both empowering his beloved Drakes with greater intelligence and stength, and of learning the secrets of the Dray's progenitor Dregoth, and his attempted Draconic ascension.
It was also not uncommon for the Totacocohua to be hired out at exorbitant prices as mercenaries to wealthy individuals and merchant houses; House Tsalaxa, for example, were regular clients.
Youth
As a non-sorcerer Yugie's path was to become an aspirant Clanblade warrior, training to become an elite warrior, serving the Clan and Tectuktitlay.
Any aspirant Clanblades or Spellscales who were deemed unsuited to sorcery or soldiery were demoted from the revered inner circles of the Clan to being associate members. This could occur at birth, or at any point in their training. The most common cause for demotion was failing the clan's Rite of Passage before they entered adulthood and achieved full induction to the Totacocohua.
The connection of these lesser members to the Clan's blood still remained, and as such they had many privileges over normal Draji citizens. With the Dray culture of ruthlessly avenging any wrongs against their kin and the clan's powerful connections, they enjoyed a level of security that most people would not.
Most often these lesser clan members worked as merchants, less valued mercenaries or in administrative roles within government.
Trained in the martial arts, his prowess as a quick thinking and natural combat leader was soon recognised and he was trained not only how to wield blade and shield, but also in tactics, strategy and leadership.
The tradition of the Totacocohua, which has a high proportion of magically gifted members, is for each aspirant Spellscale sorcerer to be partnered with several aspirant Clanblades from the beginning of their training.
The combat traditions of the Totacocohua emphasise combined arms, mixing martial and magical fighting techniques in a balanced manner, and this grouping system meant that they trained in these techniques together from their first day.
Marked out as exceptional from early on, Yugie was partnered with a female Spellscale prodigy named Ysidra and another promising male fighter named Yeloth. Yugie and Yeloth trained in the martial arts under Hragnar 'Hammerblow', the brother of the Clan chief and master of the warriors. It was considered a great honour to be apprenticed to Hragnar himself, widely considred the best warrior of the Clan.
Ysidra was trained by the no less renowned Ethelas, one of the most powerful mages the clan had produced in generations.
The three of them excelled in training, and were regarded with a mixture of pride and jealousy within the clan.
At age 16, they completed their training. At this stage, they began their final trial; a coming of age ritual which involved going out into the desert wastes and slaying a powerful creature, bringing back it's head as a trophy. The more dangerous the creature slain, the greater the honour achieved.
The arrogance of youth and their perceived superiority to the other aspirants of the clan meant that the trio bit off far more than they could chew on their journey. While most aspirants would choose something like a wild Crodlu or Baazrag as their prey, Yugie, Yeloth and Ysidra happened upon a adolescent Earth Drake, probably escaped from the breeding pens of Draj. Even though it was already wounded (presumably from it's escape or from combat with other creatures since) it proved to be far too much for the trio to handle.
Yeloth was gravely wounded, losing an arm and an eye to the beast, and the three barely escaped with their lives.
The shame of returning having failed and of their arrogance resulting in Yeloth being crippled would follow them for the rest of their lives. Yeloth was forced into the lower tier of the clan as he could no longer wield a blade. By all rights, Yugie and Ysidra should have joined him for failing the rite of passage but, hubris aside, their great talent was still recognised and they were allowed to repeat the rite, after another year of training.
The next time their ambition was tempered by shame and caution, and while their trophy was still significant (they tracked and slew a wild Cilops), it could never totally erase their shame.
Adulthood
Having completed their rite of passage, the pair were now made available for service and to be hired for mercernary work, and for the escort of the clan merchants.
Their first few jobs were unremarkable, a mix of guard duties, small time jobs for wealthy individuals who needed some muscle and escorting merchant caravans.
After a year of such mundane assignments, the pair were inducted into the inner secrets of Tectuktitlay (along with a score of others) to assist him in his draconic research. As was custom, Yugie would act as bodyguard and assistant to Ysidra.
Although not magically inclined, Yugie was intelectually adept, and found that although being cloistered in the mad Sorcerer King's temples and libraries was not quite the life of adventure that he had envisioned when he set out to become a Clanblade, his appetite for knowledge was growing and the vast array of books and scrolls availble to him in his role as Ysidra's assistant/bodyguard would first sate, then further grow that thirst for knowledge.
For about two years he and Ysidra were resident in the temples and libraries hidden away in Two Moon City and they carried out extensive research through the collected tomes on the origin and nature of the Dray, and their connections to Dregoth.
After those two years, Tectuktitlay laid out his master plan: he wanted to send an expedition to the ruins of Guistenal. The expedition would excavate the site and find as much information about Dregoth, the Dray and his attempts at Draconic ascension as possible.
After several hard weeks of sailing across the Silt Sea, surviving several pirate attacks and a few minor adventures along the way, Yugie, Ysidra and the 20 or so other members of the expedition arrived at the ruins of Guistenal.
What they discovered shortly though, was that the city was not as dead as the world at large believed. Within a few days of setting up camp in the ruins, they came under repeated attacks. They were cut off from their lines of retreat and could not make any attempt to escape. They managed to fortify themselves in a ruined building, and held their attackers at bay for several days, but eventually they were overwhelmed.
Although they gave good account of themselves, the whole expedition was slaughtered.
After the blackness of death, Yugie awoke to find himself in the dim darkness of what would emerge to be the undercity of Guistenal, where Dregoth had persisted in undeath, raising an army of undead in secret. With Ysidra nowhere to be found, Yugie stepped forth, with a strange burning sensation in his chest...