Dev had wanted to be a knight since he was old enough to swing sticks and imagine monsters. He spent every waking moment from five on pestering his parents to let him squire to the local barony. He memorized what little facts he could glean and hounded the traveling minstrels for tales of derring-do. He hung out at the local tavern, trading hours of stablework for the chance that someday he might have a pristine white charger under his care.

And when he was old enough, his parents sent him up to the barony (much to the relief of the other townsfolk). He was accepted as a squire by Sir Tellan and joined the ranks of other ambitious youth.

The Barony of Riverdown was a peaceful one, there had been no wars in a generation and the future look just as calm. Thus while there was no shortage of young men who dreamed of knighthood, there were relatively few knights. This left the squires six or seven to a mentor.

After a week of manual labor, long hours, and weapons practice that was much harder than he’d imagined… Dev quit.

Or at least he tried to. A contract was a contract and the Baron had little tolerance for layabouts. So Dev ended up working in the stables, with slightly shorter hours, a blessed lack of morning runs, and not a single weapons drill to be had.

And in the lazy afternoons, when he’s finished mucking stalls and hadn’t started hauling hay… he’d picked up his trusty stick and vanquish monsters.