Swordmasters of The Ginaz - Prequels - Origins of The Swordmasters

Origins of The Swordmasters

When the mercenary leader Zon Noret died in a training accident, he charged his son Jool Noret to become the most legendary warrior of Ginaz history. Noret's father also implored him to forgive the training robot Chirox who was the cause of Zon's death. Transferring his desire for vindication from Chirox onto all thinking machines, Jool Noret began with a rigorous training to become the most effective killer of thinking machines. Noret's fighting style emphasized close combat with pulse swords, designed to send destructive electromagnetic pulses into a machine body to incapacitate or kill the opponent. The style also included advanced fighting techniques for and against warriors protected by personal shields - a fact that probably kept this martial-arts style alive long after fighting thinking-machines ceased to be a priority in warfare.

Jool Noret achieved many victories on the field of battle, among them the single-handed destruction of the Ix Omnius. Despite Jool Noret's reluctance to bask in fame or accept students, more and more young warriors came flocking in response to the reputation and fame his heroic exploits have gained him. Even aspiring martial artists from off-world locations arrived to learn from Jool Noret, and soon the fighting style of the legendary warrior became an art in its own right. Consequently, the mercenaries of Ginaz, and everyone else trained in Noret's fighting art, were considered the most elite warriors in the human armies.

Jool Noret died in a tidal wave when the asteroid-ship of the titan Hecate crashed into the seas of Ginaz. The sensei mek Chirox survived, though. Having acquired all the skills of Noret during their extended training sessions, Chirox kept the fighting-style of the legendary warrior alive and laid the foundation for the coming school of swordmasters.

After the conclusion of the Butlerian Jihad, and the reorganization of the League of Nobles into the Landsraad and the Empire, the mercenaries of Ginaz were rewarded with their planet as an independent fiefdom and the noble title of House Ginaz. Swordmaster schools remained open to off-world students, but the highest levels of the art would only be taught to retainers or members of the house.