The next morning before the iron ore was delivered from the mines, Garoshtar interrupted Axtrica's daily routine. “I saw you yesterday watching the Knights of the White Wolf go by, seemed you took more than just simple interest there.” Axtrica felt a little guilty considering their workload increases day by day. “Do you wish to become like them? Don't tell me you were admiring the craftsmanship of their armor Ax, you seemed like you were in a daze.” Axtrica thought that he just should come right out with it. “Father, ….. I do…”, he stammered. “Well, what's stopping you then, get out there and start your career.” Axtrica was surprised but the absence of anxiety confused him. “You mean you don't want me to stay here in Altdorf preparing the essentials of war with you?” His father almost chuckled in response. “See this scar? It wasn't from your mother, it was from one of those beast-headed monstrosities when I left the clan. Everyday I wish I attempted to become a Knight of Moor, our father. No one enjoys smelting and forging for a living, but the pay is decent. I wouldn't be telling you this Ax if I didn't think you were capable. I've dealt with multiple companies of knights and I'll be damned if I can't pick out a suitable knight by now.” This seemed too easy for the young dwarf. “But I thought you wished for me to help continue the family smithing…” Ax replied half hoping to hear his father stress the idea even more. “No Ax, you have an opportunity here to better yourself, that's why I really want you to go out there and show the world that no matter where a dwarf is from, his clan-roots will never dissipate, and that his strength and honor shall never be superseded by any means, be it gold, glory, or pride. You weren't raised around greedy ambitious dwarves that give the rest of our people a negative reputation.”
When Axtrica first arrived at the compound he witnessed many other young men and dwarves and even a few elves aspiring for the same position. All of the stereotypes could be overheard as he spotted and elf and a dark-skinned human by themselves near the edge of the grounds. Remembering what his father told him, Axtrica approached the two youths and tried to remove any preconceived notion about the elf that ran so rampantly amongst the other youths. About ten minutes later the commander presented himself before the throng of hungry potential knights. Upon the directions given forth each applicant made his way to his quarters. Axtrica seemed quite the oddity due to his stature and many veered away from him except the elf and the human with the fairly dark skin. The dark-skinned youth claimed he hailed from Araby, but Axtrica knew very little of this land save for his father's relic scimitar. The elf just studied Axtrica with amusement but remained somewhat quiet after the introductions. Later on he learned the names of these two fellow would-be squires, Mhordamis and Latrell. Each had his share of stories to tell during the off nights and Axtrica listened intently about how Latrell traveled with his family to Altdorf after his father won the family's freedom in one of the notorious pits of Araby. Mhordamis seemed a bit wise for such a young elf, but then again one can never tell the age of an elf, especially only knowing them for a month. Eventually Axtrica learned how Mhordamis became a minstrel and abandoned that career. Axtrica failed to notice how Mhordamis never mentioned any form of family or friendships. Latrell seemed like he was in the academy his whole life, performing every exercise like it was as simple as stretching, and Mhordamis's grace with the sword was almost envied from some of the knights. Axtrica preformed well but in the view of a trained eye there lay much room for improvement. Everyone trained well together and the knights exacted strict discipline on any deviation one might have executed while in the academy. A few squires were thrown out due to lack of natural ability after two months. The next week the squires would be selected to become sponsored and only Latrell, Mhordamis, and five others seemed to have a lock on becoming a knight.