Hougaard is a member of the Unfettered, a monastic order sponsored by the church of Lyr. Orphans, abandoned children and the unwanted are cared for by the order, and the most suitable of the youngest trained in the extreme martial arts in which the order specializes. The human bonds of family and friendship which sustain normal people are replaced with the fellowship of the Order. No Unfettered will ever fight another - although their training and testing routines are sometimes difficult to distinguish from full-blooded battle.Although they learn to use some weapons, most Unfettered choose not to use them, specializing in training their own bodies to be their weapons. An Unfettered is never unarmed. Some also learn the way of the wild, preparing themselves to travel great distances to challenge the enemies of the Triad.
Four days ago Yori, his master and trainer subjected him to the most exacting test of his life, dueling him to within an inch of his life. Hougaard went down fighting, half expecting not to wake up again. When he recovered consciousness was told that he had passed the test and was determined enough to go into the world.