With Blasted Land Orcs becoming more warlike and increasing both the number and scale of their attacks on the southern borders of Accord, casualties among the Knights increased dramatically. Running out of suitable recruits, Lance Steelblade, over the objections of many senior Knights, opened the rolls of the order to females. There was an immediate influx of recruits who required training. Lance assigned King Leonidas to the task. Leonidas turned the traditional three-year training regime of the Knights into an intensive, muscle and mind testing six-month course based on Spartan principles. The first graduates have already started filtering out to the front lines in order to aid in pressing the orcs back.