Redguards , History and Heroes , V . 1 Content . Frandar Hunding was born in 2356 in the old way of reckoning in our beloved deserts of the old land . The traditional rule of emperor s had been overthrown in 2012 , and although each successive emperor remained the figurehead of the empire , his powers were very much reduced . Since that time , our people saw three hundred years of almost continuous civil war between the provincial lords , warrior monks , and brigands , all fighting each other for land and power . Our people were once artisans , poets , and scholars , but the ever - evolving strife made the way of the sword inevitable . The song of the blade through the air , through flesh and bone , its ring against armor — it was an answer to our prayers . In the time of Lord Frandar the first Warrior Prince , lords called Yokeda built huge stone castles to protect themselves and their lands , and castle towns outside the walls begin to grow up . In 2245 , however , Mansel Sesnit came to the fore . He became the Elden Yokeda , or military dictator , and for eight years succeeded in gaining control of almost the whole empire . When Sesnit was assassinated in 2253 , a commoner took over the government . Randic Torn continued the work of unifying the empire that Sesnit had begun , ruthlessly putting down any traces of insurrection . He revived the old gulf between the warriors — the sword singers — and the commoners by introducing restrictions on the wearing of swords . " Torn ' s Sword - Hunt , " as it was known , meant that only the singers were allowed to wear swords , which distinguished them from the rest of the population . Although Torn did much to settle the empire into its pre - strife ways , by the time of his death in 2373 internal disturbances still had not been completely eliminated . Upon his death , civil war broke out in earnest ; war that made the prior three hundred year turmoil pale in comparison . It was in this period that Frandar Hunding grew up . Hunding belonged to the sword - singers . This element of empire society grew from the desert artisans and was initially recruited from the young sons and daughters of the high families . They built the first temple to the unknown gods of war and built a training hall , " The Hall of the Virtues of War . " Within a few generations the way of the sword — the " song of the blade " — had become their life . The people of the blade kept their poetry and artistry in building beautiful swords woven with magic and powers from the unknown gods . The greatest among them became known as Ansei , or " Saints of the Sword . " Each of these began their own training schools teaching their individual way of the sword . Ansei of the highest virtue wandered the countryside engaging in battle , righting wrongs , and seeking to end the strife . To sum it up : Hunding was a sword - singer , a master , a Master Ansei at a time when the peak of the strife was reborn out of the chaos of Torn ' s death . Many singers put up their swords and became artists , for the pull of the artisan heritage was strong . Others , like Hunding , pursued the ideal of the warrior searching for enlightenment through the perilous paths of the Sword . Duels of revenge and tests of skill were commonplace , and fencing schools multiplied .