“I first heard about the movie… two and a half, three years ago,” said Abnett in a video interview on the film’s website. “I was approached for my track record of writing for 40k in comics and novels, they felt that I had the experience in handling the source material, the [intellectual property] IP.” This understanding of the universe has apparently been paramount throughout the process, as Abnett elaborated. “One thing I’ve really noticed about working with the company who are producing this film is that they are regarding the source material with great respect. I think that was probably my biggest concern when I first heard about the project because there had been rumours on and off for years about there being movies and things like that based on 40k. The fear is that someone will come along and seize on the most graphic or iconic parts of the universe… and very rapidly I was assured that this wasn’t going to be like that, that this was going to be treated with the same degree of attention and care, and attention to details I suppose, that we would do on a novel or a game supplement or anything else like that.”

I was wearing my black wool cloak, silver cloak clasp, black gambeson, my lightest chain mail under a dark jerkin, gray pants and my shiniest boots. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn’t care who knew it. I was everything a well-dressed sword jockey ought to be. I was calling on the second-richest nobleman in Muscodia.

It wasn’t technically a castle, but Lord Anthony Callendine’s ancestral home was larger and more secure than some fortresses I’d visited. A fifteen-foot stone wall topped with iron spikes surrounded it, and at each of the four corners stood a guard with sword and crossbow. Impenetrable virgin forest closed in on three sides, and only one road led to its gate. I passed through three checkpoints guarded by stiff, surly men in armor before I was ushered into the lavish garden to await the great man himself.

I perused the flowers and statuary until I realized I wasn’t alone. A beautiful girl of around twenty stood slightly hidden by a pomegranate tree and watched me. “Hello,” I said.

She stepped into the open, and a plainer view did nothing to diminish her impact. Her dress was expensive and tailored to her exquisite shape. She had red wavy hair and the kind of sultry manner that could make young men conquer the world to impress her. “Who are you?” she asked in a firm, mature voice.

Alas, I was no longer young, so her charms, while appreciated, moved me only to bow. “Edward LaCrosse. Lord Callendine sent for me.”

She looked me over with considerably less enthusiasm than I’d had for her. “And what do you do?”

“I’m a sword jockey.”

“A what?”

“Less than a chamberlain, more than a mercenary. I help people who don’t want to go through the proper channels.”