Sesus Halaud

Sesus Halaud was an officer of the Imperial Legions, serving in the 1st Imperial Legion and then the 4th Imperial Legion. He was husband to the slave trader Cynis Dythora, and father to Cynis Hinoke and Cynis Hibare.

In service with the 1st Legion, Halaud was a fixture at the social gatherings of the Imperial City, and his command (the 3rd Dragon, where he had taken leadership after retirement of his predecessor Cynis Barat) had responsibilities for areas including the City's Red Lantern District. Unfortunately his career with the Imperial Garrison was brought to an end after accusations of corruption: while no conviction or censure were leveled, the shadow cast saw his reassignment to the Threshold with the 4th Legion, taking command of its 3rd Dragon.

Halaud's forces had been stationed to the south when the Campaign against the Anathema-Voivode broke out, but advanced to reinforce the 4th Dragon after its retreat to a consolidated line along the Thousand Rushes River between Azerban and Madura. As 3rd Dragon commander, he was senior officer along the river, though presence of elements of other Dragons and a section of the 4th Dragon along with its Dragonlord made overall command somewhat muddled.

Halaud perished at the Fourth Battle of Chumo-Sheh, a severe defeat for Imperial forces which saw them flanked and scattered in retreat, the mass of the Anathema-Voivode's armies crossing the river and marching into Madura. The inquiry into the battle conducted by the 4th Legion was at times contentious, with several different narratives and analyses put forth by witnesses: some held that Halaud had engaged the Anathema in single combat to buy time for Imperial forces to fall back, some that he had died from a blow to the back as he tried to flee, some that he had failed to properly arrange defenses for his positions, some that refusal of other officers to heed their senior meant his orders had been ignored, some even that he may have taken bribes to trade military resources to the enemy... in the end the inquiry concluded Halaud had made errors in the leadup to the battle, but that once it had broken out he had bravely led an attempt to slay the Anathema and thus no censure was merited.