The old man's name was Syrus Blackwater.
He was born eons upon eons ago out of the union of Lord Blackwater, a local Duke of his kingdom and a young woman this same duke had abused on one of his many trips.
Upon learning of his birth, his mother was slaughtered and he was taken away, sent to a military camp to hide him from the public.
Once there, he found out his fate was a common one. Duke Blackwater had abused so many women that in his army, atleast thirty percent of the men and women were some of his hidden descendants.
Considering the army counted in the millions, this was a horrifying percentage.
One would think that in such an environment, the forsaken children of Blackwater would stick with one another and uplift each other but no.
Syrus wasn't lucky.
The environment of the military was one akin to the jungle. The strong reigned and the weak bowed.