A former slave of the Atalantes, Kkleek was trained by his masters in all the arts of war, in particular physical combat and the thrown weapons used by the Sávrar, the ákontion, and his gift with machinery was marked from the earliest. Taught the ways of the torsion-powered shot engines of the Atalantes, he became a privileged slave-leader, a step above the crew-slaves of the Sávrar but with greater responsibility and thus accountability: and when, eventually, some of his masters blamed their mistakes upon him he escaped before his punishment was enforced, taking his skills and knowledge to his kin amongst the Khthones.
