Mercenary Groups

Throughout the world of Giantstep, the profession of a hired arm is a common one. Both in the more civilized and in the more lawless areas in the world, one can find enough dangers to find use to soldiers of fortune’s work. Most of the mercenary work in the step is of a more local nature, with towns or cities hiring adventurers for extra muscle in dealing with criminals or by hunting down potential threats from nature. This often manifests in the form of bounty hunters, a common sight in the world’s cities and towns, always looking for the next job. Many places have also seen such demand for mercenary work that they have created local guilds, funneling resources into a singular organization to be able to deal with the workload, as well as to collaborate closer to the local authorities. However, some groups of hired mercenaries have gained great notoriety across the world, and their services are greatly sought after across the step. The tales of their exploits are frequently told, from royal courts to rundown taverns, creating an aura of near myth to their members. However, that talent often comes at a very steep price, and failing to fulfill the terms of the contract will gain you an enemy you can ill-afford.

## Mercenary Groups in Giantstep

### Gladii Tenebris

Gladii Tenebris is a mercenary band originated within the Azanese Empire. The Gladii Tenebris was founded in the province of Clementina by Eulokos Makios, a retired soldier that had gone deep into debt due to gambling. In desperate need of work, Eulokos agreed to organize a series of hired guns to defend the caravans that went across Zonara. While the job proved profitable enough, it would not be until a particularly bad witchelven raid to the border when Gladii Tenebris gained their reputation. The kidnapping of a noble’s daughter by the witchelven resulted in Eulokos Makios taking on the quest, infiltrating with his band of mercenaries deep into witchelven territories. Having heard rumors of the possible location of the princess through his caravanner contacts, they quickly marched towards a seemingly abandoned fortress within witchelven territory, confirming the presence of the princess. Through a combination of skill, planning, infiltration and good luck, they managed to liberate the princess and ride back to Azan before the witchelven raiders called for reinforcements. The surprisingly successful rescue gave Eulokos and his men a great deal of praise, and no small amount of riches.

From then on, Eulokos dedicated his life to rescue operations within Witchelven territory, a market that had expanded a lot over the years, since the azanese and changrilese armies primarily focus on defense of the borders. Even on the occasions where the human armies attack the witchelven preemptively, they often do not account for the slaves and prisoners due to expedience. However, the Gladii Tenebris have hired many disgruntled soldiers of both Azan, Changrila and other human nations bordering the witchelven, developing many infiltration techniques against the witchelven. Occasionally full on assaults are required, motivating them to gathering their forces in great numbers to attack a fortress while infiltrators sneak upon elsewhere. They also make use of a great deal of wizards, used both for enchantments that reduce the amount of noise the mercenaries make and to counter the ever present threat of succubae summonings. The success of this group eventually resulted in the assassination of Eulokos Makios by a witchelven assassin: while the murderer was caught and executed, it was too late to save the life of Eulokos Makios, though by that point the Gladii Tenebris had enough internal cohesion to no disband after the death of their leader.

Nowadays, the current leader of the Gladii Tenebris is **Manoukos Makios**, eldest son of Eulokos Makios. Trained by his father in the art of war, he has been fighting all his life alongside his father, and has learned all the techniques and strategies necessary to counter the witchelven. The death of his father has caused him to develop a burning hatred for the witchelven, which is tempered by his council’s advice to keep a cool head for the battlefield.

### Morvus' Ravens

Morvus’ Ravens is a mercenary band originated within the Azanese Empire. The group was founded by Micaeus “the Raven” Morvus, a gloomy ship medic who survived a pirate raid to the civilian ship he was working in at the time. Hiding within a barrel, Micaeus managed to escape the bloody battle outside, which the azanese authorities suspected was made by vampires. Ashamed of having hidden and let his comrades die, Micaeus swore revenge on whatever group had done this. While not a warrior himself, Micaeus had a prodigious mind, and quickly pieced together a series of seemingly unrelated shipping attacks and accidents, sensing a pattern and discovering where they would attack next. Then, Micaues managed to organize a group of local bounty hunters to claim the heads of these pirates, and after laying down a trap where they would pass as mere trades on an unprotected vessel, the vampire and this thralls were defeated, though the vampire leader escaped. Able to confirm that the culprit was a vampire, Micaeus and his group confirmed the fact to azanese authorities, and together, they were able to track down and take down the vampire, hidden on an islet in the shores of Drayrlolugrath.

While Micaeus himself retired after the events, the group that he had organized continued together, keeping the surname of their former leader as a memento. They grew to become effective bodyguards of merchant vessels, eventually gaining their own ships to do so, as their presence nearby has been known to dissuade pirates. Their most lauded feat was the takeover of a Red Lotus vessel threatening azanese trade near Hithlone, a vessel that had already sunk multiple drow warships and was considered a great threat in those waters. However, while many have asked them for help to protect against suspected vampire attacks, the truth of the matter is that most of these events tend to be either crazed cultists or bandits passing off as vampires to spread fear among their victims. Thus, Morvus’ Ravens ironically have little experience with vampire attacks.

The current leader of Morvus’ Ravens is **Ajax Alodus**, a reformed pirate that quickly rose through the ranks of the mercenary group. His great knowledge of the sea and of the pirates’ mindset has served the company greatly, with him being famous for leading counter-boarding operations himself while screaming at the top of his lungs.

### Red Hand Ogres

The Red Hand Ogres is a mercenary band located in the city of Ampleazzo. It is unique in its composition in that it is composed of only ogres of different kinds and trolls. It was created by Mangyuz “the Red Handed”, a desert ogre that was born in the Namabass Desert, in the north of the Zulutaur Peninsula. Mangyuz was a very big ogre, massive even for his kind, and surprisingly smart to boot. He was also a supremely devout worshiper of the Maw in the way desert ogres are, pursuing the biggest and most dangerous prey and defeating it in single combat. However, after many years, he decided that there was little to challenge him, and so he travelled north, dueling anything that would accept the challenge. The long string of victories, even besting multiple trolls at once in one of his most famous bouts, attracted fellow ogres of all kinds, seeing him as a sort of prophet for the Maw. It would not be long until he gained the title of “Red Handed”, as his fists were always smeared of blood from his duels. He arrived to the city of Ampleazzo, where he saw the mercenary groups as an easy way to gain challengers, often hiring other mercenaries to fight him and his followers. Soon enough, the name of the “Red Hand” Ogres was one of the most demanded groups within the city, as well as in nearby areas.

The “Red Hand” Ogres are very straightforward: they only accept those contracts that bring them into the biggest fights, and they will charge at the enemy head on. They use their physical resilience and ferocity to rush down their target, and beat it into submission. They also fight using only hand-to-hand tactics, learning from the desert ogre martial arts Mangyuz has taught to his followers. This can result in considerable losses, especially if their enemy is able to outmaneuver them or attack them from range, but the Red Hands have learned to deal with these kinds of strategies. They are also relatively cheap to hire, as their main motivation is the thrill of the hunt. One can purchase their services for food and a place to stay, though if they do not think the job was challenging enough, the Red Hands might come back to complain about being tricked, with all that angering a group of ogres implies.

The current head of the “Red Hand” Ogres is still **Mangyuz “the Red Handed”**. Now an old ogre, age has not slowed him down in the least, and he still partakes in many of the band’s campaigns personally. However, many within Ampleazzo wonder what is going to happen to the powerful band once their dear boss finally dies, as the commotion it can cause could have severe effects upon the city.

### Terrors of Tarantella

The Terrors of Tarantella are a mercenary band located in the city of Ampleazzo. The group was formed by Antonello Tarantella, a spider rider who had worked as a hired sword since he was a child. He belonged to many different mercenary groups over the years, a time during which he learned to ride ampleazzian spiders as beasts of war. Once he became an adult, he began working as freelance, often shinning for his abilities to maximize the potential of spiders. Once he gained enough of a fortune, he decided to create his own band of spider riders, training the new recruits in the arts of spider riding and spider breeding. The name of Tarantella carried the band’s reputation for many years, especially during a night attack in Dsrvysth, in which Tarantella’s men managed to sneak upon a force three times their size and make them rout, gaining them the title of “the Terrors”. The group was also well know for breeding very big and healthy ampleazzian spiders, giving them an advantage over other spider riders.

The Terrors of Tarantella are widely known across Western Giantstep, as they have been hired all over the region. They are especially wanted in areas with difficult terrain to traverse where common cavalry would not be worth the costs. This has resulted in them gaining a considerable amount of wealth, with a small castle-fortress in the city of Ampleazzo as a base of operations and their main stables. The Terrors of Tarantella are often open to new recruits to learn the arts of spider riding and spider warfare, though this is resulting in growing tensions within those cities who hire them, who fear they are becoming too big and influential within the local affairs. This is particularly bad in Ampleazzo itself, as the Terrors have become one of the biggest and most influential mercenary groups, causing friction with other groups of hired swords.

The current head of the Terrors of Tarantella is **Manuella Tarantella**, the granddaughter of Antonello Tarantella. A woman of great ambitions, she is seeking to turn the growing influence of the Terrors into clear political capital, and rumors are abound of her seeking the marriage into a noble family to obtain lands and perhaps her own fiefdom. A fiefdom she could expand using her army of spider riders, trained and hardened across all battlefields available.

### Neinmoll Cuirassiers

The Neinmoll Cuirassiers are a mercenary band located in the city of Ampleazzo. The Nenmoll Curiassers were born in Azan, founded by a group of young nobles who had been expelled from their houses due to a series of scandals, stripped from titles and left to fend for themselves. These youths all had a military training background, typical from people of their rank, and as such, they had to sell their services as mercenaries to survive. Their first major battle was within the small town of Neinmoll, a seemingly unimportant town within the azanese province of Hasteria, against a series of witchelven raids. The group managed to defend the town until azanese troops were able to rescue the survivors. As a sign of their gratefulness, the inhabitants of the town gave the mercenaries the title of “Sons of Neinmoll”, something that they still carry to this day. The Neinmoll Cuirassiers’ records, however, brought them into the attention to the very same families who had exiled them, and fearing that their return as glory hounds would taint their family names, they used their influence to force the imperial authorities to push the mercenaries outside of Azan. From then on, the Neinmoll Cuirassiers have stayed within Ampleazzo, a place where the local azanese powers care little enough to let them stay around.

The Neinmoll Cuirassiers have kept their grudges against their old families, swearing to gain enough laurels to be truly welcomed back into their homeland. They have gained a reputation of being great cavalrymen, great at direct cavalry charges, routing the enemy head on, or attacking the flanks of the unguarded enemy. Their military nobility background often give them a level of skill at arms much higher than those available to commoners, though the nature of their exile meant that their equipment is below that they were used to back in the day. However, they still pride themselves in their noble upbringing, and as such, their image in and out of the battlefield needs to be upheld. They have also become a common part of ampleazzian’s upper class social life, as many ampleazzian nobles find these individuals, coming from some of the highest families of the empire, rubbing shoulders with the relatively humble provincial aristocracy.

The current head of Neinmoll Cuirassiers is **Godfrey Abii-Voronikos**. A man who values the noble chivalric ideals, he sees the Neinmoll Cuirassiers as knights of old, correcting the wrongs done to their names so that they can all come back home in glory. To this end, he has sought engagements that fit more that image of retribution he cultivates, whether they can actually pull them off or not. However, this seemingly stubborn rashness is also tempered by a great deal of strategic wisdom, leading his men to defeat enemies and win encounters other might have seen as hopelessly lost.

### Western Dragons

The Western Dragons are a mercenary band originated within the Azanese Empire. The group was founded by Iksden Aranea, a member of the Archeological Society of Azan. She was a very controversial member of the society, as her studies revolved around areas such as the Battle of Empires or the mysterious history of the Bog Witch, and as such, volunteers to help her in her expeditions to these sites were near non-existent. Luckily for her, Aranea was the daughter of one of one of the wealthiest nobles around, and had enough resources to organize her own bodyguards regardless of what the Archaeological Society of Azan did. After an expedition to the swamps resulted in more of half of the crew dead or wounded with very little to make up for the damages, the Archeological Society of Azan considered her too dangerous and expelled her, and her family also saw her as a potential threat to their standing and did the same. Disenfranchised but undeterred, Iksden Aranea continued her studies, though now she had to rely on much less reputable sources of manpower for protection. She then turned to the colonies of half-witchelven between the borders of Azan, Changrila and the Witchelven Empire. These groups were scorned by pretty much everyone, since they could not fit in either society without terrible risks, so many warmed up to Aranea’s situation. After an expedition to the lands to the Bog Witch, particularly the ruins of Byzantir, the discovery of many ancient magical items brought the group a lot of accolades within azanese society, and even the Archaeological Society of Azan had to reinstate her due to the size of the prize recovered.

The resulting success also brought a lot of accolades to the half-witchelven group who had acted as bodyguards to Aranea, and the band began gaining a lot of volunteers, both human and half-witchelven. After getting paid their dues by Aranea, the group renamed themselves as “the Western Dragons” in honor of the old insignias on the discovered artifacts. The group attracted a great deal of half-witchelven, especially as many of these had to survive as mercenaries or bandits in the borders, so the growing prestige of the group was something very alluring. The Western Dragons have learned a lot over the years of the dangers of some of the more hazardous regions in Western Giantstep. They have fought near anything, from ogres, hordes of undead, succubae from the breaches to the horrors of the Bog Witch, and have lived to tell the tale. However, the rate of attrition is considerable, and new recruits are not expected to survive for long, but those who do are considered incredibly valuable survivors. The high presence of half-witchelven causes some friction between them and some of their would-be bosses, and due to this, some consider their services are considerably worse paid than they are really due.

The current head of the Western Dragons is **Ghiyenna Asirainna**. Ghiyenna is a half-witchelven, tall even for female witchelven standards, who joined when her family was sacrificed into rituals to appease the succubae, with her being the only survivor. She was then rescued by the Western Dragons, who arrived before the succubae could be summoned, but too late to save her parents. She was adopted by the group and over the years learned the ways of mercenary warfare, developing a great hatred towards the witchelves. This results in moments of self-loathing as she is half witchelven on part of her mother, and sees the sins of the witchelven on herself every time she sees her own reflection.

### Hurrge Lodge

The Hurrge Lodge is a mercenary band located in the city of Ampleazzo. The history of the Hurrge Lodge is the story of the Hurrge Sisters. Andolina and Delinda Hurrge were the twin sisters of the Hurrge Family, a low noble household from the Kingdom of Lorient. While the two sisters greatly loved each other, Delinda quickly grew envious of her twin Andolina. After all, Andolina seemed to be the perfect heir for her house: charismatic and brilliant, Andolina was prepared for a military career on the kingdom, and was quickly decided she was to be the next heir of the house. Delinda, on the other hand, was a more taciturn and timid child, preferring to dedicate time to her magical studies. While the gift of magic is a rare thing, Delinda was considered a mediocre wizard by her tutors, whereas Andolina shone on anything she put her mind on. Shame and envy are a dangerous combination, and it pushed Delinda first to scorn and then to hatred for her family. This led her to abandon her family and join a band of mercenaries, who had been tasked with killing a cult bordering the Gomorrah Breach, accused of being kidnapping children. In there, the band located the source of the cult: a hag priestess of Gogotha, said to be able to see the darkest secrets of magic, with eyes blessed by Gogotha herself. In the ensuing fight, only the cult leader and Delinda were left alive, and after a long magical duel, Delinda slayed the hag. However, in a moment of weakness and ambition, she decided that the power of the sorceress was too big, and before the hag expired, Delinda ripped out her eyes and took those of the cultist leader for herself. From then on, Delinda had the eyes of the hag, increasing her magical powers exponentially, but putting her into a twisted path. She also took all of the magical research and dark tomes from the cult, delving deep into the occult and the forbidden.

Once the Hurrge Family heard of what had transpired and saw what Delinda had become, she was expelled from the family, and a great bounty was put on her head, to the thunderous protests of Andolina. Undeterred, Delinda simply left Lorient and went to Ampleazzo, where she offered her services to the highest bidder. Delinda Hurrge quickly attracted a number of unscrupulous wizards to her service, creating “The Hurrge Lodge”, taking the family as a mockery towards them. The group is highly knowledgeable in magical affairs, often of the darker nature: exorcism, vanishing, purifying curses, curing magical banes… They have a reputation of being quite unscrupulous, and many within Ampleazzo consider them little better than a cult. The only reason many tolerate the group is their effectiveness in the dark arts, and their relatively cheap services in comparison to other wizard mercenaries. All the while, ampleazzian authorities are noticing more and more children disappearing from the nearby towns, but so far no concrete proof has been shown against the Hurrge Lodge…

The current head of the Hurrge Lodge is still **Delinda Hurrge**. Many years have passed from her arrival to Ampleazzo, and her magical knowledge has grown considerably, making her one of the most powerful wizards in the city. Local authorities decided long ago to find a way to throw her group out of her city, and the powers in question are preparing for any possible resistance on her part. While Delinda herself knows what is happening, she feels quite safe that there will be no move against her as long as her services are useful to the corrupt aristocrats in the city. After all, where else are they going to find someone with the knowledge and the moral flexibility required to accomplish some of the darkest assignments going around behind the curtains?

### Horror Hunters

The Horror Hunters is a mercenary band located in the Kingdom of Waldemaria. The Horror Hunters were born about the same time when Waldemaria went to war with the necromancers of Mossovoy. While the rest of the nation mobilized to push the necromancers into the sea, a series of nobles offered to organize a special body of soldiers and warriors dedicated to the task of hunting down particular targets of interests. However, this resulted in them having to go through some of the biggest necromantic constructs the Vzdoruye could throw at them. Thus, they ended up becoming quite skilled at fighting these horrors. However, their efforts would be in vain, as Waldemaria would eventually lose the war, killing the monarch and throwing the kingdom into disarray. Initially, the Horror Hunters ended up joining the Laurentian Crusade, but due to the stagnating nature of their war and the need to defend their homeland of Waldemaria saw them abandon the crusade and go back to their kingdom.

Nowadays, the Horror Hunters serve as a small, but very mobile force. Often helping the many towns in need within Waldemaria, gaining many volunteers to fight the many undead now encroaching upon the lands within the Glass Mountains, while also trying to keep the monsters from the Harpies’ Peaks in check. They have also served under the banners of cities such as Erewhon and Waldemaria, helping them be safe while the kingdom regains its stability to push back against the necromancers once again. However, the forces of the Horror Hunters need to be on the move, as the vzdoruye are always trying to pin them down with hordes of skeletons and zombies.

The current head of the Hurrge Lodge is **Alina Koidia**. As the recently elevated leader due to his father’s death, Alina feels it is too soon for her to lead the Horror Hunters, as the growing tensions within the traditional allies of the group is looking like could led to the isolation of the mercenaries within Waldemaria. However, she has categorically rejecting the idea of abandon the fight, trying to encourage her men by launching surprise attacks to places across Waldemaria where necromantic rituals are known to take place.

### Black Lances

The Black Lancers is a mercenary band located in the city of Ampleazzo. The origins of the group can be traced back to Pierri Marón Almara de Marbinna-Groff-Zlichnitsa, a furlaniyan noble from the Veche of Bòra region. A man well known for being a womanizer, Pierri Marón was forcefully married by his father to the daughter of a fellow noble family to keep him from screwing around anymore. However, the lady in question, Filippa Guendalinna Cassiopea Jankolinka-Dianora, turned out to be a very clever and ambitious woman, often guided by her mother, Malenia Jankolinka-Dianora Trinelia Sebastiana. Through a series of staged and not so staged framings, Pierri Marón was accused of both infidelity (which was true) and conspiring to murder his wife to obtain her lands (which was not). The local nobles sided with Filippa, and after a long trial, his marriage was annulled and his possessions were given to the ex-wife’s family. In disgrace, Pierri’s own family disowned him of any title, exiling him from Furlaniya. However, he retained the loyalty of many of his friends and comrades, as well as preserving a great deal of his family fortune. With it, he founded the “Black Lances” as a mercenary group, with the goal of recovering his honor and his lands.

The Black Lances have been a frequent sight across the multiple fights and clashes within furlaniyan territories. Finally stationed in Ampleazzo, the Black Lances serve as a general purpose force, often taking advantage of the element of surprise and a great deal of improvisation to defeat their enemies without actually causing many casualties (after all, the enemy of today could be your boss tomorrow, and keeping the fights going is good for business and prestige). Pierri Marón is also quite charismatic, often being able to push his forces through situation most mercenaries would consider as not worth it. However, Pierri’s sense of honor often trumps his common sense, making him prone to being tricked into jobs with little to no reward.

### Xu-Yu Daggers

The Xu-Yu Daggers are a mercenary band originated within the Chamgrilese Empire. The group originated in the city of Nodong, and its roots can be tracked to the days after the Azanese Civil War. With tens of thousands of men going back to civilian life, the cities found themselves full of men whose only profession had been war. As such, hundreds of mercenary bands were born during those days, often fighting with each other, as competition was beyond fierce. The Xu-Yu Daggers passed those days hunting down the many bandits living in the outskirts of civilization and preying on trade. Their success allowed them a great deal of fame, often being called for bounty hunting duties against some of the most famous bandits at the time. They continued this fame up until the Changrilese Civil War, where they were ordered by the God-Emperor himself to bring the head of Dihong Xinjianng himself. However, despite ordering the best and most skilled assassins, the Xu-Yu Daggers failed again and again, with the growing paranoia of the members of the Red Lotus protecting their Great Leader, throwing themselves into the assassins to stall for time, and covering him for more subtly ways of murder such as poisoning. In the end, the failure of the Xu-Yu Daggers resulted in the God-Emperor ordering them to erase their proud golden dragon, the symbol they had used since their early days, from their emblem. They were also condemned to “never be pardoned until the Red Lotus is erased from the face of the step”. Thus, the Xu-Yu Daggers have been hunting down members of the Red Lotus Congregation ever since.

The Xu-Yu Daggers are well known fighters, but their specialty is tracking down people. Their scouts are able to find people hiding from the world and then send their operatives to either take down the target or to capture them alive, whatever the client has ordered. The Xu-Yu Daggers’ operatives are very well trained, often spending years studying the arts of assassination, scouting and tracking, though this causes the band’s numbers to be limited. While the Xu-Yu Daggers often operate alone or in small groups, sometimes necessity calls for big detachments, though this is only reserved to exceptional situations, as reuniting many members on a single location could weaken the group too much if things go awry. Due to their wounded honor, they prioritize hunting down Red Lotus cults wherever they are, which has forced them to begin building a small fleet of their own, as their piratic activity is the key of infiltrating their stronghold in Riririn Island.

The current head of the Xu-Yu Daggers is **Liayin-Shen**. An experienced hunter, she has proven to be a great leader, managing to expand the Dagger’s numbers and expand their services throughout the Changrilese Empire. She is determined to see the honor of the Daggers restored during her lifetime, which necessitates the fall of the Red Lotus once and for all, finally being pardoned and allowed to restore their golden dragon.

### The Gladiatorial Arsonists

The Gladiatorial Arsonists is a mercenary band originated within the Witchelven Empire. The story of the Gladiatorial Arsonists is murky at best, due to the lack of information about their founder, Dirya Chrinoseh. During the traditional gladiatorial games celebrated in Mors every year, Dirya suddenly appeared and offered herself to fight in the biggest and most dangerous of the programmed spectacles. None knew who she was or where she came from, but imagining more meat for the grinder would not be trouble, they let her in, thinking she was just an insane glory-seeker that would be eaten within minutes. To the shock and utter surprise of all, both organizers and the public, that random gladiatrix actually survived the near three hours onslaught in the arena. By the time there was no more fodder to throw into the arena, she was the only being still alive within the sea of blood that the ring had become. Naturally, she immediately became a sensation within the empire, and she was immediately offered many positions within many nobles’ private forces. However, she rejected all of them, and she disappeared just as fast as she had appeared. Utterly confusing everyone, many within the empire began investigating who this mysterious individual was, but little of note was ever found. It would not be until years later where she would reappear again, where she led a band of mercenaries into burning down a series of towns bordering the changrilese frontier. Her group quickly gained notoriety as the “Gladiatorial Arsonists”, and they served for many of the wealthiest nobles of the empire.

The Gladiatorial Arsenists are specialists in raiding and razing down populations. The group is composed of crazy, near psychotic witchelven, only kept under control due to Dirya herself being more dangerous than any of them, with her reputation as one of the greatest duelists within the Witchelven Empire preceding her. They can barely hold themselves together before the battlefield, and deadly infights are so common that Dirya has become the lone survivor of these internal brawls multiple times. The title of “arsonists” is also well earned, since burning down their towns and fortresses they attack has become part of their signature. This also includes the prisoners that were unfortunate enough to be captured, their dying screams eventually drowned down by the roaring flames.

The indisputed leader of the Gladiatorial Arsenists is **Dirya Chrinoseh**. As long as she is out of the battlefield, Dirya is a stern commander, capable of coldly planning assaults against forces much bigger than her own, though she prefers the old and tested “rushing into the enemy when they are not looking” strategy. Once blood is shed, however, she becomes lost in the violence, becoming a swirl that can cut through many. However, this also becomes a problem, as she will not be able to keep her composure and strategic mindset while enthralled by the battlefield, becoming a danger to her own men as well.

### The Drinkers of Screams

The Drinkers of Screams is a mercenary band originated within the Witchelven Empire. The group was initially founded by a witchelven noble, who having heard the rumors of the power and influence through subversion and infiltration, decided to try a version of it herself as a sort of entertainment. She organized some of her cohorts, including the huntress Asushia Mazishar, to start an infiltration of their own. To begin with, they chose a minor noble fiefdom within the azanese province of Hasteria, a random lord who had seemingly been exiled there and who no one would miss too much if things went awry and needed to cover their tracks. The group successfully infiltrated the noble’s cohort, to the point of Asushia Mazishar becoming her personal maid. However, something went wrong there. While there is little information of what happened that day, or what dark dealings the noble actually had within the walls of his tower, but what we do know is that the infiltrated group burned the tower to cinders, hanging the bodies of the lord and his family from the highest window and ripping out their tongues and ears. The moment the witchelven noble heard the news, she called back the group to ask for an explanation, as all chances for infiltration in the area was gone now that azanese forces were on their way. However, the moment the group arrived to the court, they immediately launched an attack on the witchelven lord. Shocked and unprotected, she and her remaining vassals were not able to properly defend themselves, and were butchered while the screeches of joy of their murderers filled the air. From then on, the group has served to whoever can promise them bloodshed and the chance to torture those unfortunate enough to get in their hands.

The Drinkers of Screams love pain and torture, turning the witchelven’s propensity to cause agony to their fellows up to eleven. They often live from raiding, not even bothering to receive payment from their patrons. Their modus operandi is first infiltrating whatever area they target, and then use terror tactics to cause paranoia and fear within the population: tortures, assassinations by night, causing false alarms, kidnapping those more vulnerable and then dumping their remains all over the area… The people will either jump at shadows or start trying to run away, and these attempts at fleeing will be jumped on by the Drinkers of Screams to increase their psychological warfare. As their name suggest, one of their preferred tactics is to torture their prisoners while their enemies watch, either baiting them into a trap or are completely demoralized by not being able of not doing anything. However, even some of the most ruthless witchelven lords prefer to keep themselves far from the Drinkers of Screams, as there have been times where they enacted their arts to their patron for seemingly no reason other than the thrill of it.

The current head of Drinkers of Screams is still **Asushia Mazishar**. Whatever she experienced long ago within the walls of that dark tower, it has changed her into someone that only finds joy in the utter misery of others. Still wearing her maid disguise as a bizarre mockery, she hides from the enemy while taking them down one by one. An adept huntress, she has now develop such a skill with her bow that she can throw an arrow right into the body of their victims, crippling and paralyzing them with pain while leaving them unable to fend their attackers. She rarely makes clean kills, despite her prowess as an archer, as she finds causing the utmost pain imaginable while keeping the victim alive. She also imbues her arrows with poisons with a series of effects, each more horrible than the last.

### Tartugai Raiders

The Tartugai Raiders are a mercenary band located in the realms of Dsrvysth. Originated from the Gökmavi Khaganate, it was founded by a group of gökmavi renegades and “scorpion bandits”, led by Amujhin Tartugai. Tartugai was the second in command in his tribe, one of the many that roamed the lands of the Silver Horde, but he grew envious of his brother, who had been elevated to tribe chief. Resentful of his success, he poisoned him during a night celebration. However, while the poison was meant to be clean and painless, the chief spent many weeks suffering a horribly painful death, leaving very clear to the rest of the tribe that this was not a natural death. In the end, Amujhin was discovered and condemned to death, being marked with the brand of the scorpion and condemned to be executed by exposure, tied to a rock in the desert and left there to die. However, he and a group of his followers managed to escape before the punishment could be put into place. Knowing he was a dead man if he continued within the Gökmavi Khanagate, he went to the lands of Dsrvysth, a place that always welcomed mercenaries to fight the constant clashes between the local nobility. In there, he gained a reputation for ruthlessness and ferocity in the battlefield, which helped him gain enough influence to grow a very powerful band around him.

The Tartugai Raiders often follow the strategies and tactics of the Gökmavi raiders, combining hit and run tactics with the element of surprise to confuse the enemy and spread their forces as wide as possible so that they can be easily taken care of. However, the Tartugai Raiders are mostly composed of other gökmavi renegades and “scorpion bandits”, and as such, they would use tactics that would considered dishonorable by other gökmavi. Some of their most known stunts have been desecrating cementeries of their enemies to provoke them into suicidal charges or poisoning the wells of the cities they assaulted. While this has resulted in being quite feared by other mercenary forces and local towns, they also gained a great deal of hate, and as such, nowadays the Tartugai Raiders only attract the most psychotic and bloodthirsty, murderers and other dangerous dregs of society.

The current leader of the Tartugai Raiders is **Terijhin Tartugai**. The son of Amujhin Tartugai, rumors say he poisoned his father just as he himself did with his brother, gaining the rule of the Tartugai Raiders by being the most ruthless and violent of them all, with any challenge to his dominion over the group resulting in death. Terijhin Tartugai is also an extraordinary fighter, relishing every moment he is on the battlefield, while also being able to scare their enemies away into submission before even starting the fight.

### Poisoned Arrows

The Poisoned Arrows is a mercenary company located in the Gökmavi Khaganate. The Poisoned Arrows’s origins can be track to the war between two tribes within the territories of the Black Horde: The Bronze Eagle and the Poisoned Arrows. A matter of honor had become twisted over the years, with both groups turning into darker and darker means to continue the feud. It would eventually led to the utter defeat of the Poisoned Arrows, with the few survivors being scarred with hot irons and left to scatter. This left the youngest member of the Poisoned Arrows, Mugilhai Tsajin, to fend for himself, having swore an oath of vengeance against the Bronze Eagle tribe. During his youth, he joined many mercenary groups, teaching him the arts of warfare and horse riding. However, unlike many other gökmavi, Mugilhai also learned the production and use of gunpowder from changrilese merchants. With this, he designed a series of small portable cannons loaded onto big camels, which he used to cause severe damage when he campaigned outside of the khaganate. Once he gained enough of a reputation, he reunited his men and went back to the Black Horde to enact his revenge. However, once he arrived there, he learned that the group had died years ago due to the spread of a disease, and that the Bronze Eagle was no more. Frustrated that his vows would never be fulfilled, he dedicated his life to warfare, with the now Poisoned Arrows now reformed as a mercenary group working across many areas of Giantstep.

The Poisoned Arrows have travelled all across Giantstep, and have learned many ways of warfare. While they often rely on the tried and tested gökmavi ways of surprise hit and run tactics to confuse the enemy, they also have become very good at mobile artillery, as there are very few mercenary groups with any kind of artillery available. Mugilhai’s camel cannons have become a staple of the group, and while their size limits their power and range, they can result in constant pressure from distance very difficult to shake off.

The current head of the Poisoned Arrows is still **Mugilhai Tsajin**. Now an old man, Mugilhai still a skilled warrior, and while his days of charging head on towards the enemy, he still can led his men due to his strategic wisdom and experience. He has also gained enough accolades and rewards to gain a permanent headquarters in the gökmavi city of Opole, from which he organizes the company’s business.

## Mercenary Groups in Scimitarian

### Hougo'iashen Agency

The Hougo’iashen Agency is one of the strangest mercenary bands that operate within the Drow City States. The agency was created during the context of the growth of the drow economy during the days of the Azanese Civil War. With Azan tearing itself apart for more than a century, the drow began growing their naval power, something they had not had the chance of developing due to their underground ways. It would be during this time when the drow would learn of the building, repairing and manning of vessels, both from humans, dwarves, sea elves and the few drow who knew about the sea life. However, due to their inexperience of the drow, at first most mercantile companies operated in a way similar to a military navy, which caused many tensions, especially amongst the personnel on the lower echelons of the hierarchy. Many of them began talks of organizing in groups, forming guilds of their own to push against the owners of the companies into better conditions, or a lessening of the pressure. However, drow are not often the sort to open dialogues, and this led to the formation of massive bands of brutes to subdue these workers by force. And while the beatings were successful at first, the pushback only resulting in a considerable loss of productivity and profit, and the occasional burnt palace with its owners inside. It was in this context that the Hougo'iashen Agency was formed.

Established by Mihe’elien Hougo'iashen, a former assassin and spymaster that got wounded during one of his jobs, he saw an opportunity to make bank by using his skills and knowledge to solve the growing problems. Instead of breaking bones and noses, Mihe’elien used subterfuge to sow discord between the groups: through carefully planned threads, planted false evidence, false rumors and an occasional cut limb and kidnapping, he managed to dissolve many of these burgeoning groups, allowing his bosses to keep complete deniability. This made the group immensely popular across all the drow cities, both within the mercantile companies, the aristocratic rings and the local urban authorities. Over the years, they have become one of the staples of drow society, always keeping an eye to keep the discord going and the profits coming, and while other groups have imitated the model of the Hougo'iashen Agency, none have ever done so with the same level of success.

The current leader of the Hougo'iashen Agency is **Doyiheshe Hougo'iashen**. A long descendant of Mihe’elien, he is a charismatic man, able to thrive amongst the aristocracies of the drow cities, becoming one of the few individuals welcome across all the cities. He has also invested his fortune into creating multiple hidden bases of operation, where his employees train in the art of espionage and subversion, often hiring retired assassins and spymasters to allow for as updated a training as possible. Hougo'iashen has also gained the love of his men by increasing the pay they receive for each job, keeping them happy and loyal. And in those cases where one of his men might turn on him, Hougo'iashen is also a skilled assassin on his own, and has had to deal with some attempts on his life personally.

### The Orators

The Orators are a mercenary band serving in the drow city of Dhalmass. The Orators were initially not a mercenary group, but a theatre company travelling around Scimitarian. The old artistic traditions of the Western Elven Empire also included a great amount of plays and operas, and the Orators were a very popular group, gathering great crowds for the local aristocracy. However, many quickly realized that the presence of so many of the high and noble all together was a quick recipe for disaster, as assassination was a constant threat in the higher echelons of drow society. Eventually, this resulted in many theatre companies joining their venture with mercenaries who would guard the plays against any trouble. And this predicament caused Lady Midiss Ae’hierne, the owner of the Orators, to actually begin a different branch of business: since the risk of assassination in the theatre was quite high, the Orators would go offer “special protection” to their clients, not only guarding them during the play, but also promising to capture and execute anyone who had tried or succeeded in killing them during one of their plays. While this was laughed at first, there was little problem in actually accepting the terms, and as such, the Orators began offering their protection to their clients. Soon enough, some famed assassins and outlaws began dying in public places, and for each of them who died, the Orators celebrated a public play to show anyone that they had done the deed. Many of these assassins were discovered to being planning hits against people who were going to attend to the plays, and as such, the Orators proved their worth as bodyguards and counter-assassins. Soon enough, the Orators were a household name not just for their prowess at theatre, but for their success in hunting down assassins and hitmen.

The Orators include not just the actors, scenographers and other people of the trade. They also include a wide network of spies and informants that do deep infiltration and scrutiny of the places they are going to play in, keeping an eye for local assassins, murderers, hired guns and other potential threats, as well as any mysterious stranger that arrives into the town at the same time as them. If they detect any possible attack towards their guests, they will send assassins of their own to deal with the threat, as well as to obtain info about their employer. This means that people fearing for their life often pay enormous sums of money to keep going to the Orator’s plays, and the more attacks they get, the bigger the insurance they need to pay. From time to time, they also hunt down bandits and hired guns who have made a name for themselves, to make sure anyone remembers the dangers of attempting something against someone protected by the Orators.

The current leader of the Orators is still **Lady Midiss Ae’hierne**. A woman of wealth and taste, she has managed to turn what initially was a theatre company into one of the most sought after bodyguard groups in all Scimitarian, and also one of the most profitable. While she herself is not a woman of arms, she is always surrounded by the most elite of her men, and her influence within drow society is felt anywhere she goes.

## Mercenary Groups in Littlestep

### Brustovv's Hired Guns

Brustovv's Hired Guns is a mercenary company located in the Woodcutter city of Guddënbost, in the Brussgloff region. It was founded by Rodov Brustovv, a local hunter who found himself at the brink of destitution due to debts. After a long winter that caused many creatures to flee further and faster than Brustovv could track them, he decided to compensate his income with hunting bandits for their bounties. Many of these hunters often hid in the Great Oak Forest, a sprawling green area that can be labyrinthine in many sections, but Brustovv was an old man, and quite experienced travelling its depths. He quickly found many fugitives and brought them, either alive or dead, to the cities that had demanded them. He quickly solved his solvency problems with this, but by then he had gained the enmity of many outlaws, who decided to burn his house in the forest as a warning. Swearing revenge, he quickly organized a mercenary agency in Guddënbost, dedicated exclusively to hunting bounties across Littlestep.

Brustovv’s Hired Guns work on a scale relatively minor, as they do not partake in great battles or even skirmishes, but they use their knowledge of the forest and how to stealthily traverse it to hunt the many bandits and outlaws that it contains. They are able to wait patiently for an opportunity to pounce on their target, as many of them are experts on hunting within forests and swamps, and know how to become invisible within the greenery. Over the years, their work has expanded beyond the Woodcutter Cities, being hired for works within the Orange Marquisates and the Princedom of Platinum. Some of their most dangerous jobs have been the hunting down of renegade wizards within the swamps of the east, but these jobs tend to be of the lethal sort, as hunting down wizards alive is a dangerous activity for the group.

The current head of Brustovv’s Hired Guns is sill **Rodov Brustovv**. An old man by now, he is greatly appreciated by the common folk of the Woodcutter cities, as his services over the years have managed to apprehend many criminals who altered the peace of the locals. The fact they are not a massive group or a particularly well-armed one also lets them to be relatively affordable, allowing for reasonable fees, ingratiating them more with the local townsfolk. However, their activity has brought them the attention of some of the more unsavory corners of the Woodcutter Cities, and many of their members had been attacked by members of bands or criminal syndicates, especially those that are encroaching from outside the Woodcutter Cities themselves. Brustovv has been organizing a stronger push against these entities, often establishing stronger ties with the urban authorities to get enough support for the upcoming clash.

### Carnival Witches

The Carnival Witches are a small mercenary group located in the Woodcutter city of Naffnsterrling, in the Neuweisstërrloft region. The origins of this group began when a criminal band of rogue alchemists arrived to the city of Naffnsterrling, and began expanding their business throughout Neuweisstërrloft, Niebelgersennt and the Orange Marquissates. The different tensions between the local criminal organization and corrupt nobles in all these areas led to the assassination attempt on the alchemists’ leader. In total, five assassins were sent to hunt him down during the “Carnival Celebrations” of Naffnsterrling, when everyone has to dress up as witches, wizards and monsters. These five operatives were sent individually, each by a different group and having no knowledge of the presence of the other assassins, so when they inevitably found each other, it resulted in they bungling the initial infiltration, as each one of them thought that the others were part of the alchemists’ retinue. After a brief fight, the misunderstanding was solved, the group would stop and agree to cooperate together, since after the initial failure, the alchemists redoubled their vigilance. Despite the loss of the element of surprise, the five assassins managed to infiltrate the stronghold and take the alchemist’s head, which allowed them to get the reward from each of their employers. The group worked so well that they decided to leave their previous businesses and create their own enterprise as hired assassins. They have become widely known throughout Littlestep as the “Carnival Witches”, as they have used their carnival costumes for some of their more public jobs, both as a calling card and as a misdirection for their actual undercover operations.

The group is very particular due to its very unorthodox theatrics, which are combined with professional covert operations both intel-gathering, stealing and assassination. Each of them is a professional on her respective field, and over the years, they have gained a great reputation, all while maintaining their actual identities hidden from the public. This is because almost all of them are wizards to one degree or another, and have learned many ways to hide magically one’s face during events. Combining that with their perchance for theatrics, always wearing a full-face or half-face mask, and their actual identity is a mystery for nearly all people within Littlestep. During the times they need to work in the open, they will often show a great level of drama and acting, aiming at distracting the attention for just enough time to allow the others to do their part, and then disappear as fast as they came. This combination has made them quite successful and sought after. However, the small size of the group greatly limits the scope of their operations, and they outright reject most jobs that focus around protecting a target, since they know staying in the open for too long is simply too dangerous.

The members of the team are Odette Frainemberg, Melia Honnembaunn, Maria Schneewittchen, Cleodora Daphiss and Jannie Luckystroll. **Odette Frainemberg “the Red-Hooded”** is in charge of planning and preparing the group for the mission, as well as a very capable fighter using guns and daggers. She was trained to be a dancer, but after an unknown incident that forced to flee her home, she became an assassin for a living, where she learnt to use her limited magical abilities. **Melia Honnembaun “the Snow Queen”** is the team’s sniper and tracker, having learnt to hunt in the deepest parts of the Green Oak Forest by her father, and after his death, he ended up as a gun for hire, being able to hit her target from seemingly impossible distances, though she also can use her handheld crossbows in cases of needing to defend herself at shorter ranges. Melia is also the only one in the group who does not know how to use magic, but her skills at arms more than make up for that. **Maria Schneewittchen “the Lost Princess”** was trained as an alchemist by her parents, who also were assassins all the way in the Orange Marquisates. She knows a great deal of alchemy and science, often preparing special concoctions either to poison or to blow up her targets, though she is also proficient with her rapier and her hunting rifle. **Cleodora Daphiss "the Wicked Witch"** is an autumn nymph all the way from Florinth, and the most magically adept member of the team. She works both as the team’s magic support and infiltration, as her nature as a nymph can cause many to act unnaturally kind towards her, or looking the other way when she asks. And due to her magic, she is also capable to hide her presence momentarily to make her escape, something quite remarkable for a nymph, as their natural attractive nature is extraordinarily difficult to hide, and its effects cannot be turned off fully. Finally, **Jannie Luckystroll** is a brownie come all the way from Whereby, and the utmost expert of infiltration of the team. Due to her diminutive size, she is able to enter areas the others would find impossible, often using her natural charm and skill with animals to infiltrate and to reach the required places. This also makes her the best operative for espionage missions, having learned a great deal of magic from Cleodora, and keeping a wide variety of domesticated animals to help her move through air, land and sea.She has no nickname, as noone outside the team knows she works for them, to better help her infiltration chances. To the outside world, the team only has four people.

## Mercenary Groups in Zemyland

### Copper Axes

The Copper Axes are a mercenary band located in the Kingdom of Copper. The Copper Axes were born as one of the dozens of mercenary companies within the region, as the Kingdom of Copper’s poverty results in many needing to sell their arms to foreign employers. In particular, the group was created by Piettraski Kuulmala, an old mercenary who decided to go his own way after serving under many bands. Piettraski was famed for being an excellent warrior at sea, shinning in boarding operations against pirates and bandits, especially in the turbulent and frozen waters near Zemyland. His success managed to gain him a small fleet of coastal vessels, which they used to assault unsuspecting pirate ships during the night or during heavy fog. The death of Piettraski Kuulmala led to his only daughter, **Verta Kuulmala**, to inherit the leadership, something that many thought it would be the end of the group due to her youth and inexperience. However, she managed to dispel all doubts soon enough, proving not only a great sense of leadership and a bloodthirsty attitude towards the battlefield, leading the assaults personally.

In reality, the situation of the Kuulmala is darker that many would assume, holding a secret only she knows. For the death of Piettraski was caused by a vampire attack along the northwestern shores of the kingdom. Piettraski was tasked to hunt down the assaulters in the area not knowing they were vampires beforehand, and in the confusing skirmish, Piettraski and Verta were bitten and turned. While Piettraski begged his daughter to kill him before he turned, she could not end with her own life, becoming a vampire herself. Verta has managed to control her growing hunger for blood in the battlefield, feeding off her targets while her men are not aware, but the growing strength of her hunger and the fear of losing control is forcing her to take exponentially more dangerous jobs. So far, she has managed to hide her curse from her crew, though some of her oldest followers suspect something is seriously wrong. And while they are still loyal to her and the memory of her father, they worry the fate that could befall them all if whatever they think ails Verta worsens. All the while, she is looking to enact revenge against the vampire coven who killed her father and turned her into a monster. Despite the growing dangers, Verta is learning to use her growing vampiric skills to use, though the more she uses them, the more she feels the hunger stirring within her.

### Immortals of the Desert

The Immortals of the Desert is a mercenary company that operates all across Zemyland. Originating from the harsh Corteau Canyon, the Immortals of the Desert are one of the many nerim tribes inhabited the salt wastes of the inner continent. The harshness of that landscape often forces many to take the profession of a hired gun, and the Immortals were no exception. Originating from a particularly poor area of the desert, they needed to fight the other tribes for any spec of useful resources, from food to water to tools. This gained them the Immortals of the Desert, said to be so good at surviving the brutal conditions of their homeland that they had lost the ability to die. This also gave them a great deal of experience in the art of warfare, which they began to use as mercenaries. The strongest men of the tribe would be sent to faraway lands to serve in foreign armies, and with the riches they gained, they would try to improve the life of the tribe back in the desert.

The Immortals of the Desert have gained a great reputation all throughout the world, being known as very stubborn and dedicated soldiers who do not retreat until the job is done. Fighting in eerie silence, they are able to survive in hellish conditions, operating independently from any logistical support, which has made them great at fighting their enemy behind their rear lines, disrupting supplies and causing confusion. Many of the Immortals have also learned the ways of sand magic, using it to cloud the enemy’s vision during their attack or to disorient their movements. Their guerrilla tactics are very effective once the Immortals have spread throughout the territory, as they are quick to attack and move and very hard to pin down, forcing the enemy to dedicate enormous resources to secure their back. The Immortals also demand the spoils of the people they defeat, as per nerim tradition: as the law of the desert, the dead’s possessions now must go to help the stronger survive. This has caused some friction with their employers from time to time, but their successful track record keeps these clashes rare.

The current leader of the Immortals of the Desert is **“The Sword”**. A mysterious figure whose name is only known by his men, he leads the Immortals across all continents, as is his duty as Naib. He has been described as a giant of a man, slashing away his enemies with his pair of swords and with his skill at magic. Like all naib, he always wears a full-face mask at all times, but his is more inhuman than those of other tribes are, and inscribed with runes no one has ever being able to point out the origin of.

## Mercenary Groups without a clear location

### Casantieen's Corsairs

Casantieen's Corsairs are a mercenary band that operates through most of the seas of Eastern and Southern Giantstep. The group was formed within a colony of ancient mermaids located around the coast of Anchovia. The mermaid populations around the anchovy waters were already pretty sparse, since the region was too close to the old holdings of the Merfolk Empire for comfort, and many mermaids migrated throughout the years. However, some of them decided to stay as a sign of stubbornness. This would turn out to be a terrible choice, as the growing pollution of the waters would affect the minds of the mermaids, just as it was affecting the local humans. They began suffering murderous drives at seemingly intermittent intervals, leaving many to meet grizzly ends at the hands of their fellows. In desperation, they began searching for any force that would clean the taint from their bodies. One day, a mysterious sailor appeared in the area, and bestowed a red moon-shaped talisman upon the chief of the colony. It was after the mysterious figure had left when the sky became crimson red, and the mermaids saw the Moon that Lingers, Mg'umba. It was then when the tribe realized that their madness was not a curse, but a blessing from the blood moon, revealing unto them the gospel of carnage, and it was their duty to spread the word through action.

The tribe stop existing from that point on, and in its place remained the Casantieen’s Corsairs, a bloody band of mercenaries dedicated to bestow their gruesome work to the glory of Mg’umba. They are some of the most unscrupulous mercenaries around, caring little for material payment, being only interested in the sacrifice of the innocent in honor of Mg’umba. Indeed, many consider the Casantieen’s Corsairs as vile bandits and pirates, since they dedicate themselves to that profession when their prey becomes scarce. They attack any target that is sailing, using their nature as mermaids to go below the ship and break, beginning to sink the ship before moving into launching their assault while the vessel fills with water. They then spare no one, as Mg’umba wills it, drinking from their skulls and making weapons from their victim’s remains. They are rightfully hated and fear by the local populations of most of Eastern Giantstep.

The current leader of Casantieen's Corsairs is **Hubsiah Casantieen**, the daughter of the first chief of the tribe. While young, she has been leading the tribe through prayer to Mg’umba and becoming an adept fighter. Her bloodthirsty nature has aided her well during the many fights for control over the group. She is finding more and more problems to find honest job as a mercenary, having to attack more frequently the waters near the Blind Bastard’s Domain, but in general, she knows full well that the eastern powers will act together to pursue the group as monsters to be hunted down and punish her. Still, for the time being, she enjoys the relative freedom her position as corsair allows her, attacking vessels with a safe port behind them.