Marauders

in: Orders, Cults & Groups

The Marauders are a band of thieves, highwaymen, and raiders, loosely connected by their hierarchy of operation and a few core beliefs found in common among smaller companies of marauders. They can draw their numbers from anywhere around the world, provided that those people have the desire for the kind of work that they do. From massive giants to tiny goblins, each member of a Marauder band may serve a purpose to ensure the success of that group.

Sometimes, wily nobles or chieftains will hire Marauders to do work that they themselves do not want to be associated with. Due to the nature of the work, Marauders are usually well compensated.

## Quick Notes

* **Alternative Names:** Gang (Themselves)
* **Appearance:** Variable
* **Lifespan:** Variable
* **Height:** Variable
* **Regions Found:** Outskirts, Highways, Forests.
* **Common Character Roles:** Bandit, Burglar, Warrior, Quartermaster, Cook.
* **Values:** Right makes right, No morality
* **Religion(s):** Variable, 'The Jinx'
* **Common Allies:** Contractors, Employers
* **Common Enemies:** Everyone
* **Views on Magic:** Accepting
* **Abilities:** None
* **Weaknesses:** None

## Appearance

The Marauders are made up of many different races who try their best to put aside years of animosity and bloodshed to form cohesive bands with a singular purpose in mind, taking the wealth of others for themselves. Members are often employed on tasks that are suited to their perceived strengths. For example, goblins are frequently tasked with pickpocketing and burglary, while ogres are preferred as raiders.

Members of the Marauders typically use the equipment off of their backs when they are new recruits, while veterans are usually garbed in armour that they've taken from their victims. The result is that there's no common uniform among the various bands, and it doesn't take long before members look dressed as they would be from their homeland.

Despite the ragtag appearance of bands, they still try to adopt a common identifying trait among themselves. This trait could be something like shaven heads, armbands, tattoos, or self-inflicted scars. Members of a band will take great pride in their band's traits and won't receive mockery of it very well.

Most members of Marauders bands are men with a violent criminal history, and frequently have scars and tattoos that signify their felonious past. Women, more often than not, are not respected enough to be voted in as new members unless somehow the band already has a large number of women already; an exception to this would of course be women with a strong physical prowess, such as a giant, minotaur, or an orc. Because of this, sometimes women find it easier to form bands made up exclusively of women. Bands of Marauders composed of women entirely receive little respect or acknowledgement by the more male-dominated bands.

## History

The Marauders first began years ago as a prison riot. Three hundred and twenty-four male prisoners, mostly humans, took over a prison and freed themselves. They fled into the countryside before the city authorities were able to respond and round them up once more. Recognizing that they needed to find some way to survive in the hills, they quickly took to raiding the highways. Their massive numbers provided some advantage over the guarded merchant wagons, but there was simply not enough for them to raid to survive.

The prisoner horde turned on themselves out of starvation, with the strong and cunning besting the weak and stupid. With plenty of new fresh meat, the survivors were able to keep themselves fed for a bit longer. The initial three hundred and twenty-four that had walked out of that prison had found their numbers reduced to eighty-nine. Those that survived continued on. However, due to the precarious and violent nature of their lifestyle, there were just forty-three remaining after a year since their escape.

Recognizing the need to spread out to attack multiple trading routes, the prisoners decided to split up into four roughly even groups. These four groups promised to return to their meeting site in a year's time to share in each other's successes. Another year would pass and, like they had promised, the four groups had returned. Each had fared well for the year and they took spoils and held a week-long celebration, which would later be known as the first Marauder's Moot.

Once the celebrations had ended, the four groups went their separate ways for another year, returning again to convene once more. Over the years, these bands would grow larger and then split once their size had gotten too large. The new band would seek out new territory for themselves to prosper in. As the years turned into decades, these bands grew well beyond their initial territory and they had to move to far away lands. Eventually, they moved too far away to join the Moot site  of their homeland, so they formed their own sites to convene at.

Territory began to shrink and these Marauder bands would fight among themselves for that territory. Factions would form as alliances came and went and that initial cooperation that they had would splinter into various groups. In the present day, there are many factions and hundreds of Marauders bands spread across the entire land.

## Government

Marauders are not ruled by any single king or lord. Instead, individual bands are typically run by one or a few individuals. The leader of a band of Marauders is called a ‘Gaffer’. This leadership position is one carved out by strength and ruthlessness. Their lieutenants are referred to as ‘Stewards’. This leader is often quite strong and ruthless to have gotten their position.

Leadership among bands can be determined in a few different ways. The simplest method is just brute force, often by killing the previous leader and inspiring enough fear in the rest of the band to keep them in line. The second method is a quick election among themselves, often done by a show of hands by all members in a meeting. The individual with the most votes becomes the new leader.  The final method is by issuing a formal duel against the leader, with the victor of that duel continuing on as the leader. Forced changes in leadership are often the result of displeased members of the band, usually following a string of failures. Sometimes, though, they are attempts made by ambitious underlings, who are seeking recognition and power for themselves.

Marauder bands are governed by a few simple laws to help ensure the success of the bands and to keep it from falling into violent anarchy. These laws are not uniformly adopted by all bands, but they are commonly encountered. These laws are the following:

* Members do not kill other members.
* Members should not steal from other members.
* All members get to vote evenly and fairly. Votes are not to be coerced.
* Members do not gamble.
* Members do not take wives, nor are they permitted to bring their children with them.
* Loot is to be shared evenly among all members, with an exception for the leader who gets three shares to the other one. Hiding loot before it has been divided is punishable by loss of a hand. If the offending member has already lost a hand, then they are put to death.

Every year, Marauder factions hold their own Marauder’s Moot. This event is a chance for the gaffers of each band to get together and discuss issues, resolve disputes, and establish land boundaries for themselves. The Marauders' Moot is also a massive celebration for all of the bands in that faction, and they bring plenty of food, drink, entertainment, and slaves to amuse themselves for the week-long celebration.

## Social Behaviours

Aside from the laws outlined for themselves, Marauders have few qualms about doing whatever they please to do. They take what they please and they will do whatever they please for any who dares to get in their way. Concepts such as compassion or mercy are not easily found amongst members, often only being faint glimpses of life before joining the Marauders. In fact, letting a captive free when they could have been ransomed instead could be viewed as a violation of one of their laws.

Women in Marauder bands are only respected by how well they can fight and succeed. They are rarely offered membership in a Marauder clan and they often have to constantly prove their worth to the other more doubtful members of the band. Leadership is a more precarious position for a woman if she somehow manages to attain it. Every mistake is scrutinized even harder than their male counterparts and respect is hard fought for. Ultimately, members will be satisfied with success. Pregnancy is typically met with immediate expulsion if it is discovered, as the member’s speed and combat prowess is expected to significantly be impaired.

Marauder leaders tend to be bound by their word, both to their band and to anyone they make a contract with. Reputation alone is how Marauders are able to find work as mercenaries, which can often be preferable due to the steady nature of the pay.

## Religion

Much like the variety of its members, the Marauders have a wide range of beliefs and gods whom they worship. Much like their nature, the Marauders have a tendency to worship gods and follow religions that approve of the lifestyle that they have chosen.

Unique to Marauders though is superstition behind the concept known among them as the ‘The Jinx’. Marauders will blame a number of recent failures on a supernatural force that they believe that they have displeased in some way. To relieve themselves of the misfortune that 'The Jinx' has put them under, the Marauders will offer them a sacrifice. The sacrifice is typically an animal offering, but sometimes the Marauders will slay one of their captives to appease 'The Jinx' until they feel bad luck has befallen on them once more..

## Major Factions

Marauder factions are typically confined to the regions where they operate and have carved out territory for themselves. Each faction can have up to several dozen individual bands under it. Each faction will also hold their own Moot, the location of which usually changes every year to make sure it is not subjected to an ambush. The racial makeup of individual bands tends to favour the racial makeup of the region.

### The Blue Flame Faction

Bands of the Blue Flame have wide ranging backgrounds, and are generally more accepting of the wide ranging backgrounds of their members provided they prove useful. They prefer to be mercenaries for hire, selling their services to whoever has the most coin to spend. However, when work is scarce, they aren't afraid to pursue crimes such as smuggling, burglary, and extortion to keep coins flowing into their hands. They tend to operate within and around major cities throughout the land.

### The Black Wolf Faction

Operating from wildness, members of the Black Wolf usually are skulking near highways, ready to ambush traveling traders and travelers to rob them. Black Wolf band sizes tend to be smaller and more numerous than the other factions, and they usually are quite mobile. Their members tend to be composed of Elves and Beastkin who are accustomed to living far from civilization. When driven enough, they will raid small villages and take everything of value from it that they can.

### The Maneater Faction

Taking pride in their violent, cannibalistic past, the Man Eater Faction are the most feared of any of the Marauder Factions for what they are capable of. People who are misfortunate enough to find themselves as their captives will have a gruesome fate in their future. Maneaters ritualistically prepare, kill, and then feast upon their prisoners. Whatever belongings they had are distributed out among the band. Maneaters tend to inhabit forts or caves where they can perform their rituals best without being disturbed. Their numbers tend to be Human, Wood Elves, Orcs, Minotaur, Sirens, and Vargans.

*Credit for Lore: Ruecifer, updated by Rickets*