Merry Band

The Merry Band is an exceedingly violent and dangerous group of intermittent supervillains from North America. They are labeled an S-Class threat by PRO and are considered one of the top ten most dangerous parahuman organization worldwide, but are almost always place in the top three. They have a long history of attacking cities, wanton destruction and mass killings. They Merry Band has been active for at least twenty years, possibly longer.

## Background

### Modus Operandi

The Merry Band is exceedingly violent, each member a dangerous mass murderer or serial killer in their own right. Even without membership within the organization, most members would be considered B or A class threat, with some even being considered S-Class threats.

The exact motive or reason for the Merry Band's existence or attacks is unclear. Throughout their tenure, they appear to exist purely to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible with no motive beyond mass suffering. All attempts to reason with the organization have been met with an increase in destruction and bloodshed, so such tactics have been discouraged. The Merry Band appears to exist purely for the entertainment of its members, as seen below.

#### Challenges

The one thing that remains consistent within the Merry Band's attacks are the issuing of 'challenges' by some or all of its members, in addition to their usual activities. The challenges tend to be increasingly gruesome and violent as an attack progresses and there is a significant amount of deviation and creativity between members. Sometimes challenges are issued by the organization as a whole, and other times they are issued individually. Challenges are sometimes 'creative', requiring tactics or strategy by the residents of the city, but other times are simply an endurance run. These challenges are sometimes– albeit loosely– organized and other times not.

Despite the name we have given them, the 'challenges' should not be assumed to be remotely fair or designed to win. The requirements for 'winning' such challenges are often arbitrary or impossible, and no member is in any way bound to 'play fair'. Some members tend to be more consistent in the execution of their challenges, but this far from the norm, and even 'fair' members have backed out on occasion. Fitting with the inconsistent nature of the Merry Band, there have been times in which they have issued far more structed challenges and even played by a set of self prescribed rules. These rules still heavily favor the Merry Band, but are generally adhered to when created. These 'over arcing challenges' that permeant their entire attack are Faustian at best and still result in mass loss of life and destruction of the city.

#### Recruitment

The turnover rate of the Merry Band is somewhat high, most members only lasting a few years at best. Thus, a bulk of their attacks tend to revolve around the recruitment of prospect members. Each existing members of the Merry Band tends to champion a parahuman within the city– villain or hero– and challenges tend to revolve around 'testing' potential recruits, though with the same expectations of the above challenges. Only the most depraved, violent or powerful ever survive the challenges. More often than not, no prospect recruits survive the Merry Band's attack. When more than one prospect does survive the challenges, they are usually given a final challenge decided by Pied Piper.

### Structure

The Merry Band appears to have a loose structure, with strength and power significantly changing the power dynamic. It is unclear how members within the Merry Band treat each other, though it is likely not a dynamic of teamwork and support. In fact, some members tend to actively sabotage other members while just as many are helpful. Regardless, all members default to Pied Piper who leads the organization.

Historically, the Merry Band has had nine members, though often lacks a member or two after a particaurly aggressive attack. Interestingly, while they seem to push recruitment during their attacks, they seem to occasionally find members during their downtime. It is unknown if these members are subjected to similar tests or simply recruited into their ranks.

#### Current Members

Pied Piper: The leader of the Merry Band. Able to assume absolute control over rodents such as rats, mice and squirrels. It is unclear if he is a founding member of the organization, or simply one of its earliest recruits. Regardless, he has led, or at least been with, the Merry Band for over twenty years.

Bishop: A young member of the Merry Band. He is a tinker with an unreasonably broad specialty that seems to be all things biological. He is a relatively old member of the Merry Band, joining five years ago, and seems to have become an integral part of the organization.

The Hecatomb: One of the strongest parahumans to ever exist, Hecatomb is both the unstoppable force and the immovable object completely immune to any and all powers and physics. Since his joining the Merry band in early 2005, he has cemented the group of serial killers into S-Class territory.

Kill Chain: The newest member of the Merry Band recruited in early 2010 after the Oakland siege. She is somewhat young, though older than Bishop and Millstone. Not much is known about her power, though she controls of significant length of indestructible chain that responds to her every whim.

Millstone: The youngest member of the Merry Band. She has only been with the Merry Band for a few months, so much of her power is unknown. However, she was known to be a localized reality warper able to greatly manipulate her surroundings. As of early 2010, she was gravely injured. However, as no body was recovered, she is presumably still in action.

Nutcase: The newest member of the Merry Band and a tinker who has turned his body into a living weapon, hidden within a sarcophagus of his own creation. He is brutal and sadistic, thoroughly earning his place within the ranks of the Merry Band.

Scarlet: A somewhat young member of the Merry Band. He is able to control his own blood to devastating effects, able to make weapons or stop himself from bleeding. He is a more recent member, appearing with the Merry Band in late 2008. As of early 2010, he was gravely injured, but was seen fleeing from the conflict.

#### Past Members

Crone: One of the founding members of the Merry Band. She is presumed to be some sort of Thinker, likely a precognitive of some sort. She was likely killed in the early 90s.

Crucify: An exceptionally brutal and horrific serial killer, even prior to joining the Merry Band. She was able to create wood from surfaces she could see, able to conjure forests of violent splinters in moments. It is unknown how she died, but it presumably happened in either late 2009 or early 2010. No body was ever recovered, but she did not accompany the Merry Band when they attacked Oakland.

Defiler: One of the most terrifying members of the Merry Band in recent memory, perhaps eclipsing the Hecatomb. He was a a massive parahuman made of flanged metal who harbored a psychosomatic mist that induced a particaurly terrifying form of prosopagnosia. He was, presumably, killed in 2010 by Baneslayer. Unlike Scarlet and Millstone, however, he was not seen retreating from the city and is more likely dead than not.

Glass Cannon: An early member of the Merry Band. Some sort of Brute who could piece himself back from seemingly any injury. Was completely vaporized by Clockwork in 1993 when the Merry Band attacked Chicago.

Headsman: The original founder of the Merry Band. Was some sort of Brute, able to survive a near direct hit from a missile and could ignore most other forms of weapons. He was capable of ripping a man limb from limb with basically no effort. Killed in the late 80s, presumably by Pied Piper who then took over leadership of the Merry Band.

Killzone: One of the original members of the Merry Band. She was killed in 1989 in Reno.

Martyrdom: A more recent member of the Merry Band. When she died, she came back to life a fraction of a second later completely devoid of any injury. During the Merry Band's siege of Mobile, Alabama, she was trapped in a shipping container and sunk into the bay. She is, presumably, still alive.

Murderwind: One of the original members of the Merry Band. Could turn into a toxic fog. Killed in the early 90s.

Shadow Dancer: One of the original members of the Merry Band. Was able to harm people through shadows, though specifics are still unknown. Presumably killed in the late 80s or early 90s.

Shudder: One of the original members of the Merry Band. Was able to make things violently explode by touching them, turning almost anything into a bomb. She was killed in 1996 by Howitzer during the Merry Band's attack on Tulsa.

Orpheus: One of the longest lasting members of the Merry Band. He was capable of generating a massive shockwave from his mouth that could easily destroy buildings and kill people even easier. He was killed in Oakland in 2010 by a combined effort of multiple villain teams, the same effort that injured both Scarlet and Millstone.

Quiet: A past member of the Merry Band, and the longest lasting of its original members. She was able to manipulate the way soundwaves propagated, he power able to blanket cities in silence and create dead zones where radios and similar technology wouldn't work. She was publicly killed in early 2010 by Nutcase, a then prospective member of the Merry Band.

Yellow Man: An original member of the Merry Band and one of the most remembered and feared, possibly more so than Defiler or even Hecatomb. He was able to manipulate a person's mental faculties to an unspecified degree. Most notably, he was able to trap people in a mental prison, a process that killed almost instantly but lasted subjective years, decades or longer for those afflicted. Is presumably dead, having disappeared in the mid 90s.