Headhunters Guild

## Headquarters

Headquarters

The **Headhunters Guild**, usually shortened simply to the **Headhunters**, was an organization of Dragonhollow's Second Era.

They were dedicated to the macabre goal of collecting the heads of every monster, man, woman, and child on the planet.

# History

### Origins

In the wake of the Steel War and the emergence of the Serkrs as the dominant power of both the Swamplands and Woodlands, the world was experiencing an unprecedented era of peace that had left some bored and in search of excitement. Matto decided to create a group that could unite those who had fought on both sides of the war while still providing them a challenging outlet for their destructive tendencies.

To this end, he founded the Headhunters Guild on 2E:165. They were unique in that they accepted everyone as a member, regardless of rank, faction, or past history. Of particular importance was the principle that they were only trophy hunters, not bandits and thieves; all loot was to be returned to their victims so that the community would know it was all in good fun.

After an initial recruiting effort in the Forum, Matto claimed an old derelict building on the east side of Redwood Gardens. It became the aptly named Headquarters and included a trophy room where heads of their victims were displayed for the public to view and a private war room where members shared valuable intelligence on their targets and armed themselves with swords and potions.

The Organization for Unified Chaos supported their mission to advance the cause of chaos, though their members understood and supported the fact that they would still be targeted by the Headhunters.

Tox discovered an loophole in their rules, which stipulated that no member could collect the head of another member. Therefore, he encouraged *everybody* in Dragonhollow to join the Headhunters so that *nobody's* head could be harvested. Rolo acknowledged that unfortunately this was a rather good point.

### Headhunting

Rolo obtained their first head when he murdered SebDaGinger. Spud killed Kineticpit for the group's second trophy.

Matto personally provided the heads of many monsters including the witches, snowman, slime, iron golem, and silverfish.

Most of the guild's time was spent scouting the location of new targets, which were reported using a sign wall and written books stored at the headquarters. Because the magical protections granted by Eris prevented all residents from being attacked inside claims, when a guild member discovered a target they still had to use guile and subterfuge in order to kill them.

Even armed with swords bearing Looting enchantments, it was not unusual for the Headhunters to kill someone while still failing to behead them. Progress was somewhat slow, owing to the fact that some of their members were not known to be especially talented warriors.

Nevertheless, their spy network collected an impressive array of intelligence that made them the most knowledgeable group in the late Second Era. This eventually led Ozven and Tox to conduct a clandestine espionage mission to copy some of their intel on behalf of the Serkrs.

### Enemies

Calp0l and his comrade Ben began openly attacking the Headhunters on 2E:166. In response, Matto named them the top targets of the faction.

On 2E:168, Terry declared the Headhunters to be in violation of the Proclamation of Peace and therefore an enemy of the Brotherhood of Steel. Matto and his fellow guildsmen did not regard this as a serious threat, since Terry was the last remaining member of the Brotherhood after their defeat in the Steel War.

They suffered an embarassment when Varrith ambushed E1ite while the bandit was raiding an abandoned property near the Marsh Towers. E1ite, an extraordinary warrior and ruthless killer, immediately turned the tables and beheaded Varrith. To add insult to injury, E1ite offered to sell him his own head back so that it could be placed on the trophy wall.

### Decline

Some in the guild had high hopes for the Third Era. Eris had eliminated the interclaim protections meaning that residents could be murdered inside their own homes and the harsh, unforgiving desert expanse beyond Northham made vulnerable targets even easier to track and hunt down. The future appeared bright.

However, their glory days were not to be. The group's greatest warrior, Spud, defected to the Dragonslayers, turning what had been a small band of brigands under Calp0l into an army of reavers who waged an aggressive campaign of bloodshed and terror that reduced the entire Northlands into a barely hospitable wasteland. Headhunters died by the handful and their interests turned from casual beheading to pure survival.

Rolo and Azureila left the guild for The Fabled and Nut joined The Coast.

Meanwhile, Matto himself had become disenchanted with the state of the community as banditry, theft, and animosity replaced what had been strong bonds of fellowship and fun. Suddenly, the Headhunters with their emphasis on casual and carefree battle seemed out of place in a world at war. With the things he adored seemingly irreparably damaged by the Dragonslayers, Matto left the planet aboard an airship and was never seen again.

With the departure of their leader, the Headhunters were disbanded and relegated to the pages of history.

Ironically, it was the Dragonslayers themselves who in a sense were the spiritual successors of the Headhunters and carried on their work, claiming the heads of many residents around the world and mounting them in their own trophy display known as the Hall of Shame.

# Rules

The Headhunters had a formal set of rules designed to distinguish their conduct from other factions who were fighting primarily over territory and supplies:

* Heads must be earned through force in battle. Members are forbidden from purchasing heads or receiving them from people being willingly killed.
* Members cannot collect the heads of other members. Those that do so are expelled from the Guild.
* Having one's head taken by another is the highest mark of shame. Members are to only enter a battle with others if they are reasonably certain of victory.
* Every effort must be made to return all loot lost by a target.
* Only launch an attack on a target after gathering intelligence and proper planning.
* The element of surprise is a Headhunter's most valuable ally.
* Selfishness and ego have no place in the Guild. All members receive equal prestige from collected heads, so members should work together cooperatively.
* Once a target's head has been acquired, they will cease to be a mark and should no longer be hunted.
* Non-citizen visitors to Dragonhollow are *not* targets or marks. Members should assist these newcomers by any means necessary and try to convince them to join the Guild to expand our manpower.

# Most Wanted Targets

*This is a list of the Headhunters' priority targets.*

 #2
 #3
 #4
 #5

# Behind the Scenes

*The following is out-of-universe information about the real world Dragonhollow.*

Jack Firebane designed the Headhunters logo.