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Hello there gentle(or malign) creatures(or synthetics)! I am Rose, and this is Isabeau's warband. You may have noticed a certain woman covered in blood screaming about blood and reaving blood and, well, doing a lot of things that have to do with blood. She also talks a whole lot about some god that nobody has ever heard about. Also often flanked by really weird halfling minions.
So what the Blood Pact of Akeldekai (or The Pact) is attempting to accomplish is to distinguish themselves as hardcore, no shits no prisoners no mercy, violent marauders. We are staking out territory on Demonreach Isle to begin the operations of a war camp, hoping to raise it into a village and kingdom of its own from the plunder and spoils of endless, pointless, bloody war. You can hire them to smash the pretty faces of your enemies too. If you really want someone dead and to send a message of just how much you absolutely hate them, these are the kind of people you'll want to hire. Hatred and violence are kind of what they are good at, and honestly, it's a lot better to keep them busy so they don't get bored and have to find other entertainment.
Oh my gosh Rose that sounds just like something I would expect from Conan the Barbarian or Warhammer Fantasy. You are just plagiarizing! Yes. Yes I am. That is the exact storytelling theme and mood I am trying to establish here and draw inspiration from. Demonreach Isle, to me, is a savage and unexplored frontier where daily life is a struggle of survival against a living island that wants to eat you, other savage tribes and settlements, and the enemies that you make yourself. It is a place much like the Border Kingdoms of constant strife and conflict where glory and doom are had in equal measure, and both are found from the mountains of your enemies' corpses.
What sort of characters might be interested in this? Well let me just start off and say first of all, it is led (currently) by Isabeau Primus Akeldema, but who knows how long until someone kills her to replace her. Life is cheap and death is free. She is a Divine Champion, but this is not a religious church. This is a warband, and the Forgotten Realms is a very polytheistic setting, so keeping a monotheistic veiw to worship of one god and only one god is not realistic. Your patron diety is not important, as long as it does not conflict with the honor and guidance demanded by the God of War whose umbrella this falls under. Here are some example concepts that would fit in very neatly!
*Shervashan elves or pirates whose violent manhating temperament finds them unable to connect with society, or outcast for their extreme practices. They may look for a place that fosters and suppourts their hatred and empowers them in their quest for racial genocide and accepts them as the monsters they must become in order to protect their species from even worse monsters.
*Barbarians of all sorts. Nordic northerner raiders, southern savages, badlands cannibals, jungle brutes and tribal warriors. Totemic tribes are especially welcomed. Totem worship is amazing.
*Pirates, mercenaries, cutthroats, vagabonds. Anyone who has learned how to live with the nightmares of a mans face as you look him in the eyes and take his life to steal from him his wealth or for payment. I.E. any adventurer, because adventurers are all psychos, and almost every one of our characters has slaughtered entire hordes of intelligent sentient beings with their own families without care or second thought, often times in their own homes far away from civilization.
*Ex-soldiers. People who have fought for their king and survived to see that the stories of glory in war and service are hollow. Soldiers who have come to learn the truth of war when everyone they've loved is dead, when they are in the thick of chaos and death comes at every direction, when the earth beneath their feet has become ankle-deep with blood-mud, when there is no ground left to stand on other than the wailing bodies of butchered meat indistinguishable as friend or foe. When exhaustion fills your bones and the reason WHY you are fighting no longer matters, only that your death is here, and everyone wants to kill you, and you are completely alone, and all that matters is survival. When you've reached the end of your sanity and surrendered yourself to the beast that is clawing inside of every man and caught your second wind, and your voice screams GARAGOS! and you are filled with the rage, fury, and power required to survive and cleave your enemies in half! And then.... when the war ends.... you return back to normal life, to peace, and to visions you will never shake. You always have a tremble in your hand remembering the vibration of steel on steel. Loud sudden sounds send you into a fit of life-or-death fury. Every time you close your eyes you see the horrible reality of war. War where you were just a number, just more meat like your friends underneath your feet, and in the end forgotten... Like all soldiers you eventually realized the truth of what war is, and calling upon the God of War, Master of All Weapons, The Fury of Battle, the Blood God, you've survived... but that adrenaline still surges within you, and peace feels empty. War has changed you and these civilians just can't possibly understand that experience, and their life has become so alien. All that can possibly fill the emptiness is war. War fills your day with terrors and your dreams with the dead. You can't escape it anymore. War has become life, and the war will never end until your life ends. Death. Blood. Violence. Only by giving in to the beast again and becoming consumed by the sheer euphoria of personal abandonment as the bloodrage transforms you do you feel whole again, until that battle too ends.... and is replaced with uncomfortable, gnawing peace... until the next war. Such orgasmic bliss to surrender your sanity to the throes of rage.
*Sorcerers (or wizards, technically. It's all the same) who delve into the destruction of magic, or seek power from blood. The strength of a man may be found in their blood, and a sorcerer may seek to increase the powers of their own blood and transform into a true Bloodmage. The Pact will be an excellent place of reaving, bloodshed, and carnage to draw upon, and the Blood God needs his sorcerers to perform rituals and services.
*Skalds. OMG yes. Warrior bards PLEASE. This is the dream-concept for any battle bard seeking glory, heroes to follow (or become), and tales of beautiful deaths and glorious war to tell of for ages. Of the men and women who fell and were taken by Targus' valkyries. I personally have written a few war songs that Isabeau would gladly share and sing beside them.
*Dragon disciples, monsters, and other outcasts living on the fringes of society who look for home. A place where they are not judged by their appearance, but for their merit, and can seek to elevate themselves above the rest of their kin.
'Now there are also many civilian roles that The Pact may interest you in!
*Farmers to tend the fields. Druids especially would be an exceptionally honored and respected role. Their wisdom and experience is all that allows survival in harmony with a savage land. They may even have a personal interest in the mysteries of Demonreach Island and its strange wilderness.... I also have a personal fondness for more evil slanted druids who like groves of carnivorous bloodthirsty plants, so that's an option!
*Rangers, hunters, and trackers to help them find exotic beasts to train as war animals, or to capture and hold for grand arena tournaments as challenges for exotic and valuable prizes.
*Sailors. For sailing.
*Diplomats, spies, politicians.
*Tailors, carpenters, stonemasons, you see where this is going. All civilian roles can play a crucial role in the growth of a new village, and in doing so be promised homes and land and the chance to build their community (and know they will be protected by a bunch of really tough guys).
*Trademaster. There is lots of gold to be had in warfare. Always room for a merchant to turn profit from it and handle all the cashflow for a developing settlement! Even start your own bank.
Now some of you may be thinking Rose, you never mentioned it, but my character doesn't know what a Targus is. Are you making things up? Well here's the deal. Remember that this warband is a polytheistic organization, though under the leadership of THE original G God of War. This name is Targus, and he was basically Ares during the Golden Age of Mankind, serving as a prominent figure in the Netherese Pantheon who led them to global domination. He is Chaotic Neutral. He doesn't care if you are good or evil, only that you kill in battle. He doesn't care if the reason you war is virtuous or profane, only that you war. Most characters won't know that, and the word Targus would be completely meaningless, but Netherese scholars may know, and there are certain places in the world where he is prominent. The Netherese empire fell three thousand and change years ago, but through all that time he was still worshipped with such passion and fervor that he has become reincarnated, though as a shadow of his former self. 27 years ago during the Time of Troubles was when Garagos was born into power, the reincarnated visage of Targus, wounded and stricken with such a wrathful madness. He also likes to enter the world in a physical avatar a lot more often than most gods to personally get his hands bloody. Now some places still know him as Targus, especially places with a heavy Netherese past, like... the Border Kingdoms, a land of perpetual, endless, senseless, perpetual, endless, never ending, constant, meaningless war that is littered with Netherese ruins, and home to an avatar of Garagos. In fact if you are interested in joining The Pact but do not have a character who seems to fit it I also provide the following open door for you to walk through:
The Razor Legion was a warband in the Border Kingdoms which has risen to prominence, and then fell to destruction, like all things do in that savage land. With Targus and Garagos on their lips they rampaged and triumphed through the Twelve Kings Crusade, but were eventually broken to the point of being unable to recover, and set off to find new land to rebuild. They set off to find Demonreach Isle, but crashed along the way and were stranded on Amia and separated. Now they must rally under the banner of war, train, and supply themselves for the conquest to come as they move on to make their new home.
Alignments: Any except Lawful Good (NG and CG fine). The Razor Legion in specific holds a dual-worship of Targus and Garagos. Targus as the true god of war, and CN aligned diety, though in the throes of fury and bloodlust they may call upon the rage of Garagos much the same way followers of Tempus and other war gods do. In the end all warriors either die or call upon Garagos to preserve their life. Unless they're clerics.
Classes: Any. Except paladin. Codes of honor just don't match up with real war.
Honor is very important to Targus. The coward Tempus may tell you it is okay to use deception and ambush. He'll say it is fine to strike an enemy invisible or by surprise, or to use your smaller numbers to make hit and run blows in the dead of the night. Targus will say that defiles a warriors honor. SCREAM to be heard and let them know you come for their lives, fight them face to face and allow the gift of an honorable death, and if the foe is greater than you are..... good. Other war gods do not directly influence individual warriors. Targus does. He will give you the fury and strength to overcome an enemy that is stronger than you. Give in to his gift of the berserker rage! Sing his hymns of steel on steel and spill blood as sacrament to his name, for it does not matter which god you pray to. In battle EVERYONE prays to Targus with each cut upon the flesh they make.
So. There it is. We are a viking-esque warband with influences from Conan the Barbarian and Warhammer Fantasy, both very strong war-themed settings. We are a polytheistic organization, though under the umbrella of an ancient religion with sorcerous ways who find a lack of faith to be particularly disturbing. There is a strong emphasis on warriors honor, and there is lots of opportunity for non-combat roles to integrate into the setting we are trying to build upon. Currently we are four members strong, which will shortly be officially six, and pending eight. Hopefully it will be able to provide coverage through some varied timezones. If you want to make a new character instead of an existing one to partake, the Razor Legion plot-hook is there if it interests you. A way to get directly and immediately involved.
And that is us. I should format this later to make it easier to read and maybe a little less casual and more formal.
Last edited by xXCrystal_Rose on Wed, Nov 08 2017, 21:07 PM, edited 4 times in total.
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We've been establishing positive relationships with Barak Runedar as a similarly strong and honorbound warrior culture and potential trade partner, for example. Among some of our non-combat roles are diplomats (*Edits that in. How could I forget-politicians. The real source of war.*) and trademasters, so there is room to branch out and build an association with this warband other than joining the ranks of the Blood Pact. Now clerics.... that is fun. I think it might be best for your cleric to meet Isabeau first ICly. She is an extremely volatile person and I can't make any blanket statements in that regard- it all depends on how the rp goes!