Sanctuary Soldiers

This article is 100% rumour, 80% true, 60% relevant, 40% accurate, 20% dependable and 0% guaranteed.

In Sanctuary there are many rival bands of soldiers and mercenaries. Most of them have a law of some kind on their side. Cross them at your peril.

Garrison

The Palace Guard and Sanctuary Garrison is a mixture of the corrupt old guard, and the experienced mercenaries brought in by Walegrin when he took over command. This means that their behaviour varies wildly from patrol to patrol.

Aglon

Rankene Garrison Soldier.

Died Autumn 817wk

Aye-Gophlan

Ilsigi Captain of the palace guard before the arrival of Walegrin. Now he is one of the three men charged with keeping the peace in Sanctuary. Aye-Gophlan is a local boy who made good by becoming an officer in the Rankene military guarding Sanctuary. As such, he is well below the Hellhounds in rank and still retains most of the thief skills which brought him his commission. His post is the guard post at the corner of Professional Way. He is a seasoned veteran and quite loyal to the prince. Aye-Gophlan is tall and burly, but running to seed.

Barik

Ilsigi watchman. Stationed at the West Gate. Had a cousin killed in the last big ambush. Claims to been present at almost every big event.

Cubert

Ex-guard/Seasoned fighter Before coming to Sanctuary, lived a time in Brastor, fighting the Sea of Grass tribes. Said to have killed twenty men in one day and had scars to provide it. Left Brastor because of a woman. An ex-hawkmask, now joined up with Walegrin's troop.

Cythen

Domani Garrison Member A former Hawkmask now allied with Walegrin. The only woman living in the garrison barracks. Dark-haired, small-built, all teeth and eyes and utterly devoid of the traditional virtues almost every soldier brought into battle. Similar appearance to the seer, Illyra, but has a slash across her face.

Innos

Elven Groom. One of the several grooms who watch over the palace barracks and stables.

Jore

Mercenary. One of Walegrin's men.

Died Autumn 817wk

Malm

One of Walegrin's lieutenant's. Has a shepherd's eye for ominous movements and gives warning with a hawk's cry.

Ottar

Soldier. One of Wedemir's soldiers who won a (ensorcerened) silver ball playing dice. He gave it to a palace maid as a bribe to go out with him.

Purter

Elven Soldier A palace guard with a high voice. He is know to do "work".

Runo

One of Walegrin's lieutenants, who survived a magical ambush in the Maze. He now refuses to enter the Maze. A good man and long-service soldier.

Thrusher

Lieutenant to Walegrin and member of the Sanctuary Garrison. He has a face that is lean, hard and parched. Thrusher is Walegrin's information gatherer.

Wedemir

Elven guard. Lalo's son and eldest child. A member of Walegrin's guard patrol and junior master of the caravans. In love with Vanda's friend, Rhian. In Spring 808, he was killed in the 'Seraglio Rampage' by an unknown demon.

Zump

Soldier, veteran fighter whose been with Walegrin for years.

Died Autumn 817wk

Hellhounds

The Hellhounds are amongst the most feared people in Sanctuary. On the surface, they are naught but glorified guards, which the inhabitants have long found ways of dealing with. Why are they so feared and avoided?

First, they are an elite group. There are only five Hellhounds, and Tempus. These men are the best of the best, with the finest equipment and training, perfect physical specimens, with the arrogance that comes with it.

Second, each Hellhound outranks any but the Prince, Princess, and their commander Zalbar. What they say, goes. Whether the suspect be a merchant prince, an Ilsigi Noble, or street scum, the Hellhound will deal with them in the same way, with no chance of appeal.

Third, they are incorruptible. While each man has his own personality and weaknesses, none have yet succumbed to any influence, be it feminine wiles, drugs, money, or blackmail. They have wills of iron and unquestioning loyalty.

Fourth, they are essentially impossible to stop. They do not turn aside nor waver once a task has been set. They will continue until the task is complete. This is particularly disturbing given that their overall task is to clean up Sanctuary.

Fifth, killing a Hellhound does not help. The killer of a Hellhound is bound by the oath of the Hellhound, and assumes the responsibilities and mannerisms of the Hellhound they killed. Soon they gain their victim's personality, memories, and skills, and they step into the gap the previous Hellhound left. This contagion has prevented any of the myriad of concerned professionals from taking direct action before a loophole is discovered in the Hellhound oath. No one wants a Hellhound assassin with local knowledge. Note to players - killing a Hellhound irressurectably is effectively a character-retiring act.

All the Hellhounds are 100% loyal to Zalbar, the Prince, and Ranke, with the exception of Tempus. Tempus was already an immortal warrior for three hundred years before becoming a Hellhound. It appears to have taken him almost twenty years to wrestle sufficient freedom from the oath to allow him to operate independently from Zalbar, though still for the interests of Sanctuary. Tempus is loyal only to himself and his master Berith. He is the only thing more frightening to the citizens of Sanctuary than the Hellhounds.

Zalbar

The captain of the Hellhounds, the elite palace guard, and a dedicated soldier with nothing but disdain for the city of Sanctuary and its citizens. He is scrupulously honest. Zalbar's square-jawed face underlines his honesty, and his height makes him well known, even among the uniformed Hell Hounds.

Arman

Rankene Hell Hound. Arman is an arrogant younger son of a poor noble who did not have the temperament to become a knight. As a Hell Hound, he is the sort of policeman whose prisoners often die 'trying to escape' or are injured 'resisting arrest'. He follows Zalbar's orders with a calculated insolence just short of insubordination. Paradoxically, he is incredibly impressed with Prince Kadakithis and is willing to die for him. Arman is slim and wiry with a distinctively Rankene nose he likes to look down.

Bourne

Rankene Hell Hound. A large brown-haired man with a bushy beard and mustache; he is one of the Hell Hounds who is more ambitious to raise his social position. This has led him into political intrigue against the prince. He is also said to be the lover of the concubine Lirain, and detest Clarissa. He lost his left eye in a fight with a succubus, and it is said that he replaced it with the eye of an elven witch who crossed him. He has gained extraordinary nightvision from his new blue eye, but that eye weeps for both the suffering he witnesses, and inflicts, upon the innocents whose city he is sworn to cleanse.

Quag

Rankene Hellhound. Quag is the oldest of the Hell Hounds and the most stolid - middle-aged, craggy faced, but with a prideful bearing. He is a highly-experienced soldier who has been made Kadakithis' personal bodyguard and enforcer. He follows orders as best he can and is best at jobs which do not need an active imagination. He is unlikely to meet a difficulty with anything more subtle than a drawn sword.

Razkuli

Razkuli is the youngest of the Hell hounds and as ardent follower of Zalbar. Both have an immediate answer for all obstructions - the sword. Zalbar's position of responsibility has tempered him, but Razkuli is impulsively violent. He is the most feared and hated by the populace.

Died Autumn 818wk

Stepsons

The Stepsons were troops employed by Tempus and under his command. They were from all over the Baronies with personal loyalty only to Tempus. They served his wider purpose, and have been involved in the Kingdom war at Innesburg, and more recently the Dark Circle invasion of Ranke. They also have been cleaning up Sanctuary, going where the garrison will not go, and doing what the garrison will not do. Now they are an unemployed mercenary group with a legacy of brutal slaughter and oppresion.

Many Stepsons were killed when with Tempus down south in Brastor, helping to clear out the Dark Circle. Dolon is in charge of the few remaining Stepsons. Most of the survivors have 'retired'. However, once a Stepson, always a Stepson, in the populace's minds. The Stepsons have few friends outside their Sacred Band, and don't fare well walking the streets alone.

Abarsis

Stepson and priest of Berith. He sacrificed his life so that Tempus might have vengeance on Jubal. Abarsis sometimes comes back from the dead, bearing warnings for the Stepsons.

Bashir

Stepson sergeant. Was a leader of guerrilla fighters at Innesburg in the north. A freedom fighter and ally of the Stepsons during their sojourn at Innesburg. Friend of Tempus.

Critias

Syborite Stepson. Veteran fighter and leftside leader. Estrangled from Straton because of his partner's love-alliance with Ischade. He was second in command after Tempus, and his intelligence gatherer, assistant and interrogator, but is retired. A pleasant-looking man with a patrician nose and short, feathery hair. He is rumoured to free-lance.

Dolon

Rankene Soldier. Left in charge when Critias and the more senior Sacred Banders went north with Tempus, and again when they went south to attack the Dark Circle. He was shot in the arm with an arrow by a sniper. While technicaly the current leader of the Stepsons, he is more of a patsy which the more violent and brutal members of his command use as political ablative shielding.

Erato

Ilsigi Stepson recruit. A watcher.

Died Autumn 817wk

Harran

Elven overworked surgeon for the Stepsons and one-time priest of the nearly forgotten demon Marax.

Janni

Ex-Stepson/Mercenary from Ormond, he had no love for the Rankenes but still followed Abarsis to Sanctuary. Nikodemo's rightside partner. Now freelancing.

Lafen

Rankene Stepson, and medic working with the physician Harran. Lean and blonde.

Niko

Ex-Stepson and Mind Adept particularly skilled in mental and martial disciplines. Once a captive of Roxane in Innesburg, Niko seems to stumble from trouble to trouble.

Raik

Retired Stepson. Best know for the incident when he was visiting Harran, for a hangover remedy when his Stepson partner Shal was brought in to have a hand amputated, and insisted his hangover cure came first. Now runs an Import/Export business providing agricultural machinery.

Randal

The only mage ever trusted by Tempus.

Shal

Stepson. ex-Partner of Raik. His sword hand had to be amputated as it was run over by a wagon. Now Quartermaster.

Stilcho

Undead Stepson. One of the Sanctuary natives who joined the Stepsons. He was tortured and killed by Moruth, then reanimated by Ischade, whom he serves as ambassador to Hell.

Straton

Veteran fighter and rightside partner paired with Critias. Injured by the gangs at the start of the False Plague riots & retired to work with Ischade. Most of his former associates count him among Sanctuary's damned.

Tassi

One of Dolon's aides and given the job of burning out the witch, Ischade, to recover Stilcho, but he failed in his task.

Third Command

Currently the elite fighting force in Ranke, and serving as marines and shock troops throughout the land.

Alar hil Aspar

Aladarian Mercenary General. Built a temple to Bael in Sanctuary, on the ruins of Dyareela's. Tactical advisor to the Third Command.

Gayle

Rankene Mercenary of the Third Command. A foul-mouthed, violent mercenary. Hard to rein in by his commanders. He was once a Stepson.

Kali

Mercenary. Member and recruiter for the Third Command.

Died Autumn 817wk

Kama

Rankene Mercenary. Tempus' barely acknowledged daughter and assassin of the brutal Third Command. Tactical liaison between the Third and both the gangs and the Stepsons. Sometime lover of Critias, Zip and Molin Torchholder. A tall and broad-shouldered woman, with a firm chin and clear narrow eyes; her hair is black, her clothes nondescript but cut to facilitate easy movement.

Black Lysias

Watch Commander. Rankene Third Command mercenary. Called Black Lysias because the territory the Third controlled was painted with black lines. Usually a fastidious man but prone to stressful lapses.

Melant

Rankene Mercenary. Member of the Third Command.

Pheres

Army sentry.

Rocio

Young guardsman who regularly sleeps with the prostitute Joia at the Aphrodesia House.

Sync

Commander of the Third Command. A piece on the gameboard of Sanctuary politics. He is a competent soldier and a good commander.

Hawkmasks

The Hawkmasks are the masked enforcers employed by Jubal to keep the southern part of town under his thumb. A number of them have left in the months after Jubal was ambushed by Tempus just before the False Plague riots in 803WK. However signs from Spring 805WK are that Jubal is back, and with that, the Hawkmasks are reclaiming territory in southern Sanctuary once more. Most of the Hawkmasks keep their identities secret, so few are well-known on the streets.

Brannas

Hawkmask. His wife was killed by the Downwind beggars and nailed to a pole as an example to others.

Died Autumn 817wk

Eichan

Erelheine hawkmask who tried to hold Jubal's fighters together after the attack by Tempus on the Azurian slaver's estate. Mor-am and Moria were in his low-paid service a short time. He also worked with Mradhon Vis. Towering, huge-chested, and very quick. Uncommunicative.

Stecho

Hawkmask. He was stabbed on the street because he wasn't on Tempus' side, or someone's.

Blue Diamond

?Female? - a known associate of the Hawkmasks, this secretive crimelord is said to be behind their recent revitalisation. She marks areas under her protection with a painted blue diamond. She has never been sighted or identified. Rumours say she might be Chenaya, Cime, or Daphne. She appears to be a misandrist, and swears by Ils. She is currently said to be Jubal's second-in-command.

Pilf

The Popular Ilsigi Liberation Front, or Pilf, was a philosophical bohemian protest movement based in Silberton dedicated to whinging about the lot of the Ilsigi under Rankene rule. Zip, a gang leader out of Little Ilsig, took this movement and turned it into a revolutionary cadre, preaching and practising freedom for Ilsigi and death to the Rankene occupiers. This anarchist group received funding from Destiny, Caulder, and Ilsig city, as well as support from many locals. Before the city could react to this social disturbance, unrelated rumours of a plague in Summer 2003 brought the city to flashpoint, and the False Plague riots broke out. Tempus took this opportunity to destroy Jubal and his Hawkmasks, leaving a power vacuum. When the dust settled, Zip and the Pilf controlled almost a quarter of Sanctuary, and were a military and social force to be reckoned with. They were designated officials in charge of keeping peace in the city.

In the last two years, the revolution has softened from blood into slogans, as the bureaucracy, the reality of keeping peace and order, the salary payments from the palace, and the shifting of blame for petty problems by the Ilsigi from the Rankene army to the more visible local Pilf officials, have worn down the gang members. The resurgence of the Hawkmasks in recent months have left the position of the Pilf decidedly shaky, as the Bazaar, the Riverside, and other districts return to Hawkmask control. Funding cuts have been threatened, and Zip is spending more time at the palace arguing budgets, further weakening his position as an Ilsigi rebel.

Jing

Ilsigi street kid. One of Zip's young recruits. Companion of Speaklittle. Guards the border of Zip's territory at the edge of the Maze.

Died Autumn 815wk

Speaklittle

Ilsigi street kid. One of Zip's young recruits. Companion of Jing. Guards the border of Zip's territory at the edge of the Maze.

Zip

Bitter young rebel and Sanctuary native. Lover of Kama and leader of the Popular Ilsigi Front for the Liberation of Sanctuary (Pilfs), an anarchist group supported by Roxane's Death Squads and funded by Destinian money. After the False Plague Riots, he and his remaining fighters have been designated as officials responsible for peace in their part of the city. Zip is in his early twenties, has close cropped dark hair and often wears a sweatband around his forehead. He is a pale, scarred boy, slit-eyed and scruffy. He had been orphaned, and grown up hard and hating the Rankenes. With his new responsibilities, he is developing worry lines and a twitch.

Gladiators

While the Gladitorial Arena is closed, the Gladiators still attract a great deal of respect. Fights still occur in the dog pits of the Maze and the Docks. Few of them are staged, but most are fixed to some degree or other.

Anamar

ex-Gladiator Ring Proprietor. A fat stinking man, his piebald head is covered with splotches of white and pink fleshy looking spots. He doesn't shave so where his beard comes in is in the pink parts of his face. You see pock marks all over his face and he has about 10 teeth in his mouth. He stinks of rotten milk. He wears a giant robe to hide his wide girth, but it is barely big enough to fit this massive man. At 5'4 he weights almost 360lbs. His heavy lidded eyes are tight and beady from the fat drooping on his face. He doesn't take to be mocked very well and most people that do end up dead on the spot by some unseen hand. It is rumoured that he used to be a great thief or a mage, no one knows which. He used to handle all of the deals that go on before the prospective gladiators fought. Now he sits at Land's End, morose and withdrawn, bereft of purpose and drive, stinking and quiety rotting in the sun.

Dayrne

Gladiator. Chenaya's companion and trainer. One of the best gladiators Ranke ever produced. A dark-haired, muscled giant possessing great skill and strength.

Dendur

Rankene Gladiator. One of a dozen gladiators who accompanied Lowan Vigeles to Sanctuary.

Died Autumn 816wk

Dismas

Rankene Gladiator. Friend and fellow gladiator of Chenaya. Former-thief-in-partner and lover of Gestus.

Gestus

Gladiator Rankene Friend and fellow gladiator of Chenaya. Ex-thief and partner of Dismas. Resembles his lover with the same sandy hair, close-cropped beards and exaggerated musculature.

Justin of Tycho

Arrived in town in Summer 806. A fit human male in his thirties from Tycho City who is a trained gladiator. He is a friend of Spike of Tycho his travelling buddy. Justin fights with net and spear often to great effect. He is rumoured to be rich. Speaks common very well. Likes and knows of the Guild.

Leyn

Gladiator. Friend and fellow gladiator of Chenaya. A beautiful figure of a man with curly blond hair and classically sculpted body and blue eyes.

Ouijen

Gladiator. Friend and fellow gladiator of Chenaya. A well-built young man with a single long braided lock of dark hair that drapes over his shoulder.

Spike of Tycho

Arrived in town in Summer 806. A fit human male in his thirties from Tycho City who is a skilled trained gladiator. He is a friend of Justin of Tycho his travelling buddy. Spike fights with net and trident more often to great effect. He is rumoured to be rich. Speaks common well. He likes and knows of the Seagate Guild. He is loyal to his friends (Justin).

Others

Charles

An ex mercenary from Bowcourt who arrived in Sanctuary after the Middle Duchies War. After a short stint as a hired sword, he was bodyguard to Sandol the rug dealer. He was involved in quelling the False Plague riots.

Fulcris

Caravan Guard. Guards caravans between Tainsfield and Sanctuary. An honest and brave man of forty-odd years but looks fifty. Not a man to run from overwhelming odds and injury.

Harash and Hakkad

Warrior twin brothers from history (twelve hundred years previous) who were said to have donned the indestructible mail armour and slot-fronted helmets of the sorcerer Hast-ra-kodi. They had marched against the wizard-prince Sterl, but their expedition had disappeared during a storm in the mountains - brothers, armour and 3 thousand men all. Have been summoned as heroes several times.

Jennek

One of six men from Clan Burek (selected for his taste for adventure rather than sense) who hire out as protection.

Died Autumn 815wk

Prism

One of the few women mercenaries. An assassin, magician and utterly ruthless killer. She wears loose black clothing and has a female snake familiar.

Shephard

Mercenary. A figure of considerable mystery. By his panoply he might be an Elven warrior - but all such men have been dead for centuries. An agent of the Elven Gods?

Harlston

A Mercenary, 6'6", burly, armed with Swords, Axe. Known to be wanted by the Mages Guild for something.