Wednesday, April 22, 2020

OSR: The Brotherhood of Broken Chains: Home Guard

[The following is a compilation of a series of documents transcribed by Interrogator-Lord Marwen of Soliko, agent of His Imperium, the Emperor of Joyous Exultation, Lord Marzan's prayers be upon him.  The information contained within should be recognized as the opinions and thoughts of a law-breaker and do not in any way reflect the opinions, thoughts or desires of His Imperium or the agents of the Emperor or his loyal subjects.

All subjects detailed below are considered outlaws and law-breakers under Imperial Law.  All agents of His Imperium, if they encounter one of the individuals below should make all efforts to seize them, so that they may be brought before a Justice of His Imperium to receive due punishment.  Additionally, if any subject of His Imperium possesses the sufficient strength or skill with arms to apprehend one of the criminals, they should be awarded just compensation by an agent of His Imperium.

The Individuals detailed in this specific file are not a natural grouping found in the documents, but organized and sorted by me, the agent of His Imperium.  In the original documents these profiles were scattered among others, with only passing reference to the others.  Additionally it should be noted that these individuals seem to form part of the Brotherhood's leadership caste and are permanently stationed at the Headquarters, wherever that is- consult File I21-b-81-93 for information on the Brotherhood's home base and the possible locations it could have.

For more information, consult File E137-a-2 in the Imperial Archives for more information on the Brotherhood of Broken Chains leadership and supposed history, File E137-b-56 for information on a particularly relevant group of criminals, File E137-f-31 for a look at some of the low-level members of the organization, File I37-b-95 for a group of enemies who could potentially become useful to His Imperium and File E137-g-11 for a group of Traitors acting against the Brotherhood.  So says the agent of His Imperium.
]

                                            by jeinu

Galbax

Cherubs are one of the stranger races in the world.  They are born with two personalities, one Male, the other Female.  These two personalities never truly interact with each other, each one only becoming active when the other is asleep.  So whenever a Cherub lays down to sleep, their opposite 'wakes up' and takes over the body.  I have never tried to verify if these personalities are simply two aspects to the same whole, or if both possess their own souls.  I have not had the interest in doing so.  Regardless of the truth, I do know one thing for sure about Cherubs: one soul always predominates.  The two personalities squabble and compete with each other, until one eventually crushes the other and asserts total control of the body.  Again, as I lack the specific knowledge of a Cherub's internal spiritual landscape, I do not know if the other soul is subsumed into the greater, or if it is forced from the body and sent pre-maturely to the afterlife. 

Enough musings on the subject though- let us, get back to practicalities.  Galbax is a Cherub in my employ, and one of my strongest Brothers.  He is the one who taught me the latter fact about his kindred when he told me the story of how he eventually triumphed over his 'sister', Xalbag, said as "Zal-ba". 

When he was younger, his 'sister' forced him to remain on the island, as I could not trust her to be loyal to me as he was.  To pass the time he would spar with the other Brothers to help them stay sharp who came to the island or go on short missions that wouldn't keep him away forever.  Mostly these missions involved leg-breaking and strong-arming to retrieve small sums of money, hardly worth the effort.  These were mostly attempts by me to ensure that Galbax would get some actual experience, in the hopes that he would one day be useful.  During this process, I discovered that Galbax was not only a terrifying and effective operative, but also that he possessed an incredible talent for the Martial Schools.  Soon, every chance I got I sent him out to fight, while making sure his companions acted as bodyguards to be able to restrain his 'sister' when he was away.  And while this resulted in quite a few Brothers being severely hurt, two even being killed in the process, these opportunities to help Galbax grow were too good to pass up.

For years I feared this was a mistake and it would one day return to haunt me, but then the, according to him at least, the inevitable occurred, and he fully dominated his 'sister'.  Galbax then came into his own as a terrifying force of nature. Galbax led or participated in almost a hundred dangerous missions for me, winning battle after battle.  After a while, he and I both began to think him invincible.  He asked to be sent on missions that could challenge him.  I knew it was folly, but I wanted to test my agent.  So I ordered his superiors to partner him with Brothers far stronger than him and to send him on the most dangerous assignments they could find.  Somehow, Galbax always returned from these in triumph.

This nearly unbroken string of stunning successes continued until Galbax was sent as part of a small team to repossess a certain magical artifact that the King of Ytri mistakenly believed belonged to him.  Galbax made short work of the men the King assigned to guard the door, but unfortunately, he was not the only one who had decided to try and steal the artifact.  To make matters worse, the other thief were actually the members of a Drakencult.  So while they proved no match for Galbax and soon retreated, once Galbax and his team had extricated themselves from the palace, they found themselves snout-to-snout with a full grown Dragon and the remains of the Drakencult.  Needless to say, it was a bloodbath.  Of the Drakencult members, half of them met their end at that night, along with every Brother on that mission, except for Galbax and one very lucky thief.

Galbax was nearly killed, but the Dragon left before confirming that he was dead, allowing the thief to drag him to safety. She managed to get the two of them back to headquarters and the physicians were able to save Galbax.  Since then, I have kept Galbax at Headquarters, making him the combat instructor for new Brothers and those still on the island.  Galbax himself was never quite the same after that defeat, moth mentally and physically.  He still walks with a limp after all these years.      
Weakness: Galbax's weakness is that he cannot resist a battle.  He will fight anyone, even if he knows that they are unworthy of his skills.  If you attempt to fight him, even if you are hopelessly outclassed, he will fight fairly.  He despises cowards though and will show them no mercy.   

[We have long suspected that the Brotherhood's secret headquarters is located on an island, but this confirms it.  I have already tasked my Questioners and several lesser Interrogators in assisting me in ascertaining which island this could be.]

Statblock:


Galbax
HD 6
AC Scale Mail + Shield (Blunt 1d6; Sharp 1d12)
Atk One-Handed Axe (1d6+5)
Mor 14
Saves 13 or less is a success

Journeyman of Woodsman:
- You do not add Quick weapon (flat 1d6) damage to your defense rolls against his Axe attacks
- If his opponent rolls less damage than he did on a defense roll, he can ignore it as if they only rolled a d20

Expert of Unbreaking Art:
- He can splinter his shield
- He can reduce magical damage with his shield
- If you miss on a magical attack roll or he passes his saving throw against your spell, he can throw it back at you

Explosion: When he rolls damage, 1/Day per weapon, he can reroll damage.  If the new sum is lower, he can add it to his initial roll.  If the new sum is higher, he uses that one instead. 

Storm of Steel: 1/Day, he can make 1d20 additional attacks against someone. 

Called Attack: Galbax can, as a free action, declare what attack he is going to make.  If his next attack fits that description, he gets -4 to hit, but on a hit, does an additional +4 damage.

Tactics:
- Try to scare the enemy to frighten away the cowards
- Wait for the enemy to exhaust themselves
- Crush them, one by one, with overwhelming force

Status: Active.  For many years now I have suspected that Galbax is not as damaged as he claims to be.  I believe I may have left him in his position for too long, now he has become part of Headquarter's landscape and worse, I have come to rely on him.  If anyone is in the position to stage a coup, it is him.  As such, I have taken precautions against him.  My spies watch him night and day and my assassins stand at the ready.  If he moves, I will know it, and they will be sent in.  Not that I expect my assassins to succeed- but they should at least buy me enough time to implement my real plan.

                                         by TheEmpa

Uyvarn [You-var] of House Optrei

Uyvarn is a mercurial creature and a seemingly unreliable weapon.  He has a reputation for being incredibly prickly and vain, spending much of time meditating and admiring himself in the crystal pond up in the hills.  No one dares use the pond for swimming while he is there, unless they have developed a sudden contempt for their limbs.  Uyvarn is one of those Brothers that strikes terror into the hearts of his comrades, because to him, they are worthless.  He places no special consideration on the lives of those he considers beneath him, which is a very, very long list.  As such, he has no problem injuring or killing Brothers who interfere with his plans, though he has refrained from killing any of them in a while, due to some gentle coaxking on my part.

He wasn't always like this.  Once, Uyvarn was but a humble warrior with nothing but a chipped blade and a massive chip on his shoulder.  He was resentful and was already well on his way to hating most creatures.  I had him trained and took pains to groom him personally, feeding his ego and sculpting him so that his sense of self, as well as his value, were built squarely on his skill with a sword.  This made him pour endless hours into training, practicing endlessly.  The sword was his life was the message I sought to teach him, and he took it to heart.  When he was younger, this made him an excellent, if crude assassin.  He was fairly incompetent at everything else, but his swordplay, it made my soul sing to see him kill.

That was years ago.  Now, having reached what he believes to be the pinnacle of the Art, Uyvarn has become increasingly unreliable.  He believes himself a Grandmaster, with nothing more to learn.  And while I am sure I could dissuade him of this, I am content to allow him to wander the hills around headquarters, striking down those who disturb his meditation.  This makes the upper hills and their many caves an easy hiding spot for treasures and other things I do not wish the others discovering, as while he does attack those who enter his territory, he makes an exception for me and the other pillars.  He can be coaxed to leave his territory occasionally to take a mission, but he will only do so if he feels it worthy of him.

Weakness: Uyvarn's weakness is his pride, which is massive and swollen. 

Statblock:

Uyvarn of House Optrei
HD 5
AC Martial Gi (Blunt 1d6)
Atk Two-handed curved sword (1d6+4)
Mor 17
Saves 12 or less is a success

Master of Cutting:
- He can cut through armor
- He can cut through weapons
- He can strike an enemy as if their weapon wasn't there
- He can cut through almost anything, even enchanted or superhardened objects

Explosion: When he rolls damage, 1/Day per weapon, he can reroll damage.  If the new sum is lower, he can add it to his initial roll.  If the new sum is higher, he uses that one instead. 

Storm of Steel: 1/Day, he can make 1d20 additional attacks against someone.

Status: Largely Inactive.  Uyvarn is increasingly hard to coax from his territory.  This does not concern me though.  As long as Galbax remains at headquarters and a threat to me, I will keep Uyvarn close by.  I am certain that Uyvarn is aware of Galbax and that he views the Cherub as a potential challenger.  If Galbax does make an attempt to take my throne, I will encourage Uyvarn to defend his spot at the top of the world as the greatest warrior in the Brotherhood.  Regardless of how it goes, I think the results will be most interesting. 

                                          from Magic: The Gathering

Kuzraine Acoros XIV

Kuzraine Acoros is my instructor in the Magical Arts.  He is responsible for training those Brothers with the talent for sorcery who need further instruction.  In the past, I used to assist with this matter personally, but eventually this came to be an unnecessary role for me, once Acoros was recruited. 

The first thing I should mention about this Acoros is not the one initially recruited all those years ago.  That was the first Kuzraine Acoros, who came to the area where my headquarters is located by accident.  He did not know the land he had come to, but he proved to be an eager recruit.  At first, he was only a student of Sorcery, but this Brackle nature enabled him to quickly absorb the basis of sorcery.  From there, he began training himself in advanced techniques.  Unfortunately, there was a catch.  Brackles, as anyone knows, live only for a year.  So Acoros wanted to leave to spread his seeds, but I could not permit this.  I had come to rely on him to help me teach the other Magic-Users at my improvised Wizard monastery, and there was no one who could replace him. 

So I came up with a compromise- he would instead plant some of his seeds in areas I would designate for him nearby, then he could give me his seeds.  An agent of mine would then scatter these seeds far and wide, leaving him free to continue teaching.  Acoros agreed to these terms and continued his work.  He was, of course, unaware of the fact that most of the seeds he gave me I destroyed.  I could not allow any of his offspring not under my control to live, since Brackle offspring usually inherit some memories from their parents.  Some I keep preserved, locked in time through magic, but most were placed into the kiln then discarded. 

Acoros died that winter, as all Brackle do.  But when Spring came, his offspring crawled their way out of the dirt and I set about tutoring them.  Once prepared, they took their positions within my organization once more.  Since that first generation, a Kuzraine Acoros has always led the Wizarding College located at Headquarters.  Other lesser Magi and Sages assist him, occasionally along with others born of his generation.  I have come to rely immensely on my Brackles to train Magi for my organization.  This is one of the critical vulnerabilities of my organization, one I plan on correcting.  So far, all attempts to do so have met with mixed results, but I am confident I am approaching a solution.  It is imprudent to place all one's eggs in one baskets, or all the flowers in one vase.   

Weakness: Acoros knows he is the 14th to serve me and thus, does not really believe he can die.  He views himself as a continuum of beings, each one being "him".  Thus, this current incarnation does not concern him any more than any of the others.  I suspect this an ideological snare Acoros has managed to catch himself in, as he has not truly been in real danger except for a handful of times.  I suspect if faced with true death, he would reconsider, but until then, he has a reckless disregard for his own safety.  Attempts to teach him caution have largely failed.  

Statblock:


Kuzraine Acoros
HD 4 
AC none 
Atk
Mor 9   
Saves 10 or less is a success

Spellcasting: Kuzraine Acoros has 4 spellcasting dice and 3 spells prepared.  His spellcasting dice burn out on a 5 or 6.  The spells he has prepared are Dynamic Entry, Prismatic Defense, Prismatic Ray and Stardust.  He also knows the spells Anti-Gravity, Center of the World, Force of Personality, Light, Lucky.

Chaos: If Kuzraine Acoros casts a spell with 2 or more spellcasting dice, he has a 1-in-6 chance of invoking Chaos.  If he does invoke Chaos, roll on the table below.

Chaos of the Instructor
1d6

1- You lose a spellcasting die.
2- One of your spells randomly casts itself.  The Target is random.  Area of effect spells are centered on a random person.
3- One of your prepared spells slips out your ear and flies away.  After 1d6 hours, save.  On a success, the spell returns to your spellbook.  On a failure, it is gone forever.
4- The next spell you cast will be cast as a level four spell automatically, unless you do not have four spellcasting dice, in which case it will be as many as you have.  You know this.  If you wait 1d12 hours, the power will drain out of you, and you can cast it at whatever level you choose.
5- Your spellbook becomes unintelligible to you.  You cannot prepare new spells for the next 1d12 hours.
6- One random flammable object you have in your possession suddenly catches fire.

Tactics:
- Cast Prismatic Defense on Self
- Then follow up with Prismatic Ray
- Use Stardust on anyone who gets close

Status: Active.  I keep Acoros busy at Headquarters, training the various Magi under my command.  I suspect this is where he will stay, unless something drastic changes.   

                                                      by joeshawcross

Trita of Yangulos

Trita is an operative I hold near and dear to my heart.  As such, I wish to clarify some things, if only to myself.  The child is not mine, I made sure of it.  Trita never promised herself too me, she even seemed to enjoy trying to get a rise out of me.  She was not a woman any sensible man would keep by his side, utterly unfit for marriage.  My dalliance with her was a mistake, one of the few I have ever made.  Still, if it keeps her loyal, it will not have been a complete loss.

My history with Trita began many years ago.  She was a lesser Noble from some relatively unimportant city-state, acting as the assistant for a petty King who barely maintained control over the squabbling cults, commercial guilds and martial orders that bickered and sought to curry favor with him.  Trita managed to insert herself into this mess, making herself the King's right hand, meditating between the other factions and him.  Unfortunately, her appetites grew too large.  She sought to make the crown her own, on the misguided belief that she was more suited to it, and that the various factions were more willing to follow her than the current King. 

She miscalculated though as some of her allies revealed themselves to be not as loyal as she had been led to believe.  When a Prophet serving one of the city's many cults, imbued with divine power,  attempted to double-cross her and take the crown for himself, she slew him and plucked the power from his shattered brow.  After that, her palace coup quickly descended into a blood-bath, which enabled the current King to crush the putsch.  She fled from her city and to this day, plots her revenge.

From there, she sought out my organization and began working her way up the ladder.  Noting her successes and obvious potential, I reassigned her so I could keep a better eye on her and observe her training.  She proved to be an able Brother with all the necessary skills, she was an agile liar, a slick operator and a tough fighter.  She also possessed a great deal of social acumen and personal charisma.  While her long tongue got her into trouble, it also helped her to escape it just as frequently.  It was during this time that she began expressing interest in pursuing me romantically.  When she learned I was also an Orzane, it must have been impossible to resist.  I allowed her to talk me into it and we began meeting in secret.  However, I soon realized the depths of her hunger and broke off our relationship.  Laying next to that woman is like laying down in a Griffin's nest.

Since then, rumors have swirled about not only our relationship, but the child she gave birth to less than a year later.  I have not bothered to deny the rumors, but instead spread other, wilder rumors.  Still, they are irritating.  The rumors only intensified when Trita was granted a permanent position at my headquarters, that of head torturer.  However, this was only because of her unique qualities.  Not only is Trita skilled with the knife and the bullwhip, but she also possesses certain abilities that make her job much easier.  And while I don't trust her, Trita has proven to be quite efficient at ripping information from the skulls of my enemies. 

Still, she represents a definite threat to me.  I have kept her in her position for so long not only because of her effectiveness, but also because it enables my spies to keep an eye on her.  I also have plans to replace her, should it become necessary.  If Trita displays any disloyalty I will have to show her that she is not as irreplaceable she thinks.  

Weakness: Trita's appetites grow with her success.  A success leads her to expand her reach and her desires.  The more she achieves, the more she thinks she can obtain for herself.  She always overreaches.   

Statblock:

Trita of Yangulos
HD 4
AC Breastplate (Sharp 1d6)
Atk Spear (1d6+3)
Mor 14
Saves 11 or less

Bearer of the Word "SPEAK": Trita of Yangulos bears the ability that when she speaks the Secret Name of God she carries, she can grant either the ability of speech to non-sentient creatures or inanimate objects, or she can compel someone to break their silence and speak.  She can only do this every 1d4 rounds.

Tactics:
- Avoid combat if possible
- Let others take the risks
- Always look out for yourself

Status:
Active.  Trita is currently working in HQ, working to interrogate prisoners and extract vital information for my operations.  She is close to a source of information, which is regrettable, but this also isolates her from the planning process.  For all her potential power, she has been forced into a position that denies her any leverage.  When she fully realizes this, I imagine she will immediately begin scheming to try and change her circumstances.  When she does this, I hope she does not do anything foolish.  It would be a shame to have to replace her. 

                                             source unknown

[This document was found with the others, along with some grisly souvenirs, a severed head and a pair of hands, placed in a clay pot and preserved in rum.]

Fast Eli Etrik


You blustering idiots.  You must have thought yourself so clever, selecting a Hoba.  Who would think such a creature, small and unimposing, would be tasked with a task so monumental.  You even selected one from a tribe near where I have told you my ancestral home was.  Yet for all your introspection, you failed to remember that Hoba have a reputation for being thieves and sneaks! 

I feel nothing but pity for Eli, spy and infiltrator though he was.  You sent him in alone, with little to no back-up, to find and lead you to me.  His blood is on your heads, for you sent him to die.  To think that you blunderers could out-deceive me, the enemy of all your "truths", it's sheer hubris.  I hope you all drown in the blood of the men you have let die, from the spies you have sent against me to the countless innocents you have put to death.  But at the same time, I hope you don't, so I can kill you myself!

I wonder which of you blithering fools sent Eli to try and find out where my Headquarters was.  Is it Torquek?  Or Baliz?  Or perhaps Uljan?  No matter I suppose.  I'll find out soon enough.  And when I do, I'll make sure that the fool who sent Eli to me suffers the same fate as him.  That is my oath to you, the slaves of that illegitimate bully you call your Emperor. 

Status:
Dead.  Fast Eli is dead, slain indirectly at the judgement of the Orzanian Empire.  May he rest with his ancestors.

[This current operation is a failure.  With the dead of Eli Etrik, the last of our infiltrators has been detected and destroyed.  I suspect this will be the last cache we will find from our operative, unless he has managed to copy and conceal others before his passing.  May he find rest in the world beyond and may the Gods bless his clan for his heroism.]

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