![Kuro](http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa87/MoxIllusion/SteamKuro_zps8fcb7c25.png "Kuro")

**Kuro**
> "Death is always taking life from the living for nothing. I would prefer to employ death and get something back in trade, than to be waylaid by it."


**Age:** 33

**Archtype:** Ruthless Tactician

###**Guild Band - The Derecho Riders:** 

The Derecho Riders are the grim and gritty bunch of the Guild, known for their cunning and resourcefulness. The band is filled with war veterans, assassins, blackguards, and highwaymen - they are the frowned upon cravens of the guild. Battle-hardened, experienced, and useful - but they carry a degree of depravity not seen in other bands.

###**Backstory:** 

Kuro was born in the Western City-States with a Western mother and a Kusagi father, who worked as an engineer for a mercantile settlement. Even three decades past, none of the regional religions got along. When Kuro was eight, his father and the entire settlement were pressed as war-laborers by Aerist crusaders - though his father had hoped for Kuro to follow in his footsteps, the boy's education in engineering was limited under duress to the production of firearms, ammunition, and weaponry. He toiled as an apprentice for four years, before being taken when he turned twelve to fight for the Aerist gospel. He was given rudimentary training with a spear and steam rifle by crusaders while being instilled by the wisdom and knowledge of their teachings, though ultimately they proved insufficient to prevent the utter defeat of the crusaders at the hands of the Chrastolist townhood they had attempted to sack. Kuro was spared however, and immediately recruited into the town militia. He was further training with the same steam rifle he had been given by the Aerists, and was then chastised and reeducated 'correctly' to acknowledge the truths of Chrastolism. The prayers of the town proved insufficient protection against the plague, however, and Kuro then found himself stranded on the road. He spent his entire adolescence as a camp follower and freerider, tagging along in the wake of armies and militant bands in order to earn board and shelter. He was trained to wield almost every weapon under the sun, received education from nearly every obscure religious order and sect, and was forced to do all manner of depraved acts in order to be accepted and survive. 

As a young man of 19, Kuro had earned a reputation amongst freeriders throughout the western city-states. Multi-talented, and so desperate that he would work for bread and water. While this initially earned him steadier work, he was eventually pronounced a turncloak - having fought for literally every single army and band that had fought in a major skirmish for the past seven years. Shunned and threatened by every freerider group he attempted to join, Kuro was forced to resort to banditry. He managed to survive for two years, robbing others only for enough to survive - which spared him the infamy of other highwaymen, allowing him to dwell amongst townships and villages without fear of grisly execution. When he turned 22, Kuro joined up with a band of highway cutthroats; using his experience he quickly found himself looked up to and established as their leader. Within another year, the cutthroats had been elevated into a professional skirmisher force, and Kuro made his living for the next six years attacking large merchant convoys and caravans in highly organized and carefully prepared ambuscades.

Kuro gained significant notoriety amongst the city-states during this time. Everywhere, freeriders, mercenaries, crusaders, guards, and even the vaunted Adventurer's Guild scoured the region for any trace of him and his crew of robbers - but his group remained elusive due to his careful planning and movements across the countryside. However, eventually he angered too many of the wrong people, and drew the attention of the Derecho Riders from the Adventurer's guild, rather than one of their more preeminent bands. His gang of robbers was quickly tracked down and ruthlessly worn down by attrition, beaten at their own game by the very best scoundrels in the West. Having been impressed by Kuro's tenacity and resistance to their own efforts though, the Riders offered Kuro either membership in the adventurer's guild and a chance at reformation and redemption for his life of depravity, or immediate, unceremonious live burial.

Kuro has been a member of the Derecho Riders ever since, having risen in the five years since his joining to become one of their most promising junior lieutenants. His diverse skills and hardened temperament earned him many friends over those short years, and he is possessed of some renown within the Derecho Riders for his tenacity and guile.

###**Skills and Abilities:**

**Tactical Guile:** Kuro is experienced in leading soldiers and warriors into combat, making the best possible use of their skills, equipment, positioning, and maneuverability. This skill is limited largely to relatively small groups - Kuro is most effective when leading ambushes, guerrilla strikes, or planning for asymmetrical battles.

**Scales of War:** Kuro has built his career upon entirely unfair, one-sided fights stacked grossly in his own favor. Kuro uses and does whatever works, questionable ethics and honor be damned - his idea of a 'fair fight' is one where he grinds the enemy into dust effortlessly, and he goes out of his way to stack the deck in his favor with any and every sort of underhanded tactic and ploy. Anything is acceptable, in order to secure victory.

**Materiel Guru:** Kuro is familiar with the construction and design of a large number of modern weapons. He can clean, disassemble, reassemble, maintain, and even build nearly any kind of steam, black powder, or mechanical weapon intended for use by infantry (pistols, rifles, etc).

**Silent Struggle:** Kuro is well aware of the value of stealth upon the battlefield. He can walk and run silently, and knows how to make good use of his surroundings for concealment purposes.

**Ineffable Grace:** More than a decade and a half of battlefield expertise has gifted Kuro with a general, heightened awareness of his surroundings. His vision and hearing are much sharper than average, and he has an uncanny sense that he can use to detect unseen foes and threats.

###**Equipment:**

At any time, Kuro carries anywhere between four and twelve revolvers, holstered inside specially made holsters sewn into the inside of his coat. Each pistol tends to vary and design, and never stays with him longer than a few skirmishes, as Kuro is always dismantling, discarding, assembling, and 'procuring' pistols between fights. He also habitually carries three to four billow canisters (filled with condensed steam, released slowly in order to create heavy fog), two black powder grenades, three knives, a pair of brass knuckles (actually steel) and two lighters. All of Kuro's equipment is kept in specially made holsters or bandoleer pouches made to keep items secure and reduce the noise they make when Kuro moves. Kuro wears a long black overcoat with numerous sewn-in holsters and a large number of interior pockets. Finally, he wears thick, tied ringmail curiass and leggings underneath his clothes. They individual chains are strong enough to deflect a bullet, although they would likely still break from the impact, and with gaps between each ring. However, the mail provides superior protection against most slashing and piercing melee weapons while remaining extremely lightweight.