[b]The Tricrescent[/b] [hider=My Hider] [center][IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/6sghf8.png[/IMG][/center] The Tricrescent assassination unit is the remnant of the ancient and much bigger organization which was destroyed in the incident between Drow and a certain surface kingdom. The Crimson Crescent, that was the name of the organization, was a powerful assassin’s guild which trained orphaned Drow children to become messengers of death in the name of the Drow dominion. The training and initiation tests were excruciating so many children died before they ever got a chance to receive their first mission, but this only ensured that the ones who remained were the best of the best. The three children who would eventually become the Tricrescent were accepted into training after their family was forced to give them away in order to repay a debt incurred upon them by their failed attempt at Drow politics. They were siblings and as such the grandmasters of the guild decided to train them to act as one unit, where each child would cover the weaknesses of other two. This approach showed great results and, if the guild continued to exist, they would probably have risen to great fame and influence in the Drow society. Alas, some twenty years ago, the Drow attempted a raid on a surface kingdom. They used the Crimson Crescent to locate and eliminate all the influential people in the capital so that once the main force’s offensive began the kingdom would be unable to defend due to chaos. This approach might’ve worked if the party of powerful adventurers wasn’t in the capital at that time. The adventurers managed not only to prevent the deaths of most important targets of the Crimson Crescent, but found a way to reach the realms of Drow and the surface kingdom began to counterstrike. After a period of bitter fighting the adventurers managed to slay the Drow princess who organized and led the assault on the surface kingdom. The other Drow, deciding to cut their losses, blamed the entire incident on that noble and the Crimson Crescent, allowing the guild to be destroyed by the adventurers as a “gift” of reconciliation. Most assassins were killed and few that survived were banished from Drow dominion. The three siblings were among the survivors. With the destruction of the guild and their banishment the three not only lost any chance at gaining status among Drow, but they also lost the only place they could call home. With rage seething inside them the three swore revenge against the adventurers responsible for their guild’s destruction. They’ll use every skill taught to them by the masters of the Crimson Crescent to find and kill each adventurer, one by one, until there’s none left. They named their unit “the Tricrescent” as a reminder of their roots. Don’t misunderstand, though. The three don’t seek revenge for some sentimental reason such as “to avenge fallen comrades”. No, they want to make a show of their strength. If they eliminate the party which the whole guild couldn’t their fame would spread throughout the world, and not only Drow, but powerful people in every nation in the world would seek their skill. For years, the Tricrescent has been hunting down the adventurers. They also did assassinations on the side for money. Now, their revenge is nearly complete and their fame is already beginning to spread far and wide. Ivan Tanner, the last surviving member of the heroic party of adventurers, is in the city of Berlena. Just one more piece and the first great mission of the Tricrescent will be complete. [b]Khoros Undarsal[/b] [hider=My Hider] The oldest sibling, Khoros is ruthlessly pragmatic. He is both the brain and the brawn of the trio, the one who evaluates and accepts contracts, concocts plans for assassinations and makes sure that the younger, mentally unstable siblings don’t do something that all three would regret. Khoros is ready to trample over anything and anyone to achieve his goals. No promise is too sacred, no bond too great. None, that is, except for the blood bong to his siblings, for which he’d go the end of the world to save. Tall and muscular, Khoros possesses what you’d call a stereotypical fighter’s appearance. He keeps his hair trimmed short and has a scar going from his left ear across his cheek to the left edge of his mouth. His face rarely shows emotions and when it does it looks like he’s just badly imitating something he saw others do. He speaks calmly with an icy voice which he never raises unless there’s practical need to (when there is noise in the surroundings, for example, to make sure he’s heard). Khoros is master of melee combat. He’s fond of using sword and shield, but he’s familiar with almost any melee weapon. He’s not above fighting dirty and regularly coats his weapons in various poisons his brother Ivazzu makes. Even weaponless he is not an easy target in close quarters combat as he is proficient in martial arts. His strength and reflexes are excellent, but you wouldn’t really call him a strength-oriented person. [/hider] [b]Yirvene Undarsal[/b] [hider=My Hider] The middle sibling, Yirvene, is, shortly put, a psychopath. Bloodthirsty without limit, she loves to see her victims suffer. Unlike Khoros, who uses poison to end the fight quickly and make sure the target is dead, Yirvene coats her arrows and daggers in poison which would put those afflicted in as much pain as possible. She doesn’t hold affection for anyone, not out of pragmatism, but simply because she is sadistic sociopath. In fact, the only reason she still sticks around her siblings is because their current goals are the same and due to her fear of Khoros. Once Ivan is dead gods only know what she’ll do. Yirvene’s hair is shaped in punk style, with left side of her head clearly shaven while the hair on the right is shoulder length, with few braids. Her bangs, combed rightwards, cover the right side of her face. This is less out of Yirvene’s sense of fashion and more to hide the hideous scar she got after grandmaster spilled hot oil over her as a punishment for insubordination. Yirvene tried to dye her hair, but for some reason the colour didn’t stick and now she only has few purple strands. Her body is athletic, with well shaped muscles. Her emotions are always clear from her behavior. Whether she’s happy or angry, you’ll know it Yirvene is master of bow and arrow and expert with daggers. She also knows few low levels spells to increase accuracy and deadliness of her arrows, as well as to improve her ability to hide. She is also the best of the three at stealth and larceny. Lastly, she’s the group’s torturer, a position she is immensely proud of. [/hider] [b]Ivazzu Undarsal [/b] [hider=My Hider] Due to the constant bullying and abuse at the hands of Yirvene, the youngest sibling Ivazzu grew to be shy and introverted. However he also developed an irrational drive for self-preservation which manifests when he feels threatened. He will start acting crazy and grow violent against the object of his fears to the point of forsaking all other goals. This makes him the least predictable out of all three siblings and often Khoros had to re-think his plans due to Ivazzu’s outbursts messing them up. When he isn’t suffering one of his episodes, Ivazzu likes to read books and play with his pet rat Kovot, whom he considers his best and only friend. At first glance thin and weak due to always keeping his head down and avoiding contact with others, Ivazzu’s body is actually quite athletic and sufficiently fit for anything his job as an assassin might demand him to do. His hair is long and unkept. His body is covered in tattoos painted with special magic-infused ink which boosts the power of his spells. When he speaks it is in a low tone and he often stutters, unless he is suffering one of his episodes when he becomes loud and speaks fluidly. Ivazzu is a necromancer, though he is less concerned with raising the dead and speaking to ghost, and is more adept at creating magical diseases, inflicting wounds upon enemies, weakening them and using the life-force from their blood to heal himself and his allies. Aside from magic Ivazzu is good with alchemy and he regularly concocts poisons and explosives for his siblings to use. He is also good at handling animals. [/hider] [/hider] [b]The Hakapel[/b] [hider=My Hider] [center][IMG]http://i58.tinypic.com/21dkegi.jpg[/IMG][/center] Anyone familiar with the wars on the island of Naroe has probably noticed that one name keeps coming up in the records of various armies: “The Hakapel”, a military unit numbering between 700 to 1200 cavalrymen infamous for the destruction and terror they bring to any battlefield they join. What makes this company stand out in the sea of other irregular military formations is that the Hakapel aren’t mercenaries and instead they join battles on the losing side and strive to turn the tables around and bring as much havoc to the enemy as possible (though it should be mentioned that they show little regard for their “allies” as well). Thanks to them, many a military commander gives considerably more thought on whether to engage in battle than their counterparts in other parts of the world, as there’s always a chance that the Hakapel will appear and mess up their plans. What is unknown to many is that soldiers of the Hakapel are all undead. Zombies, skeletons, ghouls, vampires make up the rank and file of this cavalry regiment. Their leader introduces himself to mortals simply as “Namulos” and he holds all other soldiers under his thrall. This undead unit requires constant influx of blood, flesh and negative emotions to sustain themselves, which is why they constantly travel from one battlefield to another. To be honest, though, the Hakapel don’t bring destruction and carnage because they need to. They do it because they love it. At least Namulos does and his desires are the only ones which matter. [b]History[/b] [hider=My Hider] Records of the Hakapel stretch back for centuries. They have been the reality on battlefield for so long generals make plans built on the possibility of the Hakapel’s arrival. However, few people have any idea about the origins of this company. Some are aware that they come from the old Iron Kingdom which fell to ruins more than three centuries ago, but nobody knows that Namulos is the Iron King himself. The Iron Kingdom is famous even today for its militaristic nature and the love its king had for war, and that love the Iron King carried with him to his deathbed when the old age and illness were threatening to end his long and bloody military career. While he could still hold the sword in his hand and charge into enemy, the Iron King decided for one last war. He purposely made offenses which would anger all neighboring countries and make them form great coalition against him and then invaded a member of that coalition. What resulted was one of the greatest wars in the history of Naroe, and probably the rest of the world, for although the armies of Iron Kingdom were outnumbered 4 to 1 they were made out of the greatest soldiers of their time. The Iron King fought bitterly for every foot of his kingdom, relishing every drop of blood spilled regardless if it was his or his enemy’s. The War to Break the Iron, name given to the conflict by the future generations, lasted little over seven years. In the end the Iron Kingdom was destroyed and its cities razed. The Iron King himself died in the last defense of his capital, fighting to the end. Unfortunately, the world underestimated the warrior king’s bloodlust. Even dead his desire for battle and carnage haunted his soul. The king rose again, driven by his thirst, and with him rose his elite unit. They followed him blindly into a foolish war while they were alive and now they were cursed to follow him for eternity in their afterlife, bound completely to his will. The newly arisen undead found only ashes were once was their homeland. They were uncertain how much time has passed since their deaths, but the world appeared to have moved on. Unfortunately for the world, the Iron King didn’t. He lived for battle while was alive, but now in death the battle became the sole reason for his existence. To him the undeath was the greatest gift he could ever hope for. No responsibilities of ruling a kingdom, no need to rest or eat or drink. Now, he could fully devote himself to battle and war. He named himself Namulos, “the Rotting King” and his cavalry unit the Hakapel, “Arisen” and has since haunted battlefields of Naroe. [/hider] [b]The Officers[/b] [hider=My Hider] [b]Namulos, the Rotting King[/b] Long hair and beard, broad shoulders, ripped muscles not even death could take away from him and standing at beyond 2.2 meters in height, the Rotting King is an imposing figure. Just one look at him would strike fear in the hearts of his enemies while he was alive, but now that he’s dead he is even more terrifying. He wields huge sword average human would never even think to carry into battle and fights with broad grin on his face, laughing merrily as he partakes in slaughter. Namulos only cares about those capable of providing him with challenge. Everyone else will get crushed under his boots as he charges into the fray. [b]Talwon, the Court Magician[/b] During the days of the Iron Kingdom Talwon was the right hand man of the Iron King. He took care of any affairs related to ruling the kingdom which had nothing to do with war. However, in death his significance to the King fell off considerably. Now that there is no more kingdom to rule and the Hakapel could devote itself to war, the only useful skill Talwon has left is his magic, which is something he is not very pleased with. Talwon dislikes war and hates the fact that he is enthralled to the king as mad as Namulos. Thus, he uses he knowledge of magic to figure out how they were raised from death and how to break the hold the Rotting King holds over the soldiers in Hakapel. [b]Karolm, the Tarnished Knight[/b] Once known as the White Knight, Karolm used to be the mitigating influence on the king. He was the one who worried about the common folk who got caught up in the king’s war and the one who strived to save as many innocents from pointless death as possible. During the War to Break the Iron, he wept as he saw his country ravaged by armies of the coalition. He fought not for the mad king but to defend the people suffering because of his insanity. When the war was lost and he was killed, Karolm had only regrets and those regrets he carried into his undeath. He hates what he’s become and he hopes that one day a mighty warrior will grant him the peace of death. [b]Hundervud, the Immortal Soldier[/b] Both in life and death, others always considered Hundervud to possess same love for war as the Rotting King. Although not entirely false, the reason behind Hundervud pursuit of battle was not in mad bloodthirst but in warrior’s desire to always improve his skill fighting against stronger opponents. Hundervud is the best warrior in the Hakapel, his skill on horseback and on foot unmatched. Unknown to others is the fact that Hundervud is the only member of the Hakapel who isn’t supernaturally bound to the Iron King and follows Namulos out of his own free will. Why does the Rotten King have no sway over his will is unknown to him and considering he has seen no reason to tell others about it, he probably won’t find out the reason any time soon. [b]Fatuh, the Butcher of Rassien[/b] Fatuh is the one person in the Hakapel who is more bloodthirsty than Namulos. While the Rotten King loves war because he enjoys the thrill of battle, Fatuh loves war because he can slaughter people without being held accountable. His title comes from his greatest crime and his greatest personal pride, the massacre of the citizens of Rassien. It is said that ten thousand people died in less than week when Fatuh captured the city and ordered his soldier to kill every man, woman and child they could come across. The atrocities committed that day are too many and too horrid to recount, but suffice to say that Fatuh has not changed at all with death. In fact, you could say that now that his existence depends on spilling blood of others that he embraces carnage with even more enthusiasm than when he was alive. [/hider] [/hider]