[hider=Orc Mercenaries (WIP)]
[h1][color=#161616][center]The Black Tusks[/center][/color][/h1]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Sp7JW0Z.png[/img][/center]
[h3][color=#FA9D55]Brief Description & Tier:[/color][/h3]
Tier 2. An Orcish mercenary company recently landed, led by the general Gultar the Stick.
[h3][color=#411900]Ambition:[/color][/h3]
To make coin and advance the position of all Orkin on Evorin.
[h3]Government Type:[/h3]
A mercenary company led by a General. The civilian communities that exist within their estates are governed autonomously, from the human villages to goblin hidings.
[h3][color=#f8c7d0]Claim:[/color][/h3]
A castle, castletown, and surrounding hinterland completely within the borders of Clemento.
[color=#D4A017][h3]History:[/h3][/color]
The Orkin were first born from the hellrot and bog-rocks of Malor's Fleshforge. Malor was a dark wizard and warlord who sought to bring himself to the immortal status of a Primarch, and he would be the Primarch Upheaval. So, he created a hellish army of various shapes and sizes to aid them.

The original Orkin were all male, meant only to be formed in the Fleshforge. They were mindless, cruel, and savage. And while Malor was winning, they were pretty fucking awesome.

The problem came when Malor started losing. He was masterminding everything, and he had an army of mindless beasts, and when he lost them, he had to go all the way back to the Fleshforge and make some more. Wildly inconvenient.

So, he made the Orkin 2.0...some of them had vaginas. And they were all sorts of sizes and shapes. Goblins, the little ones, Orcs, the mid-size ones, and Ogres, who were quite large. They were also a lot smarter than the previous Orkin...he could rely on them for logistical planning, and industry. Working the Fleshforge if needed. And, in the long term, they'd be capable of procreating.

Well, as it turns out, there wouldn't be a long term. The heroes of Megalia unified together under a white wizard and yada yada yada, the flesh forge was destroyed by moss and unicorn tears or whatever shmaltzy nonsense. Also, there was an Orkin mutiny. Yeah, as it turns out, when you give a race of people sentient thought, they start thinking they deserve things. Like salaries, and land, and to not literally thrown into a meat grinder of griffon-riding dog crusaders.

So Malor was defeated, and peace reigned forever more and stuff. That was about 800 years ago.

But the Orkin remained. And they bred. Started families. And they had to adapt. So, if all you were was a roving army, and all your levels of organization are to be a roving army, what do you do? Keep on keepin' on, friend. The Orkin turned to a mix of banditry and mercenary work. The Goblins founded the Hideways, placing invisible communites called Hidings all around the Farwest. Ogres isolated themselves in the far reaches of the wilderness. But Orcs were all bandits and mercenaries.

And that's persisted through today.

Thing is, just like Malor before them, the people who hire Orkin mercenary bands don't tend to...treat them very well. They treat them as disposable, and, without any large institutions to back them up, often are underpayed and underserved. And now, in Evorin, with all these constant wars between rich dudes who mostly just hire mercenaries, it's getting worse than ever.

Gultar isn't from Evorin. He's from Galia, in fact. He was 'Fleshforged' as it were-yeah, it's used as a term now for Orkin born to mercenary parents. And he had all the markings of a great mercenary; big, strong. And large. And very, very strong.

But he was also intelligent, as a child. And deeply perceptive. He saw the world as it was, and as it could be. And the work it would take to move from A to B. And work he did.

First in Evorin, gallivanting around in an Orkin mercenary company. He realized very quickly how sought after the companies were who managed to gather all Orkin groups under their banner...Orcs, Goblins, and Ogres. He became an officer within a bigger company, the Black Tusks, so named because of the Old Orcish tradition of mounting boars heads on pikes as banners.

Yeah, they would cut off a boar's head and mount it on a pike...however rotten the head became would show the merit and age of the company. It was at a time when, well...we talked about how disposable Orcish merc companies tended to be seen. The meat grinder. But the Black Tusks refers to the end goal. When the tusks of the boar are so rotted out that they've gone completely black. A sort of company immortality.

Anyways, he became an officer. He started reforming Orcish tactics, building a training regimen...a regimen so rigorous he became known as "The Stick". And then he left. For Lakhmia, where he would become a REAL officer, in a REAL army. Still leading Orkin, but as a professional soldier.

The Captain of the Black Tusks died, a few years ago. He sent out for Gultar to come back from Lakhmia and succeed him. Gultar the Stick accepted.

Upon his return, he announced a radical change...there would be a massive expansion, and he would not be a Captain. He would be a General, with multiple captains underneath him. The Black Tusks grew, and grew, their profit margins straining the cost of the massive army of Goblins, and Orcs, and Ogres. Not to mention his supreme standard for equipment, itself standardized to maintain the look of a professional army. Nobody knew exactly what he was playing at. What they did know was that clients were playing higher premiums for the Black Tusks, and mortality rates of Orkin soldiers was going down.

And then the empire of Serravun invaded the tiny state of Clemento. They almost beat them, too. Clemento offered massive coffers to the Tusks to come and save them. And Gultar agreed, with a caveat-they wouldn't be paid in gold, but in land. Castle Virno.

The Black Tusks beat Serravun only a few months ago. Now, they control Castle Virno and its surrounding hinterland. They bear a promise to Clemento...they need not pay taxes to the city-state, but if Serravun ever invades again, the Tusks will be ready.

[color=#161616][h3]Military:[/h3][/color]

[b]S TIER - Melee Infantry:[/b] The pride and joy of Gultar's army is his infantry line. Disciplined, durable, and fierce, he has trained his Orcs and Goblins to a point of indisputable prowess.
[hider=Orcish Shieldbearer]
The bread and butter of any orcish army, Gultar himself served as a Shieldbearer before becoming a general. They're good allrounders, meant to accomplish the bulk of melee combat, pushing forward after the pikes in front of them take an initial charge. Their heavy cleavers are able to chop into the weaker points of a suit of plate, and drive dents into the stronger parts.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/YZkRPxl.png[/img]
[/hider]
[hider=Orcish Glaivemaster]
Skilled and versatile, Glaivemasters wield a variety of polearms to combine reach and powerful heft. While Gultar primarily uses them to defend his flank, they may also be found in a line behind shieldbearers, stabbing in between the column in front of them.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/FTqkYL5.png[/img]
[/hider]
[hider=Goblin Pikes]
Small and fearless, walls of pikes jut out at the center of Gultar's formation, forming an impassible wall to absorb any charges to the front.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/YdfVoKT.png[/img]
[/hider]
[b]S TIER - Shock:[/b] A mix of ogres, battle boars, and goblin guerrilla units, Gultar uses his shock troops to drive apart enemy formations with ease. A terrifying sight to behold.
[hider=Battle Boar]
Huge, hideous creatures, battle boars are the result of hundreds of years of breeding and cursing, causing them to be gigantic and aggressive. They are sent in advance of a charge, heavily plated, to draw fire and cause chaos in an enemy's rank. They are also used in wars of attrition, set loose upon enemy fields to ravage their food supply.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/c1AYzII.jpeg[/img]
[/hider]
[hider=Ogre]
Ogres are gigantic and even more powerful than their frame would suggest. They carry large clubs to smash apart enemy positions, and throw cannon shot to weaken enemy lines. They are used for two primary purposes: one, to strengthen a defensive line and batter down oncoming troops. Two, offensively, to break down an enemy formation before the main infantry onslaught.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/eh0Ozqs.png[/img]
[/hider]
[hider=Goblin Ruffians]
Ruffians are vicious guerilla units, using a mix of melee weapons, ranged bows and crossbows, and magic to move behind enemy lines. Aside from their potential in wars of attrition, Gultar relies on them for easy flanking, and, when needed, to take out enemy artillery positions. They exceed in illusion magic, as well as in conjuring pestilence and fog to disrupt enemy lines.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/oQwaUTh.jpeg[/img]
[/hider]
[b]B TIER - Ranged:[/b] While the bulk of the Black Tusks' power comes from their skill in melee, ranged infantry has by no means gone ignored. When engaging in standard pike-and-shot, Gultar makes sure that his own ranged troops are capable enough to hold their own before drawing the enemy into close quarters.
[hider=Orcish Arquebusiers]
As firearms grow more popular in the land of Evorin, Gultar has begun training his troops in their use. Arquebusier units are especially useful when firing from the flank, or when suppressing an oncoming charge.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/Vc6AsR1.png[/img]
[/hider]
[hider=Orcish Crossbow]
Often the most novice Orcs in his army, crossbows are the first weapons new recruits are trained on before they're trusted to hold a melee line.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ETvmowF.png[/img]
[/hider]
[b]C TIER - Cavalry:[/b] Gultar's not super into the Warg Riders. But he keeps them around!
[hider=Warg Riders]
While Warg Riders are a traditional aspect of the Orkin armies, Wargs, though ferocious and bloodthirsty, are unwieldy and hard to control, making charge cycling hard. Gultar still uses them in limited numbers, mounted with riders wielding glaives and two-handed choppers, reserving them for flanking maneuvers and for charging down fleeing enemies.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/ASZiLhx.png[/img]
[/hider]
[b]F TIER - Artillery:[/b] Being a mercenary company only recently recieving land, the Black Tusks have been used to being a part of a much larger army, ones in which artillery was provided by someone else. Artillery is heavy and slow moving, and so up until now has been completely eschewed from Gultar's focus.
[b]F TIER - Navy:[/b] They ain't got no water!

[color=#FA9D55][h3]Demographics:[/h3][/color]
The Tusks themselves are all Orkin; a motley mix of Orcs, Ogres, and Goblins. There are multiple Goblin Hidings, or communities, hidden throughout their claim, including a large one right underneath Castle Virno.

The countryside of Virno, meanwhile, presents the same demographics as the Clementian countryside surrounding it...largely human with a mix of others. There is a definite Gorgon community as well.
[color=#411900][h3]Agents:[/h3][/color]
[b]Gultar the Stick, Level 2 General, Level 1 Champion:[/b]
[b]Zurug Graveswing, Level 1 Champion:[/b]
[h3]Estates:[/h3]
[b]Castle Virno, Level 1 Fortress:[/b]
[b]Virno Countryside, Level 1 Settlement, Hinterland:[/b]
[b]Virno Steeltunnel, Level 1 Workshop, Smithy:[/b]
[h3]Forces[/h3]
[b]The Black Tusks[/b]
Army, Size 5. Location: Castle Virno. Embedded: Gultar & Zurug
[b]Virno Garrison[/b]
Garrison, Size 1. Location: Castle Virno.
[color=#f8c7d0][h3]Relations:[/h3][/color]
[b]Clemento:[/b] Hesitant alliance. A loose relation of vassalage and patronage. Gultar's thrown the weight of the Tusks behind Clementian independence, and now seeks political influence in the thalassocracy to make good on that investment.
[b]Serravun:[/b] Wary and defensive. No bad blood in business but...there was a whole lot of dwarven blood, and Gultar's not expecting that to be forgotten anytime soon.
[/hider]