Cairo

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Monsters

Arthak

The Arthak Cat

Vicious, massive predators from the Red Desert. The Beastlords keep six of them and use them as warbeasts and mounts - each one is manned by a team of three, one to direct the monster and two to use projectile weapons from its back. Fast and deadly, the Beastlords use them to break infantry lines in rapid assault operations and sow chaos within enemy ranks. They were first tamed back in the days when the Beastlords were an Aelg tribe, and many of the warriors who ride them maintain a religious devotion for their speed and power, often undergoing a strange and secret ritual which they believe bonds the spirits of beast and riders.

Freak Dogs

Freak Dogs

By far the most numerous of the Beastlord's creatures, Freak Dogs are the colloquial name for the Keldren, a mutant creature from the Red Desert. At roughly two and a half feet tall, they are used as the Beastlord's attack dogs, released en mass to harry and demoralize their enemies while the heavier forces move in for the kill. They breed explosively, eat any kind of organic matter, and are only domesticated in the loosest possible sense, having no instincts but to feed, slaughter and reproduce - their handlers have developed a special technique that uses light and sound to overstimulate their senses and temporarily stun them after battles, so they can be returned to their cages.

Warhawks

The first beast tamed by the tribe that would become the Beastlords, the Warhawks are the company's oldest and most beloved allies. Used as mounts, these reptilian creatures are more agile and intelligent than standard cavalry, able to maneuver with greater speed and allowing for the sweeping light cavalry charges that have won the Beastlords so many victories. Every Warhawk is intensely intelligent, bonding with one rider all its life and never allowing another to mount it. Native to the mountains in the Southeast where the Beastlords originally hailed.

Ik-Nai

Massive, several yard long centipedes tamed by the Aboriginal tribe the Beastlords have recently integrated. Frequently used as heavy cavalry deployed on the front lines due to their incredibly thick armor, which is almost impenetrable to conventional arms.

Kur-skresh

Another of the Aboriginal's beasts, the 'wasp cavalry' have proven to be a powerful asset to the Beastlords' army. 200 strong, they serve as a harrying force, either flying over enemy fortifications to attack vulnerable targets, deploying warriors behind enemy lines through the use of fabric 'fall-stoppers', or dropping glass orbs of a powerful Aboriginal toxin onto infantry positions to sow pain and disarray across enemy lines.

Doorbreakers

As part of the transition from bloodthirsty tribe to army, the Beast King Har-Drok has recently purchased two of these great beasts hailing from the Broken Lands to serve as living siege engines. Naturally peaceful by nature, they have to be goaded into a fight through the vigorous application of spears and fire, though when they get going they can break through gates like plywood. Naturally unarmored and very valuable, they are usually kept in reserve and not risked in open combat, only being brought out for their specific purpose.

The Titan

The only one of its kind, The Titan is a giant beast that serves as the personal mount of the Beast King Har-Drok, allowing him to command the battlefield from on high. It was domesticated long ago and has ever served the chieftain of the tribe that was the Beastlords - it is said that only the Beast-King may communicate with it, and that it is as wise as it is ferocious.

That'll do for monsters, for now - let me know if that works. No sandworms yet, but that can always be found later.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

<Snipped quote by Cairo>

I demand giant sandworms (<3 Dune).

If not, I demand that be a quest for the Mad Knight to join in on at some point (The Hunt for the Great Sandworm).

@Sightseer

We can work something out, I'm sure.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

The Beastlords in attendance will be Har-Dok, Garian (A Varynese man who was in the post I put up), Dethani (An Aelg tribeswoman), and Yik-Thra (an Aboriginal who commands the auxiliary force the Beastlords recently integrated).

Still working on the list of monsters the Beastlords have tamed, as well as a more general summation of their force organization. Hopefully will have that up soon.

LANTERN (redux)

Should be able to get something up today.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

I'll probably hold off on posting until the meeting - I might post another story about the Life and Times of the beastie boys, but y'all don't have to wait for it.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

Would anyone involved in the defense of Zar Vorgul like to have a meeting? I figure the captains and leaders of the different companies and armies would come together to co-ordinate at some point.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

I would also be against a Discord - I've seen a lot of RPs sputter and die out as soon as one is introduced, simply because everyone is talking too much about the things that their characters might do or the places the story might go and nobody's actually posting, as well as the fact that the discussion can move so fast that less active people tend to be left behind and drift away from the RP. Just my two cents, though.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

THE BEAST KING

The Beastlords' camp was never quiet. At all hours, the flat section of desert inside the city walls of Zar Vogul that had been cleared of slums and given to the mercenaries to set up in was buzzing with shouts, bellowed orders, the roars and hisses of beasts, drinking songs and the clanking of chains. Today, however, was a particularly noisy day.

A monster was squatting in the ruins of a shredded barracks tent. It resembled a massive cat, as tall as two grown men and as long as three, with thin brown hair well-suited to the desert sun and a row of jagged spines all across its back. Its mouth was filled with teeth like daggers, and wicked blades sprouted from its joints and claws. It was an Arthak Cat, one of the great predators of the Red Desert - on the battlefield, they made for brutally effective instruments of war, blindingly fast and vicious with jaws that could crush through even the toughest armor, capable of carrying three warriors on their backs - one to direct it, two to throw javelins or fire bows. The Beastlords had six of them in their possession, and this specimen was by far the largest and the most ornery. It had been kept in an iron cage until the night before, when some drunken idiot had tried to let it out for a joyride.

Twelve Aelg beasthandlers surrounded it, pulling with all their might on four ropes that had been lassoed around it, while another waved a torch in its face, attempting to herd it into the cage that had been brought up behind it. The cat snarled and snapped at him, pulling the others off their feet or causing them to skid on the barren ground.

"Come on now, keep it steady!" Har-dok shouted, pulling a warrior away from the ropes and taking his position. "We've almost got it back in!" Gradually, the cat stepped backwards away from the fire, and the beasthandlers allowed the ropes to slack. That was an important step - not only so that the beast could move, but so it would know that compliance meant that the pain would stop. Two more steps, and it was inside, still hissing and roaring. "Now, shut it now!"

The handler closest to the cage dropped the rope and bolted over to the lever at the side of the cast-iron behemoth, causing the door to slam shut with a heavy thud, tearing the ropes and causing all the other handlers to stagger back from their own force. The cat roared in defiance, once again trapped.

Panting slightly, Har-dok stepped over to the torchbearer, whose dark Aelgish skin was slightly blanched from fear. "Well done," he said, patting the lad on the back, "Very well done. What's your name?"

"Pratu, sir," the youth stammered, remembering to salute a moment later.

"Pratu. Strong name. I've got my eye on you." The Beast King gave his soldier a quick grin. "Everyone, dismissed."

The other handlers nodded and stalked off back to their barracks - about half of them remembered they were supposed to salute, which was better than they usually did. Har-dok sighed and turned to see his second-in-command, a slight Varynese man by the name of Garian approaching. "Sir, damage report ready."

Har-dok brought a palm up to his forehead, his eyes closed. "Let's hear it."

"Six injured, three dead. Among the injured are two of the Aboriginal Auxillaries and a northlander, though they're all expected to recover within two weeks. In addition, three tents were destroyed and the cat got into the pen the Aboriginals use for their wasps. It ate two of them."

Har-dok sighed again; it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but the loss of any of the 'wasp cavalry' - the flying insects that the Aboriginals he'd integrated into the company two years ago used as mounts - stung rather sorely. "See to it that the dead are buried and the injured are given medical attention. Whoever was supposed to be standing guard duty when that idiot broke the cat out, I want them flogged." Fortunately, the drunken fool who'd done the breaking out had gotten himself eaten quite promplty, so that discipline problem at least had been its own example. For his part, Garian saluted smartly and scurried off.

These kinds of discipline problems would only get more frequent as they waited for the attack on Zar Vogul. For all he'd done to try and civilize them, the Beastlords were still a savage and bloodthirsty group, and just like the beasts they kept, they got harder to control the longer they stayed cooped up. The Drathans who had hired them were desperate, that was obvious just from the fact that they let the Beastlords inside their walls. One had to hope there'd still be a city left to protect by the time the kings of monsters were finished.

Degenesis [18+ Primal Punk]

Likewise, my attempts at research turned up some interesting tidbits, though it was hard to get a significantly more detailed look at the setting in English. I have a few ideas for characters - might do a Scrapper, or I might see what other folks come up with and pick based on that.

Incidentally, if you're still looking for a Co-GM, I'd be happy to throw my hat in that ring, though if you'd prefer someone more familiar with the setting, that would be quite understandable.

Blood on the Sands: Azoth at War (Open!)

@Cairo Accepted! Love it- looking forward to coming up with beasts to 'tame'.

@Flagg

Thank you kindly! I'll probably throw up a list of some tomorrow for approval, and we can all maybe add more over time.

I'm thinking these guys could be a good source of kinda dark comedic relief, with Har-dok playing straight man to his lunatic troops - not to say that they'd be complete clowns, of course, or that they wouldn't be as badass and capable as any other force when it came right down to it.