Prax/Mercenary

Mercenaries

Nexus is home to roughly seventy different mercenary companies that vary in temperament, ability and who controls them. The majority of these companies have headquarters in the Cinnabar district, with the most prestigious co-habiting the area known as Sunhawk Square, which is named for the massive golden spire at the center of the square atop of which perches a massive golden bird.

The Guild holds the lease on all seven of the headquarters directly in Sunhawk Square, as well as a dozen or so of the buildings on the surrounding blocks. They charge a fairly steep price for the rent and keep things competitive by renegotiating the contracts for the buildings in open-bids at the beginning of each season. If a new company can outbid the current owners then Sunhawk Square will have a new tenant, ensuring that only the best companies remain in the Square. The seven companies currently on top are:

Yazul’s Cleavers

This company founded by Yazul the Onyx Lion has had a place in Sunhawk Square for the last seventy-five years. Yazul himself is a Dragon-Blooded Warrior of the Earth Aspect and still personally commands his men, which now number over five hundred. Only around a hundred stay in the Stone Lion’s Den in Sunhawk Square, the rest can be found in various barracks scattered around the Cinnabar District.

The specialty of Yazul’s Cleavers is heavy infantry. Thanks to Yazul’s successes, as well as the cadre of blacksmiths he keeps in his employ, the Cleavers tend to be some of the best armed and armored mercenary companies in the Riverlands. However, Yazul’s men are also known for being extremely resourceful, especially when it comes to taking advantage of terrain.

The Shining Stars of the Flawless Sky

This small, but professional company is headed by Leaping Star, Uriah Morningsong and Weeping Silver. The Shining Stars consist of only about seventy warriors, but they are specialized as diplomatic escorts and bodyguards. The majority of their clientele are various Riverlands dignitaries, visitors from the Realm and higher-level Guild functionaries. All of the Shining Stars have medical training, exceptional close combat skills and are able to blend into almost any entourage flawlessly.

Uriah and Leaping Star created the company roughly twelve years ago. Uriah tends to handle the majority of the training, while Leaping Star handles the contracts. Five years ago Weeping Silver one of the Fair Folk joined the company and lent her keen eyes to improving the companies image, since then the company's contracts have doubled and she has assumed active leadership of the most important missions in place of the ageing Uriah.

The Yeddim Guard

While they have a rather humble name, this company handles the majority of the Guild’s caravan escort contracts, as a result they are almost never without work. The current heads of the Company is Hart Glasswing a veteran caravan guard who has been in the employ of the Guild for the last thirty years. The company has neither improved, nor suffered under his leadership for the last decade, but then the company itself hasn’t really changed much in the last fifty years either. About four hundred individuals have their names on the Yeddim Guard’s roster at any one time, though it is rare for any individual to stay on that roster for more then a year or two. While the Yeddim Guards are supposed to be part of the public bids for Sunhawk Square like every other company as far as anyone knows they have never actually left the Square.

The Winter Wolves

This company is only five years old, but it was founded by Azure Rune a veteran warrior who made a name for himself in Yazul’s Cleavers. The Winter Wolves specialize in guerilla warfare as well as battling in hostile terrain that other mercenary companies might blanch at campaigning in. The highly trained, one hundred members who compose its ranks are usually hired in specialized Talons to supplement the efforts of larger attack forces. Although with Azure Rune’s prices few can afford to hire more then a few Talons, but most clients find that five Winter Wolves are easily worth twenty ordinary soldiers.

Starfall’s Devils

The Starfall Devils are probably the best archery company in the Riverlands. Like the Winter Wolves, the hundred and fifty members tend to support larger forces in groups of twenty-five or so. The company was founded twenty years ago by the now deceased, but legendary Ivory Starfall. These days the company is lead by Ivory’s eldest son, Moonstone Starfall who has inherited his father’s talent for archery as well as leadership skills. The company has established close relationships with all of the major mercenary companies in Nexus and are hired just as often by other mercenary companies as nation’s looking to supplement their own archery corps.

Seven Serpent Tempests

The Tempests have been around for over a decade and number around three-hundred and fifty men. The mercenary company specializes in large scale coordinated assaults. The company rarely hires out only a portion of its men for a battle, preferring to field all of its troops to maximize the effectiveness of their specialized coordination tactics. The secret to their success is supposedly a collection of carefully guarded First Age artifacts the company has in its possession, the most visible of which are several avian and canine constructs used to relay messages among the ranks.

Some of the companies success also clearly stems from Violet Steel, the Dragon-Blooded Sorcerer employed in the company’s ranks. It is rumored that Violet Steel is a member of House Iselsi, but he personally claims to be an Outcaste who was born in Thorns a hundred years ago. While Violet Steel would be the obvious choice for company leader, instead it is lead by a mortal named Farrin Stormblade who is hailed by many to be a tactical genius. It is not uncommon for nations to hire Farrin alone in a solely advisory capacity prior to undertaking a campaign.

The Titan Hammers

The Titan Hammers’ claim to fame are the two Warstriders in its possession and the three Dragon-Blooded who lead the company and pilot the machines. The massive constructs present an intimidating sight on the battlefield and are enough to turn the tide of battle against almost any force not backed by Lookshy or the Realm. Stone Dog is an Outcaste Earth Aspect originally from Greyfalls. He’s said to be of Mnemon’s bloodline and to have once been offered an official place within the House, but for whatever reason he refused and became a mercenary. In battle he pilots the black warstrider known as the Star-Smiting Prince which wields a heavy black and green maul the size of an oak tree.

Stone Dog’s partner is V’neef Obata a Wood Aspect who while a member of the Imperial Legions has officially been on vacation for the last eight years. And given the current state of the Realm, he figures he’ll remain on vacation until the Blessed Isle sorts itself out. Obata pilots the blue warstrider known as the Sundering Azure Queen, which wields a massive slender daiklaive in battle.

The final member of the Titan Hammers’ sworn brotherhood is Galina Starheart a Fire Aspect born and raised in Nexus. A master smith and sorceress she is the one who keeps the Star-Smiting Prince and Sundering Azure-Queen in working order along with a team of a half-dozen smiths.

While the Titan Hammers main assets are the warstriders and both Stone Dog and Obata enjoy using them, (to the point where they deploy them in situations, against Galina's orders, where they might be overkill) the company also consists of two hundred mortal soldiers who under Obata’s direction have become an effective fighting force in their own right. The Titan Hammers have only recently made it into a spot in Sunhawk Square. While they get a lot of contracts the expense of maintaining the warstriders cuts into the company’s profits rather steeply.

The Mercenary Lords

The majority of the mercenary companies are either funded by or owe money to either the Guild or one of several individuals known as the mercenary lords. The mercenary lords are individuals and families who have specialized in investing in mercenary companies. They put up the initial capital to begin such an organization and in return they get a cut of any of the companies profits for a set period of time. A typical contract requires twenty years to pay off the loan. However, due to how risky and expensive the upkeep of a company is, a mercenary company can remain in debt to its patrons indefinitely as the majority of the mercenary lords care only about profit rather then the actual success of the company they have invested in. A bad season for a company in a mercenary lord’s debt can mean anything from an extra year on the contract to having to sell off arms and equipment in order to make up the tithe owed for that month.

The merchant prince Skybar Empty-Hand or one of his associates handles most of the Guild contracts for mercenary companies. He typically thinks of the long-term survival of a company and is often willing to waive a month’s tithe for a few jobs performed gratis for the Guild. Among the twenty Guilds on contract to the Guild are the Yeddim Guards, Shining Stars of the Flawless Sky, Seven Serpent Tempests, Dawnblade’s Righteous and Red Shadow’s Riders.

Elder Leopard also known as Pearl-Eyed Leopard handles a little over a dozen contracts for various companies including the Titan Hammers, Soldiers of Steel and Ruby, Nightfall Brigade and Viper’s Cunning Hunters. Old and cruel, he amassed his family’s fortunes by bleeding dry the majority of the companies under contract to him then funneling that money back into his most successful companies. This has made him a lot of enemies, but the mercenary companies most loyal to him are also not companies most people want to trifle with. Elder Leopard’s most likely successor is his eldest grandson Duskwing who by all accounts is just as ruthless as his grandfather.

Makala Hundred-Swords is Elder Leopard’s chief rival in terms of the mercenary company business. He commands over two dozen contracts, however he tends to specialize in small companies numbering between fifty and a hundred members in total. As a result, while he has more contracts the individual profits from each company are much smaller. Makala also balances this by employing a more personal relationship with the company he holds contracts with, outwardly appearing to be a beneficent patron, but taking almost any opportunity to extend the contracts of those beholden to him indefinitely. A few of the companies he holds contracts with are Ruby Fern’s Sentinels, the Dark Tree Sentinels, Soldiers of Eventide, Painbringers and Onyx Hammer’s Fists.

The Toras family has been in the business of funding mercenary companies for a long time, starting with Yazul’s Cleavers seventy-five years ago and branching out to a half-dozen other companies since then, the Winter Wolves being the most recent of the companies the family has decided to fund. The other five companies are Starfall’s Devils, Iron Lightning Brigade, Silent’s Slayers, Fireborn’s Hounds and the Monsoon Ghosts. Up until three years ago, Caul Toras was the head of the family, but with his death at the hands of the slave known as Blair Flame’s Daughter control of the family and its contracts has fallen to his eldest sister Elena Toras and her husband Wren the Swordgate commander of the Iron Lightning Brigade.

The remaining companies are either independently owned or funded by a single family, individual or organization such as the Legion of Steel Petals who are funded and employed exclusively by the Lower Bastion brothels as escorts and harem guards.