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A list of available sub-commander that you can meet, befriend, or betray in the Elven lands of the Maenid Empire.
Heroes & Officers
Note- a commander’s alignment often has an effect on how they view your character. Depending on your own alignment, it may be easier to recruit certain officers at the expense of others. Neutrally aligned characters have no philosophical bias, but that doesn’t mean that they will be easy to recruit. Neutrally aligned players have no penalties when recruiting heroes, but receive no advantages either.
ELVEN LANDS
Name: Stavros Deimos
Race: Maenid Elf
Background/Qualification: Bandit Leader
Alignment: Radical
Command Role: Master of Sharpshooters
Player Tech: Saturation Fire (Rifle and Carbine shots split into multiple projectiles capable of damaging groups of enemies, longbows fire groups of arrows to similar effect. Lasts 15 seconds)
Special Tech: Fanatical Volley (Rifle, Skirmish, Skirmish Cavalry, and Longbow units fire twice as quickly, but less accurately for 30 seconds)
Unique Unit/s: Journeyman Psiloi (Elite longbow skirmishers with better range and accuracy than comparable archers, yet slightly inferior melee capabilities), Peltastoi Infiltrators (light, fast swordsmen that forego protection for speed and stealth)
Quote: “After years on the run, scrabbling in the dirt and eating nothing but hardtack and small game, I’ve learned one lesson and learned it well: Life can be terrible, but at least it’s free, and I’m not letting anyone else take mine!”
Bio:
While you would never guess it from the heroic accolades the young and the poor heaped upon his name, Stavros Deimos is neither a hero of the people nor an elf wronged by the state. In the years before the rise of the Republic, he was in fact a common hill bandit, prowling the southern slopes of the Mar Meingefn Mountains and knocking over supply caravans. With the ‘awakening’ of public anger and open revolution, however, Stavros’ life changed dramatically. Where once he avoided attacking Imperial supply caravans with fear of reprisal, he now openly set upon them. He did so with the confidence that they would be unable to gather the resources to actually stop him, and he was absolutely correct.
The boldness of his attacks, combined with the fact that he gave most of the plunder away to nearby communities, set his path to fame in motion. He was hailed as a rebel who robbed from the wealthy and corrupt and gave selflessly to the poor, even though he was keeping most of the gold and finery for himself and foisting the stuff he couldn’t carry on the grateful, desperate people. Even if he hadn’t wanted the attention, he wouldn’t have been able to stop the droves of volunteers from asking to serve him. A shrewd tactician and a masterful propagandist, Stavros turned out to be an effective leader and organizer on top of his already formidable combat skills. As his band of merry men grew, so too did his profile and his avarice.
One day he bit off more than he could chew, throwing his bandit army against a seemingly undermanned hill castle reputed to be atop a rich mana well. Unexpectedly, a handful of mages from the Order of Sakas appeared on the battlements. As members of a peaceful, neutral group of professional mediators and public servants, they impudently chastised Stavros’ bandit army, warning them away lest they be punished and earn the disfavor of their benevolent order.
Stavros didn’t have any intention of killing five mages from the Elven equivalent of the Red Cross, but he also didn’t believe that they would intervene on behalf of the Imperial garrison and forsake their peaceful path to break a bandit siege. Sensing that the Sakasi were bluffing, he ordered the attack on the fortress, a simple affair involving a torrent of arrows followed immediately by a blitz on the walls and the gate. They outnumbered their quarry nearly 7 to 1, but numbers aren’t very helpful when five irate magicians are lobbing enormous fireballs at you and your men. Their assault was driven back in total disarray, and it didn’t take long for the accusations to start flying. His men began to see him for what he was- an individual willing to risk others’ lives to protect his own, as well as one willing to attack peaceful, popular symbols of Elven dignity.
Things fell apart quickly in the aftermath. While the Empire couldn’t spare the resources to chase him, the jobless throngs of former fans and fellow bandits wouldn’t endure the presence of the fraud any longer. While on the run, fighting off angry citizens and evading agents of the Order of Sakas, he at last discovered his true talents, becoming a peerless master of the longbow, an outlaw whose name was now revered with a measure of well-earned fear as opposed to fickle public adulation. To this day he remains in hiding from the many forces arrayed against him, keeping his enemies at arm’s length and his friends just a bit further. After years of fighting for his life he wishes to end his struggle, but first and foremost he needs to find a way to stop the Order of Sakas from pursuing him. The Order’s ancient beliefs necessitate that its enemies be destroyed in order to protect their virtuous cause and discourage any forces from blaspheming or attacking the organization. Only death can free Stavros of his torment, but after years of searching he has found a way to satisfy the demands of the Order while returning to life himself. In a sense, he has found a way to cheat death- or at least ape it convincingly enough to fool the Sakasi mages. All he needs is a trustworthy individual and a relative outsider to assist him.
Name: Calliope
Race: Ikonid Elf
Background/Qualification: Amazon Matriarch
Alignment: Royalist
Command Role: Destrier
Player Tech: Amazonian Martial Arts (a permanent, passive boost to your agility that improves all agility based skills, like Dodge and Riposte)
Special Tech: Elven Barding (Improves heavy cavalry HP and increases heavy cavalry speed)
Unique Unit/s: Winged Cataphracts (an exceptional and expensive heavy cavalry unit equipped with long lances and pistols, boasting high HP, speed, and morale)
Quote: “All wars are won or lost even before the battles begin. The Ikonids understand this better than any other Elves. We learned this lesson dearly and bitterly.”
Bio:
Calliope, a legend among Amazon warriors, was born on the picturesque island of Zephos, a large island guarding the gateway to Elven waters. She accepted a life of military service not out of personal choice, but because she was the first daughter in her family. In Ikonid society all families must have a member in the service of the Matriarchy, but most families do not wish to have their first daughters risk death in the military. However, when Calliope’s sister was born she knew immediately that she would have to answer the call, and she did so willingly even if it wasn’t her choice.
She was uncommonly stern and stoical, or some would say icy. She became isolated from most of her peers as a result, quietly enduring their barbs and resentment. In response she became more driven, accepting dangerous naval and scouting patrols, obtaining training wherever she could, and pushing herself to the point of exhaustion. She found her greatest sense of freedom and ease among the cavalry, first with the auxiliary forces of the Trapezite Cavalry and then with the pride of the Ikonids, the Winged Cataphracts.
During the course of her life Ikonid sea power ran into several tests. First was the rise of the Checchiatari and their trading companies, snarling the Elven sea lanes with smugglers and honest merchantmen alike. The Ikonid Navy, in an attempt to discourage smuggling, began indiscriminately boarding merchant ships and arresting the Beastfolk crews, either pressganging them into service or deporting them. Understandably, the Checchiatari trading companies did not like this idea, and some started fighting back. Orc privateers began joining up with increasingly well-armed Checchiatari merchantmen and openly attacked Ikonid interests.
Calliope was more a knight than a sailor and declined opportunities to fight at sea. After all, there were plenty of problems to deal with on land between Orc corsairs, occasional skirmishes with Checchiatari marines, and increasing problems with oppressed male Ikonids joining together into bandit and pirate gangs and taking advantage of the chaos at sea. She earned the loyalty of her peers by neatly meshing militia and heavy cavalry tactics together, something that few had tried before. She would order the militia to pin down and engage opponents, leaving them distracted for a devastating surprise cavalry attack. After years of back and forth fighting amongst a dizzying array of enemies, the wars ended or simply moved on to different waters closer to the lands of the Vardyrai.
Calliope was regarded as a hero of the Matriarchy, a skilled Destrier and an immovable, unshakable commander. However, years of war combined with the Ikonid Navy’s dramatic decline in influence left the Matriarchy’s coffers empty. When it came time to discuss the disbandment of military units Calliope and her regiment were among those that were dissolved. She returned home to find that her siblings were also unemployed and that the entire Maenid Empire, not just the Ikonids, were on the verge of total bankruptcy. Humbled and poor, she took up odd jobs and courier work, and she has seen firsthand the fire of the Republic sweep over all Elven lands and people.
Though mostly unemployed, Calliope maintains her dignity and a strong sense of duty to the Matriarchy. While she is accustomed to fighting Orcs and Checchiatari, however, she’s familiar with why a disorganized group of privateers and merchants was able to damage the Ikonid Navy so badly. The world, it seems, is moving on and leaving the Elves behind. To serve her people she must find a way to convince the Matriarchy that the Ikonids have to modernize, no easy feat. Even if the Matriarchy is inclined to agree with her, opening up their trade lanes to the world will anger the Maenid Empire, who relies on the Ikonid Navy to keep foreign influences and distractions from contaminating Elven society. She needs a civil outsider with a respect for Elven society to help convince the Matriarchy that some foreign technology and trade will go a long way towards aiding all Ikonids in finding work and bringing in the necessary funds to restore the Navy.
Name: Sappha
Race: Maenid Elf
Background/Qualification: Outlaw hedge wizard, rogue mage
Alignment: Radical
Command Role: Commissioned Battlemage
Player Tech: Electrified Orb (a spell that creates a stationary orb that fires bolts of electricity at anyone who gets too close. Can be upgraded as the player increases in level)
Special Tech: Arc Lanterns (carried into battle, these magical lanterns banish darkness in the vicinity, increasing visibility and revealing concealed units)
Unique Unit/s: Hedge Wizards/Sok Initiates (a small cabal of magicians who excel at supporting infantry units with a variety of elemental spells. Though much weaker individually than commissioned battlemages, they make up for comparatively low HP and damage with the frequency that they can cast spells)
Quote: “They murdered my family and imprisoned me for 27 years! I would hardly call that a grudge!”
Bio:
Born in the Maenid capitol of Palaios, Sappha is a striking Elven woman with sharp features and electrifying blue eyes, a rare trait among the Maenids. In her youth she remembered only being dressed in tatters, living a hardscrabble existence with her big brother and little sister. She also remembers being able to channel magic uncommonly well. For years the three orphans picked pockets, entertained, and endured beatings under the lofty portes, domes, and towers of the ruling elite. One day, while trying to pick the pocket of a fairly ordinary looking mage, she was surprised to see him whirl around and clutch her by the wrist. He had the same blue eyes as she, but the face of a devil. Rather than retaliate, however, he simply smiled and asked her a few questions about her parents and whether or not she could use magic. She explained that she was too poor to practice magic and that she had no parents, much to the relief of the unsettling figure.
He offered her a place to learn magic, a place to sleep at night, and all of the food that she could want. Sappha wasn’t so young that she would put her trust in just anyone, so she declined and made a run for it. When she tried to meet up with her siblings that evening, they didn’t show up. She figured that they might be late, so she went to sleep. When she awoke, they still hadn’t arrived. Sappho began to worry, but felt that they might be staying with friends or had taken up temporary work as house servants and were sleeping at their host residences. After several days with no response, she began to panic, searching the streets and asking questions of everyone about her brother and sister. The answers led her to an alleyway where she ran into a horrible sight- two mangled bodies in tattered clothes, one bigger than her and one quite tiny, covered up in sack cloth and left to the rats.
At the moment of her grief, hooded men set up on her and threatened her with knives. They subdued her with magic, then whisked her away. When she awoke, she was in a comfortable bed inside a cage. Just outside were the mages who had taken here, the mages that she knew had killed her siblings. All of them had blue eyes like hers, but she never knew what this meant until now. They were members of a secretive, technically forbidden cabal of mages called the Sok Order, all of them born with the hereditary ability to weave normal elemental magic into immensely powerful electrical magic.
Even in her youth they found that she had a primal, savant-like control over the forces of electricity that already excelled some of the adults in her presence. Knowing this, they kept her in a cage and clutched the bars whenever entering it. She hated their leaders for what they did, but she hated them more for not making a secret of it, or even showing an ounce of compassion for having taken away her only family. She felt sad for some of them as well, especially the ones that were nice to her, helped her learned how to read, and treated her with dignity. Those mages reminded her of herself, torn away from their families and forced to master this dangerous, fickle magic. Even so, she always kept the murder of her siblings in her mind. She would kill every single member of the Sok Order if she had to.
One day, after 27 years of confinement and relentless training in the arcane, she saw an opportunity to escape and plunged into it, killing several adepts and even a master on her path to freedom. Knowing that she couldn’t fight the Order alone, she committed herself to running, but allowed herself one long look at the place that had robbed her of her youth, a monastery on a pillar of stone on the edges of the Outrene.
Since then, Sappha has waged a private war against the Sok Order, a group of mages that the Maenid Empire does not want other Elves to know about. She has become an enemy of the state, but that status is almost irrelevant thanks to the rise of the Republic. In the peoples’ cause she has found a fair share of allies, but she trusts none except a handful of hedge mages that she has personally trained. She is not convinced that if the Republic succeeds it will disband the Sok Order. In fact, she is fairly convinced that they will simply turn it against enemies of the state just as the Maenids have. What she truly needs is an individual who will help her find and destroy the heinous group, freeing the people and other mages like her from their influence.
Name: Miltiades
Race: Therian Elf
Background/Qualification: Revolutionary, former guard captain
Alignment: Radical
Command Role: Rebel Captain
Player Tech: Duelist (a passive ability that improves upon Riposte. With each successful Riposte, you deal two hits instead of one)
Special Tech: Army of the People (a passive propaganda ability that eliminates dissatisfaction penalties among the lower classes when your army travels to or through foreign lands)
Unique Unit/s: Revolutionary Guard (a semi-professional force of musket-armed militia infantry that boasts decent accuracy, rate of fire, and HP at a low cost. As opposed to most unique units, you can field two Revolutionary Guard units at once), Merchant Cavalry (a special light cavalry unit trained from volunteers among the merchant classes, the Merchant Cavalry do not have spectacular combat capabilities but are very low cost. As with the Revolutionary Guard, you can field two units of Merchant Cavalry at once)
Quote: “We live under a framework of laws designed to keep us ignorant and docile- yet there is only one law our rulers must follow: Do not invoke the wrath of the people! They have broken that sacred covenant, and we, the people, must carry out the punishment. It is not simply our right- it is our duty!”
Bio:
A romantic and a firebrand Republican, Miltiades was not always an Elf of the people. In fact, he was born into a family of lesser nobles which held control of small, but prosperous land holdings. As a landed aristocrat in Theria his family was able to afford a university education for him. For many generations Therian scholasticism had been a bastion of classical education, arts, culture, and philosophy- all subjects tailored to an aristocratic student body. In spite of this, by the time he went to school the social and economic situation had become impossible to ignore. Student organizations, followed by the scholars themselves at last began to pull away from the status quo, and Miltiades was right there in the middle of it.
Miltiades had a natural leaning towards and aptitude for martial arts, and subsequently signed up for officer candidacy training for the Therian Volunteer Guard. While his training was marginal in quality by the standards of modern militaries, it was perfectly suited for the kind of fighting that the Republic would soon be embroiled in. He proved himself adept at using irregular troops, neither armed nor equipped in any organized way, as a reasonably effective fighting force. He also had a good understanding of the capabilities and limitations of citizen militias.
After his education he served as a captain in the Therian Volunteer Guard, playing a part in the transformation of that organization from Maenid loyalists to Republican freedom fighters. He fought heroically alongside citizen soldiers using almost every weapon imaginable, from the bows and swords of the Elves to imported muskets from the Highland Dwarves. He proved himself a young, handsome, and deeply loyal part of the Revolution, becoming a popular hero in the eyes of his fellow Elves.
However, as with many heroes of the people Miltiades had enemies in high places. Despite growing organized resistance by the Empire, he faced jealous opposition from the leaders of the Republic itself. Behind closed doors the Triumvirate and the future leaders of the land saw Miltiades as a threat to their efforts. Politics is a dirty business, particularly in the case of revolutions, and while Miltiades espoused the virtues of the Republic its leaders were not so honest or idealistic. In the end, they sent him on an apparent suicide mission against a Maenid legion. Inconveniently, he survived against all odds and completed the mission. Lacking another plan to kill him, the Triumvirate thereby discredited him by stripping him of his rank and ostracizing him, claiming that Miltiades had lost his way in spite of his bravery.
Miltiades, a noted idealist and a nearly religious believer in the Triumvirate, was confused by this total reversal of his fortunes. Unwilling to believe in political treachery by his heroes, he reached the only logical conclusion he could- that the Republic had retired him in order to protect him. However, as a gallant and still beloved supporter of democracy he made every effort to continue the fight regardless. Even without pay or supplies from the Republic he continues to organize groups of the Revolutionary Guard against the Maenids.
The fight has not been easy or beneficial to him. Forces from both the Empire and the Republic attempt to track him down and eliminate him. He continues to believe in the common virtues of democracy and liberty, but in spite of his fighting he struggles to understand his continued rejection by the Triumvirate. As of now, Miltiades is a commander of militia forces nearly without peer, a revolutionary savant- yet he has few powerful friends and his time is short. Only removal from his current situation can save him, and to do this Miltiades first has to be convinced that the Triumvirate and the Republic are not as honest as he believes.
Name: Cyril the Scarred
Race: Vardyrai Elf
Background/Qualification: Former captain of the Outrene Dragoons
Alignment: Royalist
Command Role: Mercenary Captain
Player Tech: Carbine Training (enables the player to equip Carbines and Dragon Muskets. If the player is already trained in these weapons, this tech provides a passive and permanent accuracy boost to them)
Special Tech: Desert Survivalism (reduces army attrition when traveling through deserts)
Unique Unit/s: Outrene Renegades (Tough mounted infantry with good HP and rate of fire. They do not suffer attrition in deserts and can fire while mounted.)
Quote: “There was a time when I thought I could help stem the tide of villainy over these lands, to keep the good people separated from the bad. I now realize that every good man carries evil inside him, that every evil man has the potential for good, and that the easiest way to measure them is with gold.”
Bio:
A child of homesteaders on the outskirts of the lawless Outrene, Cyril grew up accustomed to hardship and rubbing shoulders with some of the worst elements of society in Sejhat. He spent his time dodging slavers, smugglers, and bandits while somehow trying to scrape out an existence on his family’s farm. The southern sections of the Outrene are notably more lush than other areas, allowing for settlement and limited agriculture, but they are understandably the poorest and least desirable lands in the Maenid Empire, mostly settled by an amalgam of Elves seeking a means of survival, a greater degree of independence, or a way to disappear.
Civilization in the Outrene is frail, and there is very little in the way of a government presence or any kind of law in many of its scattered, dusty towns. As a result, criminal enclaves of varying cultures and races operate freely. When the Vardyrai conducted a census of the homesteads and settlements of the Outrene, half of their agents were killed while the other half returned with reports of skyrocketing violence and resentment toward the monarchy.
In light of the disturbing statistics the Vardyrai began to seek out ways of enforcing the law in the territories. They sought out frontiersmen and homesteaders in the Outrene who felt a common need for law and protection. Cyril was among the volunteers, though he would never have considered it until his two sisters were kidnapped by slavers. Obsessed with revenge and the chance of restoring his family, Cyril signed on with the Outrene Dragoons, a new group of frontier soldiers funded and organized by the Vardyrai. Each soldier was provided a uniform, a dragon musket, and a mount by the regent, but their true power came from the wide berth and freedoms they were given in their duties to bring law and order to the frontier.
The concept, while radical, worked well for Cyril. His burning vengeance combined with the operative freedom of the Dragoons quickly transformed the farm boy into a renegade. He organized homesteaders into militias, ‘reformed’ slavers at gunpoint, and gradually came to the conclusion that bringing law to the frontier meant choosing the best criminals for the job while ruthlessly destroying the rest. He made abundant connections with criminal syndicates across the continent, and all the time the Outrene Dragoons were making life much more miserable for bands of anarchists and raiders.
The rise of the Republic spelled trouble for the Outrene Dragoons. While they had brought law to the lands, they had taken their salaries from the royalty. With rebellions springing up everywhere in the home territories, the Dragoons were effectively disbanded- but only after months without pay. In short order many of Cyril’s compatriots became as bad as the criminals they were hunting, extorting townships and setting up protection rackets to retain their hold on power. Some Dragoons more loyal to the law itself started fighting their rogue former allies, but most simply whored themselves out to their former rivals in the criminal syndicates. Cyril was no exception.
For a time, Cyril did odd jobs for shady people until fate brought him back to his homestead. In a brutal, provocative act the same slavers that kidnapped his sisters returned and burned his parents’ farmhouse down while they were still in it. Incensed, he did what came most naturally to him- he mounted up and renewed his hunt.
Cyril is unprincipled and lacking in ideals, taking pride in his understanding of the true nature of the individual. As a representative of law in a lawless land he has absorbed immense punishment and endured great hardship, yet survives and thrives. However, in spite of this he has never forgotten his sisters and his family. Now that his enemies have used that personal connection against him he realizes that the Dragoons cannot help him, as their mission is now simply every man for himself. Intervention by an outsider, however, may give him the assistance he needs to chase down and exact revenge to his enemies.
Heroes & Officers
Note- a commander’s alignment often has an effect on how they view your character. Depending on your own alignment, it may be easier to recruit certain officers at the expense of others. Neutrally aligned characters have no philosophical bias, but that doesn’t mean that they will be easy to recruit. Neutrally aligned players have no penalties when recruiting heroes, but receive no advantages either.
ELVEN LANDS
Name: Stavros Deimos
Race: Maenid Elf
Background/Qualification: Bandit Leader
Alignment: Radical
Command Role: Master of Sharpshooters
Player Tech: Saturation Fire (Rifle and Carbine shots split into multiple projectiles capable of damaging groups of enemies, longbows fire groups of arrows to similar effect. Lasts 15 seconds)
Special Tech: Fanatical Volley (Rifle, Skirmish, Skirmish Cavalry, and Longbow units fire twice as quickly, but less accurately for 30 seconds)
Unique Unit/s: Journeyman Psiloi (Elite longbow skirmishers with better range and accuracy than comparable archers, yet slightly inferior melee capabilities), Peltastoi Infiltrators (light, fast swordsmen that forego protection for speed and stealth)
Quote: “After years on the run, scrabbling in the dirt and eating nothing but hardtack and small game, I’ve learned one lesson and learned it well: Life can be terrible, but at least it’s free, and I’m not letting anyone else take mine!”
Bio:
While you would never guess it from the heroic accolades the young and the poor heaped upon his name, Stavros Deimos is neither a hero of the people nor an elf wronged by the state. In the years before the rise of the Republic, he was in fact a common hill bandit, prowling the southern slopes of the Mar Meingefn Mountains and knocking over supply caravans. With the ‘awakening’ of public anger and open revolution, however, Stavros’ life changed dramatically. Where once he avoided attacking Imperial supply caravans with fear of reprisal, he now openly set upon them. He did so with the confidence that they would be unable to gather the resources to actually stop him, and he was absolutely correct.
The boldness of his attacks, combined with the fact that he gave most of the plunder away to nearby communities, set his path to fame in motion. He was hailed as a rebel who robbed from the wealthy and corrupt and gave selflessly to the poor, even though he was keeping most of the gold and finery for himself and foisting the stuff he couldn’t carry on the grateful, desperate people. Even if he hadn’t wanted the attention, he wouldn’t have been able to stop the droves of volunteers from asking to serve him. A shrewd tactician and a masterful propagandist, Stavros turned out to be an effective leader and organizer on top of his already formidable combat skills. As his band of merry men grew, so too did his profile and his avarice.
One day he bit off more than he could chew, throwing his bandit army against a seemingly undermanned hill castle reputed to be atop a rich mana well. Unexpectedly, a handful of mages from the Order of Sakas appeared on the battlements. As members of a peaceful, neutral group of professional mediators and public servants, they impudently chastised Stavros’ bandit army, warning them away lest they be punished and earn the disfavor of their benevolent order.
Stavros didn’t have any intention of killing five mages from the Elven equivalent of the Red Cross, but he also didn’t believe that they would intervene on behalf of the Imperial garrison and forsake their peaceful path to break a bandit siege. Sensing that the Sakasi were bluffing, he ordered the attack on the fortress, a simple affair involving a torrent of arrows followed immediately by a blitz on the walls and the gate. They outnumbered their quarry nearly 7 to 1, but numbers aren’t very helpful when five irate magicians are lobbing enormous fireballs at you and your men. Their assault was driven back in total disarray, and it didn’t take long for the accusations to start flying. His men began to see him for what he was- an individual willing to risk others’ lives to protect his own, as well as one willing to attack peaceful, popular symbols of Elven dignity.
Things fell apart quickly in the aftermath. While the Empire couldn’t spare the resources to chase him, the jobless throngs of former fans and fellow bandits wouldn’t endure the presence of the fraud any longer. While on the run, fighting off angry citizens and evading agents of the Order of Sakas, he at last discovered his true talents, becoming a peerless master of the longbow, an outlaw whose name was now revered with a measure of well-earned fear as opposed to fickle public adulation. To this day he remains in hiding from the many forces arrayed against him, keeping his enemies at arm’s length and his friends just a bit further. After years of fighting for his life he wishes to end his struggle, but first and foremost he needs to find a way to stop the Order of Sakas from pursuing him. The Order’s ancient beliefs necessitate that its enemies be destroyed in order to protect their virtuous cause and discourage any forces from blaspheming or attacking the organization. Only death can free Stavros of his torment, but after years of searching he has found a way to satisfy the demands of the Order while returning to life himself. In a sense, he has found a way to cheat death- or at least ape it convincingly enough to fool the Sakasi mages. All he needs is a trustworthy individual and a relative outsider to assist him.
Name: Calliope
Race: Ikonid Elf
Background/Qualification: Amazon Matriarch
Alignment: Royalist
Command Role: Destrier
Player Tech: Amazonian Martial Arts (a permanent, passive boost to your agility that improves all agility based skills, like Dodge and Riposte)
Special Tech: Elven Barding (Improves heavy cavalry HP and increases heavy cavalry speed)
Unique Unit/s: Winged Cataphracts (an exceptional and expensive heavy cavalry unit equipped with long lances and pistols, boasting high HP, speed, and morale)
Quote: “All wars are won or lost even before the battles begin. The Ikonids understand this better than any other Elves. We learned this lesson dearly and bitterly.”
Bio:
Calliope, a legend among Amazon warriors, was born on the picturesque island of Zephos, a large island guarding the gateway to Elven waters. She accepted a life of military service not out of personal choice, but because she was the first daughter in her family. In Ikonid society all families must have a member in the service of the Matriarchy, but most families do not wish to have their first daughters risk death in the military. However, when Calliope’s sister was born she knew immediately that she would have to answer the call, and she did so willingly even if it wasn’t her choice.
She was uncommonly stern and stoical, or some would say icy. She became isolated from most of her peers as a result, quietly enduring their barbs and resentment. In response she became more driven, accepting dangerous naval and scouting patrols, obtaining training wherever she could, and pushing herself to the point of exhaustion. She found her greatest sense of freedom and ease among the cavalry, first with the auxiliary forces of the Trapezite Cavalry and then with the pride of the Ikonids, the Winged Cataphracts.
During the course of her life Ikonid sea power ran into several tests. First was the rise of the Checchiatari and their trading companies, snarling the Elven sea lanes with smugglers and honest merchantmen alike. The Ikonid Navy, in an attempt to discourage smuggling, began indiscriminately boarding merchant ships and arresting the Beastfolk crews, either pressganging them into service or deporting them. Understandably, the Checchiatari trading companies did not like this idea, and some started fighting back. Orc privateers began joining up with increasingly well-armed Checchiatari merchantmen and openly attacked Ikonid interests.
Calliope was more a knight than a sailor and declined opportunities to fight at sea. After all, there were plenty of problems to deal with on land between Orc corsairs, occasional skirmishes with Checchiatari marines, and increasing problems with oppressed male Ikonids joining together into bandit and pirate gangs and taking advantage of the chaos at sea. She earned the loyalty of her peers by neatly meshing militia and heavy cavalry tactics together, something that few had tried before. She would order the militia to pin down and engage opponents, leaving them distracted for a devastating surprise cavalry attack. After years of back and forth fighting amongst a dizzying array of enemies, the wars ended or simply moved on to different waters closer to the lands of the Vardyrai.
Calliope was regarded as a hero of the Matriarchy, a skilled Destrier and an immovable, unshakable commander. However, years of war combined with the Ikonid Navy’s dramatic decline in influence left the Matriarchy’s coffers empty. When it came time to discuss the disbandment of military units Calliope and her regiment were among those that were dissolved. She returned home to find that her siblings were also unemployed and that the entire Maenid Empire, not just the Ikonids, were on the verge of total bankruptcy. Humbled and poor, she took up odd jobs and courier work, and she has seen firsthand the fire of the Republic sweep over all Elven lands and people.
Though mostly unemployed, Calliope maintains her dignity and a strong sense of duty to the Matriarchy. While she is accustomed to fighting Orcs and Checchiatari, however, she’s familiar with why a disorganized group of privateers and merchants was able to damage the Ikonid Navy so badly. The world, it seems, is moving on and leaving the Elves behind. To serve her people she must find a way to convince the Matriarchy that the Ikonids have to modernize, no easy feat. Even if the Matriarchy is inclined to agree with her, opening up their trade lanes to the world will anger the Maenid Empire, who relies on the Ikonid Navy to keep foreign influences and distractions from contaminating Elven society. She needs a civil outsider with a respect for Elven society to help convince the Matriarchy that some foreign technology and trade will go a long way towards aiding all Ikonids in finding work and bringing in the necessary funds to restore the Navy.
Name: Sappha
Race: Maenid Elf
Background/Qualification: Outlaw hedge wizard, rogue mage
Alignment: Radical
Command Role: Commissioned Battlemage
Player Tech: Electrified Orb (a spell that creates a stationary orb that fires bolts of electricity at anyone who gets too close. Can be upgraded as the player increases in level)
Special Tech: Arc Lanterns (carried into battle, these magical lanterns banish darkness in the vicinity, increasing visibility and revealing concealed units)
Unique Unit/s: Hedge Wizards/Sok Initiates (a small cabal of magicians who excel at supporting infantry units with a variety of elemental spells. Though much weaker individually than commissioned battlemages, they make up for comparatively low HP and damage with the frequency that they can cast spells)
Quote: “They murdered my family and imprisoned me for 27 years! I would hardly call that a grudge!”
Bio:
Born in the Maenid capitol of Palaios, Sappha is a striking Elven woman with sharp features and electrifying blue eyes, a rare trait among the Maenids. In her youth she remembered only being dressed in tatters, living a hardscrabble existence with her big brother and little sister. She also remembers being able to channel magic uncommonly well. For years the three orphans picked pockets, entertained, and endured beatings under the lofty portes, domes, and towers of the ruling elite. One day, while trying to pick the pocket of a fairly ordinary looking mage, she was surprised to see him whirl around and clutch her by the wrist. He had the same blue eyes as she, but the face of a devil. Rather than retaliate, however, he simply smiled and asked her a few questions about her parents and whether or not she could use magic. She explained that she was too poor to practice magic and that she had no parents, much to the relief of the unsettling figure.
He offered her a place to learn magic, a place to sleep at night, and all of the food that she could want. Sappha wasn’t so young that she would put her trust in just anyone, so she declined and made a run for it. When she tried to meet up with her siblings that evening, they didn’t show up. She figured that they might be late, so she went to sleep. When she awoke, they still hadn’t arrived. Sappho began to worry, but felt that they might be staying with friends or had taken up temporary work as house servants and were sleeping at their host residences. After several days with no response, she began to panic, searching the streets and asking questions of everyone about her brother and sister. The answers led her to an alleyway where she ran into a horrible sight- two mangled bodies in tattered clothes, one bigger than her and one quite tiny, covered up in sack cloth and left to the rats.
At the moment of her grief, hooded men set up on her and threatened her with knives. They subdued her with magic, then whisked her away. When she awoke, she was in a comfortable bed inside a cage. Just outside were the mages who had taken here, the mages that she knew had killed her siblings. All of them had blue eyes like hers, but she never knew what this meant until now. They were members of a secretive, technically forbidden cabal of mages called the Sok Order, all of them born with the hereditary ability to weave normal elemental magic into immensely powerful electrical magic.
Even in her youth they found that she had a primal, savant-like control over the forces of electricity that already excelled some of the adults in her presence. Knowing this, they kept her in a cage and clutched the bars whenever entering it. She hated their leaders for what they did, but she hated them more for not making a secret of it, or even showing an ounce of compassion for having taken away her only family. She felt sad for some of them as well, especially the ones that were nice to her, helped her learned how to read, and treated her with dignity. Those mages reminded her of herself, torn away from their families and forced to master this dangerous, fickle magic. Even so, she always kept the murder of her siblings in her mind. She would kill every single member of the Sok Order if she had to.
One day, after 27 years of confinement and relentless training in the arcane, she saw an opportunity to escape and plunged into it, killing several adepts and even a master on her path to freedom. Knowing that she couldn’t fight the Order alone, she committed herself to running, but allowed herself one long look at the place that had robbed her of her youth, a monastery on a pillar of stone on the edges of the Outrene.
Since then, Sappha has waged a private war against the Sok Order, a group of mages that the Maenid Empire does not want other Elves to know about. She has become an enemy of the state, but that status is almost irrelevant thanks to the rise of the Republic. In the peoples’ cause she has found a fair share of allies, but she trusts none except a handful of hedge mages that she has personally trained. She is not convinced that if the Republic succeeds it will disband the Sok Order. In fact, she is fairly convinced that they will simply turn it against enemies of the state just as the Maenids have. What she truly needs is an individual who will help her find and destroy the heinous group, freeing the people and other mages like her from their influence.
Name: Miltiades
Race: Therian Elf
Background/Qualification: Revolutionary, former guard captain
Alignment: Radical
Command Role: Rebel Captain
Player Tech: Duelist (a passive ability that improves upon Riposte. With each successful Riposte, you deal two hits instead of one)
Special Tech: Army of the People (a passive propaganda ability that eliminates dissatisfaction penalties among the lower classes when your army travels to or through foreign lands)
Unique Unit/s: Revolutionary Guard (a semi-professional force of musket-armed militia infantry that boasts decent accuracy, rate of fire, and HP at a low cost. As opposed to most unique units, you can field two Revolutionary Guard units at once), Merchant Cavalry (a special light cavalry unit trained from volunteers among the merchant classes, the Merchant Cavalry do not have spectacular combat capabilities but are very low cost. As with the Revolutionary Guard, you can field two units of Merchant Cavalry at once)
Quote: “We live under a framework of laws designed to keep us ignorant and docile- yet there is only one law our rulers must follow: Do not invoke the wrath of the people! They have broken that sacred covenant, and we, the people, must carry out the punishment. It is not simply our right- it is our duty!”
Bio:
A romantic and a firebrand Republican, Miltiades was not always an Elf of the people. In fact, he was born into a family of lesser nobles which held control of small, but prosperous land holdings. As a landed aristocrat in Theria his family was able to afford a university education for him. For many generations Therian scholasticism had been a bastion of classical education, arts, culture, and philosophy- all subjects tailored to an aristocratic student body. In spite of this, by the time he went to school the social and economic situation had become impossible to ignore. Student organizations, followed by the scholars themselves at last began to pull away from the status quo, and Miltiades was right there in the middle of it.
Miltiades had a natural leaning towards and aptitude for martial arts, and subsequently signed up for officer candidacy training for the Therian Volunteer Guard. While his training was marginal in quality by the standards of modern militaries, it was perfectly suited for the kind of fighting that the Republic would soon be embroiled in. He proved himself adept at using irregular troops, neither armed nor equipped in any organized way, as a reasonably effective fighting force. He also had a good understanding of the capabilities and limitations of citizen militias.
After his education he served as a captain in the Therian Volunteer Guard, playing a part in the transformation of that organization from Maenid loyalists to Republican freedom fighters. He fought heroically alongside citizen soldiers using almost every weapon imaginable, from the bows and swords of the Elves to imported muskets from the Highland Dwarves. He proved himself a young, handsome, and deeply loyal part of the Revolution, becoming a popular hero in the eyes of his fellow Elves.
However, as with many heroes of the people Miltiades had enemies in high places. Despite growing organized resistance by the Empire, he faced jealous opposition from the leaders of the Republic itself. Behind closed doors the Triumvirate and the future leaders of the land saw Miltiades as a threat to their efforts. Politics is a dirty business, particularly in the case of revolutions, and while Miltiades espoused the virtues of the Republic its leaders were not so honest or idealistic. In the end, they sent him on an apparent suicide mission against a Maenid legion. Inconveniently, he survived against all odds and completed the mission. Lacking another plan to kill him, the Triumvirate thereby discredited him by stripping him of his rank and ostracizing him, claiming that Miltiades had lost his way in spite of his bravery.
Miltiades, a noted idealist and a nearly religious believer in the Triumvirate, was confused by this total reversal of his fortunes. Unwilling to believe in political treachery by his heroes, he reached the only logical conclusion he could- that the Republic had retired him in order to protect him. However, as a gallant and still beloved supporter of democracy he made every effort to continue the fight regardless. Even without pay or supplies from the Republic he continues to organize groups of the Revolutionary Guard against the Maenids.
The fight has not been easy or beneficial to him. Forces from both the Empire and the Republic attempt to track him down and eliminate him. He continues to believe in the common virtues of democracy and liberty, but in spite of his fighting he struggles to understand his continued rejection by the Triumvirate. As of now, Miltiades is a commander of militia forces nearly without peer, a revolutionary savant- yet he has few powerful friends and his time is short. Only removal from his current situation can save him, and to do this Miltiades first has to be convinced that the Triumvirate and the Republic are not as honest as he believes.
Name: Cyril the Scarred
Race: Vardyrai Elf
Background/Qualification: Former captain of the Outrene Dragoons
Alignment: Royalist
Command Role: Mercenary Captain
Player Tech: Carbine Training (enables the player to equip Carbines and Dragon Muskets. If the player is already trained in these weapons, this tech provides a passive and permanent accuracy boost to them)
Special Tech: Desert Survivalism (reduces army attrition when traveling through deserts)
Unique Unit/s: Outrene Renegades (Tough mounted infantry with good HP and rate of fire. They do not suffer attrition in deserts and can fire while mounted.)
Quote: “There was a time when I thought I could help stem the tide of villainy over these lands, to keep the good people separated from the bad. I now realize that every good man carries evil inside him, that every evil man has the potential for good, and that the easiest way to measure them is with gold.”
Bio:
A child of homesteaders on the outskirts of the lawless Outrene, Cyril grew up accustomed to hardship and rubbing shoulders with some of the worst elements of society in Sejhat. He spent his time dodging slavers, smugglers, and bandits while somehow trying to scrape out an existence on his family’s farm. The southern sections of the Outrene are notably more lush than other areas, allowing for settlement and limited agriculture, but they are understandably the poorest and least desirable lands in the Maenid Empire, mostly settled by an amalgam of Elves seeking a means of survival, a greater degree of independence, or a way to disappear.
Civilization in the Outrene is frail, and there is very little in the way of a government presence or any kind of law in many of its scattered, dusty towns. As a result, criminal enclaves of varying cultures and races operate freely. When the Vardyrai conducted a census of the homesteads and settlements of the Outrene, half of their agents were killed while the other half returned with reports of skyrocketing violence and resentment toward the monarchy.
In light of the disturbing statistics the Vardyrai began to seek out ways of enforcing the law in the territories. They sought out frontiersmen and homesteaders in the Outrene who felt a common need for law and protection. Cyril was among the volunteers, though he would never have considered it until his two sisters were kidnapped by slavers. Obsessed with revenge and the chance of restoring his family, Cyril signed on with the Outrene Dragoons, a new group of frontier soldiers funded and organized by the Vardyrai. Each soldier was provided a uniform, a dragon musket, and a mount by the regent, but their true power came from the wide berth and freedoms they were given in their duties to bring law and order to the frontier.
The concept, while radical, worked well for Cyril. His burning vengeance combined with the operative freedom of the Dragoons quickly transformed the farm boy into a renegade. He organized homesteaders into militias, ‘reformed’ slavers at gunpoint, and gradually came to the conclusion that bringing law to the frontier meant choosing the best criminals for the job while ruthlessly destroying the rest. He made abundant connections with criminal syndicates across the continent, and all the time the Outrene Dragoons were making life much more miserable for bands of anarchists and raiders.
The rise of the Republic spelled trouble for the Outrene Dragoons. While they had brought law to the lands, they had taken their salaries from the royalty. With rebellions springing up everywhere in the home territories, the Dragoons were effectively disbanded- but only after months without pay. In short order many of Cyril’s compatriots became as bad as the criminals they were hunting, extorting townships and setting up protection rackets to retain their hold on power. Some Dragoons more loyal to the law itself started fighting their rogue former allies, but most simply whored themselves out to their former rivals in the criminal syndicates. Cyril was no exception.
For a time, Cyril did odd jobs for shady people until fate brought him back to his homestead. In a brutal, provocative act the same slavers that kidnapped his sisters returned and burned his parents’ farmhouse down while they were still in it. Incensed, he did what came most naturally to him- he mounted up and renewed his hunt.
Cyril is unprincipled and lacking in ideals, taking pride in his understanding of the true nature of the individual. As a representative of law in a lawless land he has absorbed immense punishment and endured great hardship, yet survives and thrives. However, in spite of this he has never forgotten his sisters and his family. Now that his enemies have used that personal connection against him he realizes that the Dragoons cannot help him, as their mission is now simply every man for himself. Intervention by an outsider, however, may give him the assistance he needs to chase down and exact revenge to his enemies.
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Mammal (Other)
Size 102 x 120px
File Size 50.5 kB
Hmm... It seems that Dominik and his sharpshooters may have to make a venture into Elven territory to recruit Stavros Deimos.
Though, it will be interesting, pairing the less-than-morally driven Stavros with the religious and moral Dominik. Even if they're fighting for the same cause, they'll most certainly have disagreements about how it is best fought. Still, his skills would prove invaluable to Dominik's band of sharpshooters.
To the Maenid Empire, it is.
Though, it will be interesting, pairing the less-than-morally driven Stavros with the religious and moral Dominik. Even if they're fighting for the same cause, they'll most certainly have disagreements about how it is best fought. Still, his skills would prove invaluable to Dominik's band of sharpshooters.
To the Maenid Empire, it is.
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