About Ricter VorskRicter Vorsk came as close to being born with a silver spoon as one can be in Galt. The son of a prominent member of the cabinet of skulls, Ricter enjoyed a fair bit of privelage in Isarn whilst the regime was popular with the mob. The cabinet of skulls was a bold experiment in using necromancy for benevolent ends. It held that any living ruler was tarnished by greed, fear and prejudice. The dead, on the other hand, offered the ultimate neutral viewpoint. The Cabinet of Skulls magically preserved the remains of it's learned founders who gave their lives to become the guides of the revolution. They were entrusted to an group of clerics of Pharasma, one of which was Ricter's father. As with all iterations of the Revolutionary Council, the cabinet worked brilliantly for a time. The dead philosophers and scholars provided a string of effective policies, to the point that new 'cabinets' - sets of corpses and attendant clerics - were established in every major settlement. This was when things began to go wrong. Somehow, a sect of clerics of Urgathoa userped the Pharasma delegation in Edme. They established the 'corpse corps' and began using necromancy for agriculture, industry and, eventually, law enforcement. They never had the interests of Galt at heart. Five years after the cabinet of skulls was established the Edme Cabinet began harbouring vampires that they fed with innocents falsly imprisoned in Torvin Prison. Korran Goss eventually revealed these atrocities and the vampires were forced to flee, their cleric prisoners escaping with them or slain by the mobs. As is the way with Galt, though, it didn't stop there. Trust in the Cabinet of Skulls collapsed. The mobs fell upon their parliament-mausoleum in Isarn. Until that bloody night the Isarn cabinet had done nothing but serve Galt selflessly and effectively. Ricter and his fiancee were visiting his parent's household when the mob fell upon them. They broke down the door and dragged the Vorsks to the city square. There, they and the rest of the cleric and their families were to be killed beneath the final blades. There was no trial, no evidence and no justice. Ricter's father, beaten to near-death, knew he had no chance of escape. His son, however, did. Calling upon Pharasma he granted Ricter the strength to burst his bonds. Taking up the broken manacles as a crude flail Ricter fought his way clear of the execution platform, though he could save neither his famiy nor his wife to be. Fleeing to the river kingdoms with bounty hunters hot on his tail he jioned a mercenary company - as much for protection as the coin. Three years and numerous battles later, he arrived in Cheliax as a hardened sellsword. Still miserable and bitter at what he has convinced himself was cowardly flight from Galt, he finally found a faction that shared his contempt for revolutionaries and demagouges - the Hellknights. Ricter had never heard of the Order of the Chain and only vaguely knew of the hellknights before he arrived in Corentyne. When he learned of the order's doctrine, however, he made immediately made his way thier fortress and petitioned to become an Amiger - a hellknight squire. The Paralicter he was sent before was impressed by his devotion to law and order, for Ricter had seen the true face of 'freedom' and 'liberty' the day his loved ones were executed. Ricter was given the right to take the trail of combat against a Barbazu - a bearded devil. He was not aware of this practice but faced it nonetheless, his hatred for the mobs of Galt and murderously nieve rabble rousers overcoming his considerable fear. He nearly died in the dark summoning chanber of Corentyne but in the end he rested unsteadily on his knees over the dead body of the lesser devil. Ricter Vorsk was on the road to becoming a hellknight. Ricter was assigned to Hellknight Corvex Null, a veteran hellknight who had mentored several Armigers before and who was on the verge of becoming a Paralictor. Ricter's tales of the atrocities in Galt had also caught the attention of Lictor Uro Adom himself. The master of the order was troubled at the continuing chaos gripping Galt, and though it was hundred of miles seperate from Cheliax he likened it to a cancer liable to spread. He charged Corvex with travelling to the region with his new squire to determine if anything could be done to stabalize the turbulent nation. The two travelled for some months and went unarmoured through Galt to try to find patterns in the chaos. Emerging out the other side in the river kingdoms, Corvex concluded that whilst nothing short of invasion whould be enough to stabalize Galt the continued existance of the revolutionary council was an affront to the ideals of the Order of the Chain and the Hellknights in general. Alas, so far from Cheliax the organization's influence was non-existant. There was no easy solution to Galt's crisis. Whilst preparing to return to Cheliax, however, the pair heard of the ascendant kingdom of Kardas in the east of the River Kingdoms. Unlike most of the more established kingdoms with their eccentric tyrants and endemic violence, Kardas was a beacon of order, ruled as it was by a paladin of Iomedae. It would make a potential haven for a stronger force of Hellknights to be mustered to strike at Galt. Perhap Baron Malthir and his advisors would aid such an endevour, but that would be a boon rather than a neccessity. Corvex decided that Ricter's place was in the east, not back in Cheliax. The greenbelt could teach Ricter a great deal on the nature of chaos, for it was a haven of the vile fey. Whilst he himself planned to return to Chaliax to recieve a long-overdue promotion, he sort (with Uro Adom's approval granted via sending) to place Ricter in the court of Kardas as a representitive of the hellknights. Though the man was a mere Amiger he was the only member of the order available to take such a post. Reasoning that Ricter needed only combat experience to become a true Hellknight, Corvex ruled that he would earn the right to wear the plate armour of the order once he was accepted as a member of Milthir's court by proving his wroth to the paladin. The two hellknights travelled to Swordhaven and awaited the return of it's ruler. The Lictor having given them the authority to pledge the support of the hellknights in securing and policing Kardas once the kingdom was more established, should Ricter deem the ideals of the two organizations to be compatible. Ricter Vorsk
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
-------------------- Horse, light (combat trained) Horse N Large animal Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +6 --------------------
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
Distribution of forces (needs updating):
Four Hellknights will be posted in Swordhaven. They will assist with the training of the militia, and occasionally patrol the streets making use of detect chaos. They will report to me if they discover any powerful agent of chaos has entered the city. They will not typically involve themselves in law enforcement - Casimir's spy network is a much more effective tool for catching common criminals than Hellknights noisily marching around. Two Hellknights will be posted in Kardas' two or three most vulnerable hamlets. They will be instructed to destroy any attackers, or at least delay them long enough for an evacuation. They will need to work closely with Kalev's boarder patrols. Finally, a pair of Hellknights will be kept aside for special missions. This will typically be plain-clothes recon of the wider river kingdoms, so if any of the Hellknights have a minor amount of skill in subterfuge that would be a benefit. These two Hellknights will, at present, be accompanying our envoy to Varnhold. The Armigers will have three stages to their training. The third with the least experience will be based in Swordhaven and train alongside the militia. The middling third will be in the citadel's garrison and will focus on their studies as well as continuing their martial training. The most experienced third will support the pairs of Hellknights guarding the boarder hamlets. Should any one of them aid in repelling a particularly vicious raid it will be time to consider their trial. Ricter will spend three quaters of his time in Swordhaven, but will regularly visit the citadel to meet with Gracius and the Hellknights guarding the hamlets. This means that when the Surtova force approaches there are four Hellknights and about twelve Armigers, as well as Ricter himself, present in Swordhaven. One of the Armigers will be dispatched to the citadel to summon another four Hellknights - the Armigers and Gracius will stay in the citadel to keep it defended.
Lieutenants:
Exceptional Lieutenant- Kesten Garess (former General, Noble and Soldier, a very efficient “aide de camp” for strategy and logistics) Superior Lieutenant- Hellknight Pellius (formidable warrior who specialises in “bringing wanted men in”. Particularly skilled at disarming foes and an expert on exotic weaponry) Decent Lieutenant- Balthus (recently rescued slave who appears to be at least as loyal and strong as most of Ricter’s Hellknight, if perhaps not particularly intelligent) Signifer Grachius is primarily involved with the Hellknights rather than the kingdom itself and acts as de facto leader in Ricter’s absence. As General, the militia report to Ricter and by default, so do any army leaders that are not Statkari. |
