IKRPG! Life in Khardov, Part 4 : House Ygevny

Last of the three main antagonist Kayazy houses in Khardov, House Ygevny is the smallest but, in many ways, the most dangerous of the trio.  If Drago Katzoff is after the citizens of Khador's minds, and Stefani Ryumin is after their souls, then Kerwyn Ygevny is after their bodies, which is much, much easier to get.  In it's legitimate side, Ygevny produces some of Khador's finest mechanika, and can command vast prices for even the most basic of gear.  For the Khadoran who can't afford the luxury prices of their mechanika, Ygevny also produce a large amount of the day-to-day alchemy that even the poorest citizen of Khardov uses, from curatives to vermin poisons to various etching acids.

House Ygevny primarily focuses it's less than legal side on kidnapping, organ and human trafficking, and necromancy.  They rely on smaller, more elite groups of enforcers, boasting a large percentage of mages, alchemists and mechaniks and, when that fails, Ygevny has a horde of thralls and failed experiments he can unleash on anyone who opposes him.  Rather than criminal activity for profit, House Ygevny sends most of it's results to Doctor Arkadius for grisly research into human "improvement".

Kerwyn Ygevny
Kerwyn Ygevny is an old, cantankerous bastard who comes from an old money family, of which he is the last of his line.  While this doesn't bother him, he is mildly more concerned with the grim realisation that his money won't keep him alive forever on it's own, and after contracting Rip Lung (the disease of choice for old bastards who need to die painfully), it's dawned on him that, if he's going to live another eighty years, he'll have to be more proactive in finding both a cure AND a way of discovering how to prolong his life.

He's part of my Malifaux Crew.  Different bases, naturally.

To this end, Ygevny has moved his entire empire into alchemy and mechanika to research extending his life - everything from alchemical cures to give him a few more years to technology such that they used on Karchev to keep him going well into his 150's.  He's already had to get his leg into a brace, and wears a mechanikal breathing apparatus to keep his withered lungs moving.  He is, in short, a wreck.

But this just means he's more dangerous than ever.  While he doesn't have the gift, Ygevny has learnt several necromantic rituals that don't require any natural ability, from jets of acid that melt flesh from bone, to the ability to raise crude thralls, to withering waves of crippling pain and nausea.  He also has several mechanikal and alchemical surprises, including his cane (a rather boring ice blast) and several types of bombs.

Jynnasa
A former mercenary and friend of Kerwyn, Jynnasa is an Iosan rebel who left her homeland to see the kingdoms of Western Imorren.  Far from it being a wasteland of inferior races and nations looking to destroy the Iosans, she found a continent full of people who could challenge her, physically, mentally and spiritually.  Now that the Retribution has come to power in Ios, she fears her now-human sympathising ways would get her in trouble, if not killed, and she has chosen to ride out the rest of her life with Kerwyn Ygevny - a man who is both as intelligent as her, and (don't remind Ygevny) about her age.

Uhh...  Yeah.  She's an elf!  Honest!

There's a simple rule with Jynnasa - never fight her one-on-one.  As a very, very powerful gunmage and a crack shot, she will leave two enemies dead in less than a second, or one person really dead.  She is the master of the magelock pistol, and is a very, very nasty combatant.

Borosh Gostaff
Head among Ygevny's alchemists, Gostaff is about as legitimate as a genius in the field of alchemy to be and, as long as his "eccentricities" are catered to, he is capable of mixing his employer the world in his lab.  Occasionally, he'll wander off for a few days and only return after a spate of disappearances in the city start raising questions.  Rumours that he concocts his greatest elixirs with human body parts are, of course, totally unsubstantiated.

The name has changed from Gorman.  Not much else has.

Gostaff is a master of stealth, seemingly capable of shifting between shadows as he pelts his targets with either acids or choke bombs, dependant on if he wants corpses or experiments.  He hunts alone, but he's physically frail, and will drop if he's hit.

Gron
A "present" from Doctor Arkadius, Gron is an alchemically-improved Farrow with improved strength and toughness over his already strong and naturally resilient species.    While he generally does whatever he feels like, he is primarily invested in keeping Doctor Arkadius supplied with human subjects to experiment on, and in turn supplies Ygevny with a constant stream of magical and alchemical supplies which may help extend his life.

In this photo; Rorsh casts Blur!

Gron is almost as strong as an Ogrun and as tough as a Trollkin, as well as a fair shot with his rifle.  He also carries several grenades and sticks of dynamite for if he needs to fight several enemies at once, but he will tend towards just wading in with his fists.

That's it for the Kayazy Houses!  Next up, I'll be starting on the NPC "parties", starting with the Rusalka Kids, Ordic River Pirates!