IKRPG! Life in Khardov, Part 8 : The Winter Guard

And so here we are, the final chapter on the organisations of my Khardov campaign, and into the biggest single group in the whole damn city - the Khadoran military!  That is, of course, a bit misleading - the Khadoran military in Khardov aren't TECHNICALLY a single group, as the garrison is split up into smaller barracks throughout the city, and each individual barracks has essentially aligned itself to either the corrupt Kommander Konstantin, or the young, idealistic Kaptain Posdanovich.

While tensions on both sides are reaching boiling point, they have been currently kept in check by both the fact they are being kept busy undermining each other, and the knowledge that if they erupted into open war in the streets, the rest of the Khadoran army would come and crush both sides to restore order.  Either side could be talked into helping the party or, in a world that only exists with player characters, they could be convinced to team up against the a threat to Khador.

Kommander Matvey Konstantin

Kommander Konstantin is not a bad man, he's just old and tired; a soldier too young to retire, too ornery to adapt and too unremarkable to be promoted.  When agents for a group of Kayazy came to him and suggested that it may be worth his while to let the Olcheniy deal with a larger number of threats in the city, he couldn't see a downside, especially if it kept his men out of gang fights and alive a bit longer.  Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case - the Kayazy took over more of the city and allowed crime to happen so long as it benefited them.  By the time he realised how deep he was in, it was too late, and he directs his Winter Guard to keep the status quo intact while he drowns himself in fine Uiske and hooaga.

Actually a pirate.  Don't tell anyone.

Despite his attempts to slowly poison himself to death, he's still a fit and strong man, a true Khard.  He will not suffer fools who try to kill him to live, and will happily bring down his foes with his ornate handcannons and, if all else fails, his fists.  Above all, he fights like someone who, in his heart of hearts, knows he doesn't want to die.

Kaptain Olga Posdanovich
Kaptain Posdanovich is one of a new breed of young, idealistic officers who have graduated from the Dhruznia Academy and sent to Winter Guard units with a mind to make a difference.  When she arrived in Khardov, she found a garrison that stayed in it's barracks, seemingly under siege from criminals who ran the city.  She took her recruits and she started making her mark on the city, busting gangs and destroying illicit operations around her barracks.  After a while, she uncovered evidence of her superior's corruption, and started a crusade against the older guard, desperate to prove herself as an officer and to regain the trust of the people, which she still feels has been lost by the actions of the previous garrison.

Well, I used Bull earlier in this lot, so I kinda HAD to use Blythe, right?  I still haven't found a use for Holt.

Olga makes no claim to subtlety, cheerily carving through her enemies with her greatsword with a sense of conviction gained from the knowledge that everyone she kills is an enemy of the motherland - criminals weaken the Motherland, which is tantamount to treason in her eyes.  As a result, anything goes and, when she knows she's fighting for the Motherland, there's very little on Imorren which will stop her.

Anshyll Styrr

A refugee from the destruction of the Nyss, Anshyll has given up hope on her species utterly.  Not knowing nor caring about the recovery of Nyssor, she has taken up the life of a Bounty Hunter and, with her father's Claymore, has ended the lives of more lawbreakers, bandits and outlaws than almost any other hunter in Khardov.  To this end, she's taken up almost permanent residence in the central barracks to check for new bounties and rumours of pay days across the city.

In the interests of multiculturalism, this is the campaign's token Nyss.

If Olga is the unsubtle, screaming zealot with a zweihander, Anshyll is the graceful war dancer.  Spinning and slashing through her enemies, she is a firm believer in "dead" makes for easier bounties, and will happily murder anyone with a price on their heads.  While she tends to kill criminals for money, she's not above killing people who get in her way, and in any other society would be regarded as a vicious sociopath.

Prikaz Agent Dhakun Volvodar

Agent Vovodar is a believer.  He's a strict Morrowan, a patriotic Khadoran and a firm proponent of the concept that the ends will always justify the means.  After years of war with Cygnar, Cryx, the Protectorate, Llael, Ios (unofficially), he came home to discover a country that had been taken over by money-grabbers, bean counters and, worst of all, the corrupt.  Using his contacts in the Greylords, he found a team of six veteran Winter Guard, and brought them into the city undercover to clean up the worst scum of Khardov.

"I have a fuzzy hat!  AND A FEZ!  RAWWRGH!"  Yeah.  Badass.

Dhakun is an old man now, and will be happy dying knowing that he's doing all he can to bring down the cancer rotting away at the heart of Khardov.  Still, his strength never came from having a youthful body - it came from his total mastery of the powers of ice and wind.  If it ever comes up, he can freeze his enemies in place, bombard them with ice and obliterate them with howling gales.  And he can hit them with his axe, if he wants.  I wouldn't risk it though.

Aaand that concludes the groups of Khardov!  I may or may not post up my first impressions of the IKRPG on Wednesday when (Scyrah willing) I pick up the book, but until then...  Dasvidanya!