Mercenaries

Well. i just noticed that mercenaries aren't all fleshed out on the wiki, so I took my own time to develop a system on how they would function in Negav and other areas. I should say that i highly encourage you to make your own fiction of merc units or flesh out the ones i named in the post. Excluding the Big two I will mention in the topic. Those two you'll need my Consent and guidance before having tasty fiction on them.

Credits to CauldronBorn for editing,adding additional information and AJ's approval for an OK GO.

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In Felarya, privately contracted military units have been doing a lot of the fighting, treasure hunting and expanding and in some extreme cases recruiting the larger life to their ranks. Some are only in it for the cash, some for principle, but whatever the reason mercenary forces run the gamut from some of the most disreputable to the most elite troops around. Many mercenary companies, or their constituents, do not survive their first steps on Felaryan soil, but dozens have gone on to become successful, trusted units that form key parts of their employers' Interest.

The mercenary business

The Magiocrats personal security force and fighting arm, The Isolon Fists, originally used to regulate mercenary contracts through their Mercenary review board, the IFMRB. However this was replaced by the Negav Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission which is jointly administered by the Vishmitals, other city factions and mercenary representatives after its establishment in 2032AU. Registration with and regulation through the IFMRB and its successor, the NMRBC, is mandatory for a given mercenary unit in order to be considered legitimate, otherwise it is usually regarded as a bandit force. This gives the IFMRB/NMRBC and their rating system an uncontested monopoly over establishing a given unit's reputation, and the power to arbitrate alleged breaches of contract and even declare a unit rogue.

The longtime overall center of the mercenary business used to be the Galaxiea Bizarre market in Negav's Lower Tier, then known as a premier Mercenary's Center. It was gradually eclipsed in this role by The Kensha Hussars new head establishment 'Fortunes Keep' after 2005 AU until the latter was devastated by a fire which passed through the area, causing most the area near it to be demolished, the damage caused by the fire was too great for just repairs alone. The cause of the fire remains unknown but many speculate it had something to do with mercenary activity. The recruitment of these mercenaries is not limited to Negav alone; at any given time a various number of other towns/settlements and even several worlds connected to Negav feature notable Hiring Centers for mercenaries, some more reputable than others.

Quite a few among the vast number of mercenaries stand out; owing to their special history, outlook or connections. The 51st Estronge Black Horse Regiment, for example, is one of those that take pride in being a remnant from the fabled RNDF (Royal Negavian Defense Force) while being the biggest unit around. Others, like Kensha Hussars or C’tal Irregulars, have their own agenda besides their mercenary business. Some units such as the Battle Magics are not truly independent, but are affiliated with one particular party or faction; others are tied to a specific landhold, like Jason’s horde, often patrolling The Toshmehal forest.

Some mercenary forces are mutinous regular forces who abandoned their original masters. Conversely, others are tied to a single employer through long-time contracts, and occasionally become regular forces of that employer. McCall’s Armored Furies is now considered to be a legitimate part of the Vishmital army and Team Celestial Casters is rumored to have been absorbed by the Isolon Fists owing to their contract with the Ps'isol Magiocrats.

Although uncommon to practice, mercenaries take quite a trend in trying to recruit local Predators or other creatures to add to their ranks. Often sending the most socially adept and charismatic of their personal to try and negotiate. Off course most often the result ends up with the negotiators being eaten. Some that are successful use the predators to scout around the area they are working in and to 'up' their presence. It has even been documented that some units would intentionally steal a predator egg or wager goods to expected mothers to try and raise the infants as their own; most often as killing machines or to act as an ambassador with that specific race for future dealings. Although this makes some employers uneasy and skeptical to hire a unit actively practicing such activity.

The distinction between regular armed forces, mercenaries, private security forces, privateers and outright pirates is often blurred. A mercenary unit can be classed as "rogue" by the IFMRB/NMRBC breach of contract or war crimes. Others descend into piracy for need of spare parts or while fleeing from obliteration. (The Privacy Store action; known jokingly by local mercs as “Dickwad storing” is a deliberate effort by employers to bring mercenaries near bankruptcy to gain absolute control over them. This a frequent cause for discord and may force units to either renege on their contracts or face absorption by their employer.) Conversely, Some pirates are occasionally hired out as mercenary troops, though this is seen as illegal by the IFMRB/NMRBC.

Arguably the most famous mercenary units are Kensha Hussars, the 51st Estronge Black Horse regiment, (I will leave open slots for a chance of those that can use their creativity to make famous/infamous Units and to better flesh out the topic for canon or fun. Of course that’s if you can beat my imagination, which would be a fun case. Though I will let you meddle with the ones above on my consent First. ) can demand virtually any price they wish for their services.

Islon Fist Mercenary Review Board

The NMRBC and its predecessor, the IFMRB, functions as a mercenary guild, brokering and arbitrating mercenary contracts to eager employers throughout the land of known Felarya while also conducting business with off world connections. If a mercenary unit is not registered with the IFMRB/NMRBC then it is not usually considered to be a legitimate mercenary and is therefore a nothing but a group of bandits or pirates. Such groups are illegal and at the full mercy of the law. Although units who do not conduct business within Negav operate outside the IFMRB/NMRBC's jurisdiction; there are rumors however that some mercenary groups use false claims so they can work outside of the IFMRB/NMRBC and escape prosecution.

Apart from registering mercenaries and providing a ranking system to gauge performance and reliability, the IFMRB/NMRBC also serves as a court of arbitration in contract disputes for both employers and mercenaries.

Arbitration of contracts by the Isolon Fist Mercenary Review Board, under direction from their Magiocrat masters, provided a valuable safeguard as any unit failing to perform contracted services after vowing to do so found itself unable to evade the Magiocrat's almost universal reach over Negav. The Isolon Fists with the assistance of the Investigators would inform other potential employers of a rogue unit's actions and had the power to threaten an interdiction against any faction or group employing such a unit. To ensure fair dealings on the part of employers as well as those they hired, the IFMRB provided for a panel of administrators to hear claims concerning breaches of faith and to judge the veracity of complaints. Upon reaching a verdict, the panel would report back the Isolon Fists where further action would be taken depending on the judgment reached. As the reputations of mercenary units and their employers have a bearing on subsequent negotiations involving other units or Factions, violating contractual terms offered little profit to any concerned.

History

Formed not long after the Magiocrat's ascension to power, the Isolon Fist Mercenary Review Board was established as a way to allow trusted Isolon Fist commanders to serve as brokers for all mercenaries and their employers in the Negav. The market place of the Galaxiea Bizarre with its numerous Hiring Centers became the "Mercenary's Hall", the greatest center of the mercenary trade in the City where mercenaries could train, rest, repair and negotiate their contracts.

While publicly accepted as a means to ensure neutral dealings for all parties, the Magiocrats in truth developed the IFMRB as a clandestine means to monitor and control mercenary forces dealing in, out and through the city.

Fortunes Keep

The first real change in the mercenary business in Decades came in small steps, and did not affect the Mercenary Review Board as such. Kensha Hussars were granted a decent sized private owned property in the Lower Tier of Negav for their services, to start a business. Naming it of ‘Fortunes Keep’ in 2005 AU and began to establish it as a new Hiring Center. The center of Negav's mercenary business gradually shifted from Galaxia Bizarre to Fortunes Keep; The Bizarre remained a major mercenary center, and several other, minor Hiring Centers exist elsewhere.

The end of the Islon Fist Mercenary Review Board

The existence of the IFMRB created a Magiocrat controlled monopoly on mercenary organizations and activities. As the Vishmitals became a more prominant political force within Negav, their need for mercenaries grew as their forces grew increasingly stretched due to near constant covert attacks by the Investigator's Metropolitian Security Division who saw the Vishmitals as a threat to the Magiocrats. The Vishmitals were in a no win situation as their efforts to hire legal mercenary groups were constantly blocked; the use of illegal groups gave the MSD all the more reasons to attack them. Yet the mercenaries were also unhappy at the situation; they were losing valuable business under the Magiocrat monopoly, while IFMRB rules prevented them from doing otherwise. This general discontent felt around Negav eventually led to political change and concessions of power; the Magiocrats ending their total control of Negav's security, this included the IFMRB. The influential Kensha Hussars announced the IFMRB dissolved and for a brief moment became the main authority concerning mercenaries.

The Negav Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission

To replace the defunct IFMRB, the major factions within the city agreed to have the Board re-form as a jointly administered committee made up of representatives from each major influential factions. The Magiocrats, through the Isolon Fists, and the Vishmitals both maintain a permanent seat; another seat was granted to Kensha Hussars, arguably the most famous mercenary unit on the continent. Fortunes Keep, the permanent headquarters of the Kensha Hussars and premier Hiring Center, was chosen as the official home of the new Negav Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (NMRBC) which formed in 2032 AU.

The NMRBC essentially continues the IFMRB's business. In reference to Kensha Hussars, who represent the mercenary trade, the quality ratings for mercenary units established by the NMRBC became colloquially known as "Hussar Rating".

Following the massive destruction inflicted on Fortunes Keep in a mysterious fire, the NMRBC moved back to the market place of the Galaxiea Bizarre, where they had previously only maintained a subsidiary bureau.

Okay, I gotta admit, this is a really interesting and well thought out idea.

The chain of events sounds plausible, and the amount of history and lore you generated for it is impressive. It was a pretty interesting read too.

Nice work ^^

A good read, and a believable story. I'm really interested to see all the colourful mercenary units people will think of. I have two to suggest, if that's all right.

Blackjack Mercenary Squadron

The Blackjack Mercenary Squadron (or Blackjacks for short) are a classic example of a group of mercenaries who have been trapped by their employer. Formerly lead by Westler, the creator of Westler's Weapons and Explosives Emporium, they wound up becoming his private security force after he created his new business. Made up of those with special talents who are too stupid, desperate or loathed to get a job anywhere else, the Blackjacks are still registered with the NMBRC, but their contracts are typically given to them through Westler.

Fairy Assualt Corps Elite

Occasionally, a young fairy will leave their pack because they are tired of being told they can do whatever they like. They will rebel against the long held fairy traditions of anarchy and disorder and begin having strange ideas of obedience to authority, organistation and responsibility. These youthful fairies will typically join the Fairy Assault Corps Elite, a mercenary squad which operates out of the Motamo Docks, outside of Negav. This group is made up of roughly a dozen fairies at any time, as well as around half a dozen supporting warriors of various races. It has a very high turnover rate, as young fairies will often leave after a tour with them, getting their desire to be ordered out of their system and then heading back to their packs, and the supporting warriors have a nasty habit of being lynched if they return to Negav. They are lead by Drekka, a Crimson Maiden who was kicked out of her home for being too strict. It is rumoured she has never lowered her voice below a shout and has stared down Leviathan Mermaids without flinching. The FACE is one of the more hated mercenary groups around Negav, but it is also one of the more successful, so it continues to get contracts, despite its employers reserved feelings.

Felarya with mercenaries... makes a lot of sense. I could see a lot of smaller Merc bands refrain from registration merely because it opens some business opportunities (closes a few at the same time, but when factoring in that they're essentially a force that isn't officially recognized it gives room for assassinations, spontaneous bodyguard hiring, less redtape to 'official' add them to your security panels and the like, etcetera).

I'll refrain from posting my own Merc ideas and the like until I see a few more fleshed out, but very interesting.

I'm glad to see this topic picking up some steam, while I'm currenty focused on the Investigators it is nice to see the Security asspect of Negav being fleshed out more, afterall there are endless possibilities when it comes to mercenaries of private groups.

Possible advantages / disadvantages I can state right now for mercs:

Advantage: Often come pre-supplied with basic equipment. Thus, you often don't need to buy them anything beyond objective-specific gear (or, depending on how well you're paying them, not even that!) as they should have their own schwag / personal weapons.

Disadvantage: They can, quite handily, be bought out underneath you. Either while in your service, or beforehand. For example: Say there's a contest hosted by some Negavian Mages to acquire spell lore & books from a recently opened portal to a "dead" civilization. There's this great Mercenary band that makes wonderful use of porta- no, wait, they were bought. Well, there's the FACE, they can all fly so they've got an e- huh, hired by your neighbor. Well, you could buy either of them for yourself for a little more... they're paying how much to ensure loyalty?!


Advantage: Politically, you're not getting involved with rivals / owing favors. You could borrow personal guard from a very impressive retinue of a lord / lady... but then you're very probable to owe a favor at a later date (or be forced to compensate at excessive levels, for instance giving said lord / lady the book you hired the guard to acquire). Mercs, not so much. They can change their prices on the fly, but that's poor business (unless a notable situation change occurred). You don't have to owe anything to your political peers either, so you maintain some autonomy.

Disadvantage: Random in terms of quality. The big-names are obviously at least decent in quality, but expensive too. That one band that's charging 40% less than the offer of FACE to do your mission? They could be as good, possibly even better, but they could also be a damn sight worse. They're new to the market, and even with the Negav rating system there's ways to cheat such.

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Disadvantage: They can, quite handily, be bought out underneath you.

No professional mercenary group would do that. The only thing mercenaries have is their reputation. If they have been known to let themselves be bought out from under a client, to doublecross that client, no one else will hire them. If we end up using Vix's merc guild idea, those are probably the kinds of actions that causes the guild to lower that mercenary group's rating with the guild.

Mercenaries typically operate on a contract system. They are contracted to achieve a certain goal in exchange for payment. Any group that routinely breaks its contracts will quickly lose any and all credibility.

Could a group that you hired as bodyguards in the past be hired by someone else to sabotage you? Sure. That is perfectly fair, since they would have completed their contract with you, and are now on a new contract with someone else. Mercenaries do not care so much about loyalty as they do professionalism. Once you have a contract set and in place, you honor it. Breaking a contract says very bad things about your mercenary group and will lead to fewer people hiring you in the future.

But yeah, mercenaries are good because they fill in the gaps. I honestly don't think most of them would be on epic missions or anything so exciting. I would imagine the most common use of mercenaries by far would be for private security. The Isolon Fist only cares about Magiocrat assets, the Vishmitals' army only cares about their assets, and the various police forces within Negav just cannot prevent all crimes. I think it would be common practice for the better off inn-keepers, shop owners, bar owners, traders and such to hire on people from a Private Security Contractor.

Its really a pretty good deal for the mercs. They get to sit around and just make sure no one causes trouble.

There probably are cases where a more dangerous task is undertaken, maybe even things that require a trip into the jungle, but I imagine those would be much rarer, and much more expensive.

Okay, changing the name of the Fairy Assualt Corps Elite to the Anti-Wanker Super Uber Mighties. It's silly, and seems to fit better with fairies. I was originally just going to post it in the rumour section but I really like it.

Characters in AWSUM:

Sergeant Drekka: Crimson Fairy

Midshipwoman Dana: Water Sprite

Corporal Zatara: Dusk Nymph

Private Millionth Class Jibbity: Hyperactive Fairy

rcs619 wrote:

Quote :

Disadvantage: They can, quite handily, be bought out underneath you.

No professional mercenary group would do that. The only thing mercenaries have is their reputation. If they have been known to let themselves be bought out from under a client, to doublecross that client, no one else will hire them. If we end up using Vix's merc guild idea, those are probably the kinds of actions that causes the guild to lower that mercenary group's rating with the guild.

Mercenaries typically operate on a contract system. They are contracted to achieve a certain goal in exchange for payment. Any group that routinely breaks its contracts will quickly lose any and all credibility.

Could a group that you hired as bodyguards in the past be hired by someone else to sabotage you? Sure. That is perfectly fair, since they would have completed their contract with you, and are now on a new contract with someone else. Mercenaries do not care so much about loyalty as they do professionalism. Once you have a contract set and in place, you honor it. Breaking a contract says very bad things about your mercenary group and will lead to fewer people hiring you in the future.

But yeah, mercenaries are good because they fill in the gaps. I honestly don't think most of them would be on epic missions or anything so exciting. I would imagine the most common use of mercenaries by far would be for private security. The Isolon Fist only cares about Magiocrat assets, the Vishmitals' army only cares about their assets, and the various police forces within Negav just cannot prevent all crimes. I think it would be common practice for the better off inn-keepers, shop owners, bar owners, traders and such to hire on people from a Private Security Contractor.

Its really a pretty good deal for the mercs. They get to sit around and just make sure no one causes trouble.

There probably are cases where a more dangerous task is undertaken, maybe even things that require a trip into the jungle, but I imagine those would be much rarer, and much more expensive.

I'd agree with Cliff here, after all being bought out will class as breaking a current contract. It is up to the IFMRB/NMRBC to stop that sort of thing in the first place, however a mercenary group which does so won't just have their ratings lowered they could very well be classed as bandits which isn't a good thing.

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Disadvantage: They can, quite handily, be bought out underneath you.

No professional mercenary group would do that. The only thing mercenaries have is their reputation. If they have been known to let themselves be bought out from under a client, to doublecross that client, no one else will hire them. If we end up using Vix's merc guild idea, those are probably the kinds of actions that causes the guild to lower that mercenary group's rating with the guild.

mercenaries can contract other mercenaries. Its not a bad idea to do so.Especially when your pulling off big operations such as making a settlement or defending one.

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But yeah, mercenaries are good because they fill in the gaps. I honestly don't think most of them would be on epic missions or anything so exciting. I would imagine the most common use of mercenaries by far would be for private security. The Isolon Fist only cares about Magiocrat assets, the Vishmitals' army only cares about their assets, and the various police forces within Negav just cannot prevent all crimes. I think it would be common practice for the better off inn-keepers, shop owners, bar owners, traders and such to hire on people from a Private Security Contractor.

Its really a pretty good deal for the mercs. They get to sit around and just make sure no one causes trouble.

There probably are cases where a more dangerous task is undertaken, maybe even things that require a trip into the jungle, but I imagine those would be much rarer, and much more expensive.

As much as you would like to think that. mercenaries are hired Guns. Just like adventurers, most minds of mercenaries are adventure, excitement, adrenaline rush, and gaining something while they venture out into the world. Infact they might even be the least people sitting around unless they don't want to get obliterated, or want to take a rest.

Hehe. This is a great idea and a great way of putting it. I've gotta try my hand at this.

The 1st Supprozadian

The 1st Supprozadian is a mercenary group comprised nearly entirely of dridders. Despite the name, the regiment operates out of the Motamo Docks. The name does show however the rigid adherence to old dridder traditions within this regiment. They wish to represent themselves as a military icon of the olden days of dridder kind, when the armies of Supprozad conquered far and wide. Regardless, their endless parading, immaculate violet uniforms and endless traditions makes them seem to many to be simply stuffy and showy. As bad as the regular troops are, the officers are almost worse, being very old dridders even more engrained in their way, mostly spending their time drinking dridder tea and waving around their swagger sticks while yelling at new recruits. However, this bravado is earned to a great degree. The 1st is a fearsome force due to its intense discipline, its dridder soldiers fighting in perfect coordination, charging the enemy with lances, then fighting with sabre and pistol. They are also incredibly stubborn, fighting their way into dangerous situations and sticking through to the bloody end. Needless to say, they command a very high price on the Mercenary market.

The Coven

The Coven is a group operating from Negav, independently from the Elven District of the city, in the Higher Tier of the city. They are a group that is part cult, part mercenary group, part dueling school and part small magical army. The Coven is made up of adherents to the Elven Goddess of War. They emphasis a combination of swordsmanship and magic used together, relying on neither solely but able to call on both with equal ease. The Coven uses mercenary work as a way to fund itself while sating their appetite for violence at the same time. If one is not an Elven sorceress it is difficult to gain admittance, though not impossible. The Coven is a dangerous enemy for any small sized foe, though they have been known to put bloodshed over their actual mission on occasion and many members are itching for any chance to prove their prowess. Their lack of discipline has led to problems in the past, however.

Pit Fighters

The "Pit Fighters" are a motley assortment of gangsters, thugs, thieves and even many forcibly recruited poor folk. They are dredged from the poorer areas of area by their officers, most notably the Pit, where the group gets its name. These officers then sell off the services of their ragged crew for discount prices on the assumption that most will die. While many members of the Pit Fighters are simply incompetent thugs, there must be something to be said for taking desperate, dangerous and ruthless men and women, arming them better than they ever have been in their lives, putting them in a situation of high stress and promising them cash if they survive the ordeal. The Pit Fighters do battle like cornered beasts and they will do anything to survive.

ravaging vixens wrote:

As much as you would like to think that. mercenaries are hired Guns. Just like adventurers, most minds of mercenaries are adventure, excitement, adrenaline rush, and gaining something while they venture out into the world. Infact they might even be the least people sitting around unless they don't want to get obliterated, or want to take a rest.

It really depends what they are hired to do; most mercs may dream of a life of adventure but when they are contracted to guard a bar, well they're stuck, then again they can always listen to the tall tales told by the bar's patrons.

Ohh very interesting thread here

Ravaginx vixens : I think you did a great job at defining what mercnaries are and how they integrate in Felarya. It's well though off and credible in the Negav general picture. Great work !

I just think we could find perhaps simpler names for different organizations rather than "IFMRB" or such which become a bit hard to remember when there is lot of them ^^;

Karbo wrote:

I just think we could find perhaps simpler names for different organizations rather than "IFMRB" or such which become a bit hard to remember when there is lot of them ^^;

Part of the point of The Negav Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission is that it's the only one.
If another were to be made then the first would be decommissioned.

Since everyone else has started putting down bands (or, more accurately, a band):


Sons of Stathis

Sons of Stathis operate predominantly from Negav, though are known to have assorted bolt-holes ranging from Negav and Nekomura all the way to the Ur-Sagol ruins and Great Marshes. Composed entirely of man-sized and smaller beings, the lack of noble prestige or giant members does not signal a lack of capability on their part. What is lacked in sheer muscle or political support is replaced with a knack for surviving as a rock in a hard place and a wide enough repertoire of skills to double as adventurers-for-hire.

The Sons of Stathis were founded when a handful of bloodied, exhausted persons made their way to Negav's gates. Though few can verify their tale, the last of the founders ten years dead by this point, the Sons claim to have been enslaved victims of the portals to Felarya who were conscripted to work along the Ascarlin Mountains in the Diamond Mines. Biding their time, two score overthrew their guards when the time was right and fled through the caves. Here is where the survivors learned the tale of Stathis, a legendary slave-warrior from one of the miners' homeworld who lead a revolt against his masters and bought freedom for his comrades.

No Son of Stathis would fully relate the tale of their escape, though by their arrival in Negav nearly all the ex-slaves had fallen to assorted dangers of Felarya. The tendency of one Son to look to the sky leads many to believe that Harpies, a solitary one or band in particular, may have been responsible for a particular number of the losses. Upon reaching Negav, funded by what scraps of the mine they could carry, the survivors made their way into the city. Finding their new-found 'wealth' much less impressive than they once thought, barely a tool to their name, the escapees turned to organized labor - adopting the name of the "Sons of Stathis" in honor of both the warrior and the slain comrade.

Current membership of the Sons of Stathis is in the high double-digits, though through various associates and minor contracts their number can extend to almost ten-score in a bind. Members of the Sons of Stathis are picked for their skill and their drive to survive: Specialists are trained in other matters but allowed to continue work in what they do best.

Work by the Sons of Stathis ranges from babysitting a noble's daughter or enforcing order at a rowdy bar to examining arcane ruins as far as Imoreith Tundra and stealing a lost cache from a marauding Naga. If you have a job, they might very well accept it. The Sons are commonly known by many as an extremely picky and paranoid band. While rumor inflates the degree of each, there is merit to the mumblings. The Sons of Stathis refuse to sign to any task without full knowledge of what they're getting into, and have a very poor reaction to being deceived or hung out to dry. If the Sons feel their employers are setting the bar too high, are withholding vital information, or to be stabbed in the back along the end of the deal, they feel no hesitance (besides perhaps the lack of jingle in their coin-pouches) refraining from an arrangement or cutting a deal off then and there. "Caring for your own" is much more important to the Sons than reputation or profit.

The Survivors

The Survivors mostly operate from Negav, but no mission is too dangerous or too far away for these mercenaries. The Survivors were founded by a group of humans, elves, and nekos who, as their name implies, survived a predator attack and witnessed their friends being devourered one by one. They take on missions either out of revenge, out of pride, for money, for glory, and other personal, potentially shadier or nobler, motivations.

The Survivors follow no true moral code to accomplish their mission. Everything is fair game to survive in the wild. A such, if they are commissioned to partake during particularly dangerous missions, they tend to rent heavy weaponry out of the black market, as well as forbidden spells and artifacts to improve their chance of success, and then return them immediately to keep their illegal deals hidden. However, they have one common rule: they do not negociate or ally with predators of any kind, be they giant or not.

The Survivors consider all alliances with any race of predators as an act of treason toward their species, and when not commissioned on a mission, they track humans and elves with a connection with a predator or more. They will then attempt to bring said individual alive back to Negav to face judgement if reasonably practical. If not, they usually execute the person on the spot.

While this is the mission they take on the most often, they will take on any assignment they deem worthwile. This can range to protecting caravans, minor investigations, clearing paths or mines filled with predatory beasts, to temporary bodyguard duties, to actual part-time jobs within the city. Since most of their tasks take them outside Negav's walls, they usually deploy a group of around eight or ten members in average, to form a group large enough to back each other up adequately, but small enough as to not draw a lot of attention. For especially dangerous missions, they will send at most a group of twelve.

The Survivors follow and study the most meticulous survival tactics to improve the efficiency of their team. They usually hire Neko and Elf members as scouts thanks to their great agility and keen senses respectively. Elves are usually hired either as mages to turn the tides of a difficult situation, or as sharpshooters to take down a large threat from the shadows. Humans usually handle the more powerful and destructive weapons, such as various assault rifles and explosives. Whenever a previous expedition failed, either because they could not accomplish their objectives, or most or all of their band was wiped out, the other members will begin analyzing the situation and discern what was the cause of failure and iron it out as soon as possible.

The Survivors prefer accomplishing their assignments their own way. While generally effective, their methods tend to be seen as maverick, which tend to upset employers with stricter procedures, and even irk the NMRBC. Despite several internal investigations, only evidences of minor wrong doings have been found, so no serious actions have been taken against the Survivors outside of warnings.

Part of their "tradition" is to honor fallen members. While not overly religious, Clerics among their ranks are known to pray for fallen teammates everyday, and great funerals are usually performed even if only one member perished. Usually, the longer the Survivor was part of the group and the more he contributed, the more grand his or her funerals are.

Joining the Survivor usually involve a few preliminary tests to see how one would best assist the group, such as shooting, sharpshooting, scouting, infiltration, spellcasting, gadgetery, and more. A mind scan performed by a veteran mage member, due to the scarcity of psionics, is always performed to assure no spy or traitor attempt to infiltrate their ranks. If one passes, he will begin an intensive one-year survival training regiment before being allowed to gain first-hand experience in the field. They prefer to keep the names and the exact number of members anonymous, but suffice to say, it is close to breaking the 100 member mark.

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As much as you would like to think that. mercenaries are hired Guns. Just like adventurers, most minds of mercenaries are adventure, excitement, adrenaline rush, and gaining something while they venture out into the world. Infact they might even be the least people sitting around unless they don't want to get obliterated, or want to take a rest.

Not really.

Calling them hired guns is a bit short-sighted. Mercenaries are professional soldiers. They would have been in a military at some point most likely, and they go into merc work because they like being a soldier, and the private sector pays better.

If you want to see how mercenaries work in a modern setting, go look at merc groups (aka: Private Security Contractors) like Blackwater (or whatever they changed their name to), and other such groups. One of their main roles is being hired out as bodyguards for various piloticians in dangerous areas, carting them around town and keeping them and their assetts safe.

You would have a lot of that in Negav. Just because someone is a soldier for hire does not mean they are all like "I GOTTA GO SHOOT SHIT NOW!!! WHOOOO INTO THE JUNGLE!" In fact, I think MOST mercenary groups would only vary rarely accept jobs that go outside of the Eye's range...and those kinds of jobs would probably be VERY expensive and require quite a bit of collateral to make the potential loss of men and equipment worthwhile.

Any good mercenary group is going to be very selective in who they hire. They are looking for people who can follow contracts, people who have previous military experience, and people who excelled in that previous military work. These are highly trained profressionals who are working for a business. It is not good business practice to accept jobs that will more than likely end in all your employees dying.

Most of their money is going to be from private security. MP's for hire, essentially. It is a steady income (the employer is probably very likely going to renew the contract if the mercs provide good security), it is safer than the jungle...and honestly, it isn't going to be that boring. Especially in the field of bar/tavern security. Negav is a rough place, the security people probably get to pound on some drunk fool several times a night. They probably also do a lot of work in The Commons, the area outside of Negav's walls, but within the Eye's range. Lots of bandit groups roam around there, and there would be quite a few people looking for some security, and quite a few assets that would need protection.

Are there less polished merc groups that may crave adventure and danger? Sure...but they won't last long. They will go broke replacing men and equipment, or people will look at their performance history and go "Nope. Not working for those guys."

Exactly, rcs. A mercenary is usually a trained, freelance soldier. If they know thier job, and are professional about it, they get well-established and paid. If they don't, then they either a) die because they don't know their job or b) don't get hired.

Here's a group of mercs I mentioned in the Smiling man story.

The Catchers

A mercenary group that specializes in capturing predators. Though not as well-established as many groups, they are regularly contracted by off-world sources. They have access to decent military-grade weaponry and some fairly high-tech material, such as their special MPS (mobile portal system).

Their job is mostly to capture very young or smaller varieties of giant preds, for whatever reasons the client may have. An extremely dangerous occupation, but they are well-paid and usually get the job done. They often employ mid-level mages to act as a support unit for the regular soldiers. They will not, however, accept a contract for the capture of any adult pred, or one larger than about 25 feet tall. As such, they mostly use stealth to catch young predators or those species that do not grow very large.

They have about 150 mercenaries on-call for various jobs. The typical working group is about 5-10 members in the Felaryan wilderness, more if they accept a protection contract to be held in a city.

...Why is everyone making super-elite groups of super-mercs, that are going out and solo'ing predators and shit?

I mean, really. This is why we can't have nice things. Give someone an inch, and they start churning out super-soldiers.

Why no average mercs? People who are just trying to make a living and CAN'T go out and solo a pred every other day for their paycheck. You know, people who would actually have to WORK for their money and be interesting to hear about? The group of super-elite, ultra-badass pred-hunters has been done to death, and they are rarely interesting to read about. People who are super-elite, or "the best" at what they do are usually not that interesting. Where's the rag-tag groups, or the groups of average mercs?

Honestly, beating up on preds is what the Isolon Fist and Vismital army are for. You start having groups of CIVILLIANS start doing that all over the place, and those two armies start to lose what made them special.

There are probably going to be some limits on what people can bring through the dimensional gate, and people coming through are probably going to be searched and checked. I really doubt the Magiocrats and Vishmitals are going to let everyone in Negav go running around with rocket launchers and satchel charges. There are going to be laws, limits and such.

Um, Cliff, did you check my idea? I didn't mention that they solo preds. In fact, I may not have made it clear in their description, but they need strong teamwork to stand a chance in the wild.

I'm going to agree with cliff on this. Don't make super elite, predator soloing mercenary groups.
If you want to see mercs done right, I suggest looking at Stab's F.O.O.D mercenaries, specifically the 'Lessons' series.
Those are regular people armed with weapons that you could realistically get in Negav, trained in realistic ways.

Even Sean's 'Survivors' group is good. As he said, they don't try to take on predators, they just capture people who deal and ally with them. The only qualm I have with them is that they obtain advanced weaponry and forbidden spells off the black market yet are employed by the Magiocrats who they are at odds with. Seems a bit convoluted and possibly contradictory. Especially the part about forbidden spells. Magic is the Magiocrats area, they are the ones doing the forbidding. If someone starts using forbidden spells, especially an employee, they will do something about it.

Why do they even need that kind of stuff if they're just capturing people? Yes it can increase the chance of mission success, but (to use an analogy) you can also increase the chance of eradicating vermin from your house by burning it to the ground. The vermin are gone but it would have been cheaper to just lay mousetraps or buy a cat.

The thing is that I assume Negav pretty much hogs all the modern weapons for their own soldiers and let's face it, there are ought to be mages who aren't magiocrats. But I should remove the magiocrat part. Also, they don't ONLY capture people, they do other thing, but this is usually what they tend do the most. And... editted!

rcs619 wrote:

...Why is everyone making super-elite groups of super-mercs, that are going out and solo'ing predators and shit?

I mean, really. This is why we can't have nice things. Give someone an inch, and they start churning out super-soldiers.

Why no average mercs? People who are just trying to make a living and CAN'T go out and solo a pred every other day for their paycheck. You know, people who would actually have to WORK for their money and be interesting to hear about? The group of super-elite, ultra-badass pred-hunters has been done to death, and they are rarely interesting to read about. People who are super-elite, or "the best" at what they do are usually not that interesting. Where's the rag-tag groups, or the groups of average mercs?

Honestly, beating up on preds is what the Isolon Fist and Vismital army are for. You start having groups of CIVILLIANS start doing that all over the place, and those two armies start to lose what made them special.

There are probably going to be some limits on what people can bring through the dimensional gate, and people coming through are probably going to be searched and checked. I really doubt the Magiocrats and Vishmitals are going to let everyone in Negav go running around with rocket launchers and satchel charges. There are going to be laws, limits and such.

The Grunts

The Grunts are known to be a group of soldiers who specialize in domestic protection - i.e. being bodyguards inside Negav. New recruits are trained in the basics of urban warfare, given a sub machine gun and a bullet proof vest and sent on missions straight away. While they are not the most skilled soldiers out there, they are cheap, and there's always more of them. It is mostly made up of those too under qualified or infamous to get a job with any other mercenary group. As a result, it is expected that a new recruit will join the Grunts under a pseudonym and there are no background checks performed. They will gladly take on any job, from guarding bars to guarding VIPs, to fighting for a particular military - with one big exception. The Grunts will NEVER take a job that requires them to go outside of Negav. The more senior members of the Grunts view such an action as suicide and a waste of personnel who would be better sacrificed to fulfil contracts where they might actually get paid.

Thanks for pointing that out AJ and cliff. Uber mercenaries is something i don't really want as a common. infact I want all types so that would help me give them a "rating".

The rating system is based on how much personnel, Technology index,magic index,unification, and resource rate. This is going to work in letters as the Grades you would get in school.

So the survivors would be a C+ mainly due to the technology, and the magic a group of 10-20 individuals can perform yet short on numbers.

Quote :

There are probably going to be some limits on what people can bring through the dimensional gate, and people coming through are probably going to be searched and checked. I really doubt the Magiocrats and Vishmitals are going to let everyone in Negav go running around with rocket launchers and satchel charges. There are going to be laws, limits and such.

:The way i imagine that is that you can bring the weapon you. just have to pay an odditional fee. and your at full mercy of the law if you use it negatively.Also the only ones i could imagine bringing military grade weapons are PMC's, mercs,or hardcore adventurers that had heard of felarya.

Ravaging, you seem to be voting bands for what they'd hypothetically be rated. What would the Sons of Stathis count as? I'm imagining they can't be better than a solid B, and if the Survivors have frequent access to mines and the like then I can't see them past a C (even if they have no qualms about using the tech themselves, more issues with supply and training).

rcs619 wrote:

...Why is everyone making super-elite groups of super-mercs, that are going out and solo'ing predators and shit?

From what I've seen, people aren't. Most of the groups that can take on Predators... are made from Predators (Such as the Fairy group, or the Dridder Cavalry one).

Furthermore, I see nothing wrong with a well paid, multi-mage, competent, and so on force specifically designed for such potentially dealing with a Giant Predator one-on-hundred. Now, if it's something like "Mercenary group sends five man team out, mops up half dozen Giant Predators", I can see some worry unless they're some very stretched circumstances (ex: The "mop up" was more of "Point the Giant Predators in another direction").

rcs619 wrote:

Why no average mercs? People who are just trying to make a living and CAN'T go out and solo a pred every other day for their paycheck.

Er, a couple of those have been proposed. The ones in the OP (which are even stated to often lose more trying to get on a Giant Predator's good side than they are to succeed), Blackjack (which seem to be under poor-leadership hell for eternity), Pit Fighters, Sons of Stathis... really, most of the nominations that are great for Giant Predator hunting are made up of other Predators, which would personally seem worse than a bunch of Predator-hunting humans as it implies that regular folks can't manage a Giant Predator.

rcs619 wrote:

Where's the rag-tag groups, or the groups of average mercs?

What are you saying by "average"? Average as in many of those stated above (which, if odd in origins and the like, are still human with typical kit you might expect of someone with their resources), or average as in "typical meat fodder group in story that isn't incompetent, just is woefully outmatched"?

For that, an idea is a group that - regardless of their real name - is "Pariahs of Minalca" to most employers, as they just have horrible track records when they should be doing great (Ex: Hired to guard a tavern. Great... but a Fairy somehow snuck into town and they were armed for dealing with unarmed, drunken rowdy folks. Ex 2: Sent to guard a caravan to Nekomura... which happened to be passing right as a Spine Beetle swarm was very pissed off). They aren't incompetent, but meet the "average" of stories insofar as they're constantly being out-done by the natives.

rcs619 wrote:

Honestly, beating up on preds is what the Isolon Fist and Vismital army are for. You start having groups of CIVILLIANS start doing that all over the place, and those two armies start to lose what made them special.

And when the groups beating up on Preds are, predominantly, Preds themselves?

rcs619 wrote:

There are probably going to be some limits on what people can bring through the dimensional gate, and people coming through are probably going to be searched and checked. I really doubt the Magiocrats and Vishmitals are going to let everyone in Negav go running around with rocket launchers and satchel charges. There are going to be laws, limits and such.

I wouldn't be surprised if they let people walk around with rocket launchers and satchel charges: They allow mages into cities, and several mage types can easily match such in dangerousness (or surpass, if speaking things like single-shot rockets). There'd be limitations, though, and I imagine a good deal of wards to prevent conventional attacks on the crystal as well.