Editing Mercenaries (section)

==The Mercenaries of Western Immoren==
The Mercenaries aren't a single faction but rather a myriad of various crews, cabals, companies and individuals of varying morals, but considerably violent repute. In times of war and strife the skilled mercenary sees only opportunities and profits. This makes them pretty bare in fluff, co-starring in someone else's story more than their own. Their '''HORDES''' counterpart faction are the [[Minions]].

For the record they have the following as interesting or narrative divisions, some as full blown contracts, others as sub-factions, units or even lone individuals:

* '''Asheth Magnus the Traitor/Warlord and the Magnus Agenda:''' So you're a red-blooded patriot, a man who has fought, bled and given his own arm (but got a pretty awesome bionic replacement) for a king who understands that only those with a force of willpower that cuts steel deserve to rule... and then his soft, caring, not tyrannical little brother ousts him in a coup and makes everything the happy nice-nice. FUCK THAT SHIT! Magnus was a soldier renowned for his talent and being a pretty hardcore dude, he served loyally under Vinter Raelthorne and lost patience with the new regime. Feeling that Cygnar's losses in war and propensity to negotiating treaties over putting prisoners' heads on pikes and burning anything that resembles a building, Magnus formed a terrorist cell or 60, working to undermine the new king and put Vinter back on the throne so the civil rights violations can go on like the good old days. He managed to pull together a fair number of Cygnaran soldiers which means he often fought with a mixed force of mercenaries and deserters from the bottom of the Cygnaran army early in his storyline. After a fan and some shit come into contact he catches up with his beloved king, who happens to be ruling a whole civilization of ruthless sadistic militants by being even more ruthless and sadistic than they are. After some <s>nice hugs</s> cold-blooded torture, Magnus figures that Vinter has gone native with the Skorne and that the torture thing was totally unnecessary for someone who's spent time and effort trying to get him back in power, our one-armed <s>hero</s> jerkass decides he'll find Vinter's missing kid and heir, put the runt on the throne and rule as regent. Magnus is considered the single largest threat to Cygnar (compared to, an admittedly lazy, godzilla sized dragon god of undeath) and is public enemy number one, gun-mage extraordinaire, heroic warcaster and internationally renowned ladies man Allistar Caine is currently doing his darndest to foil the <s>plot armour</s> schemes of Asheth Magnus. Its not going well.

* '''Alexia Ciannor, wielder of the cursed sword Witchfire:''' Daughter of a witch, carrying her mother's power, memories of her brutal execution by the inquisitors of Vinter's regime and also possibly her soul, this young lass carries a sword that just by existing causes undead to spawn in the area around it. She started the whole setting with the first series of modules made for the original D&D 3.5 campaign setting, back in those days, Witchcraft was what sorcerers and spontaneous arcane casters did, while prepared arcane spell casting was the only acceptable magic and breaking that taboo ended in stakes and fires. Alexia has had the sword for a while and basically goes around, never settling down because corpses will just start rising if she's there briefly, offering to fight for those with more money than scruples, except Cryx. Something about a living human that can take control of their zombies and turn them back on them has Cryx a little weirded out.

* '''The Highborn Covenant:''' A collection of nobles, landowners and citizens from Lael who resent the occupation by both Khador and the Protectorate. The Covenant is basically a series of cells that operate with quiet support from Cygnar against their two oppressors, sort of like the resistance in WW2 France. Included amongst their numbers are the surviving gun-mages of the Order of the Amethyst Rose, veterans of Not-France's army that didn't cowardly flee or die from incompetence, not-French mercs with sentiments for their lost country, mercs paid on the sly by Cygnar to keep the Resistance going, nobles that stayed but didn't get bought by Khador or purged by the Protectorate and lastly members from several institutions connected with the Church of Morrow who are there because the Church of Menoth is muscling in on their turf (but also acting on behalf of the Cygnaran government).

* '''Captain Phinneus Shae and the Talion Charter:''' Shae was an honest ship-caster (naval warcaster) under a dick of a captain on the great vessel The Talion. After Captain Dick did some things most dickish, the crew of the Talion decided it would be better to mutiny. So they did, tying the captain to The Commodore, a massive cannon, and [[grimdark|firing it constantly till the bones in his body broke from the vibrations]] and his soul passed from this world. The Talion Charter is basically a document with the signatories of the original mutineers about the rules of being a pirate and giving their big corporate backers, who also fucked them over, the middle finger. Other nefarious pirates, Fiona the Black and Broadsides Bart signed on as well forming a fleet of pirates with a semi-unified purpose and a casual partnership with each other.

* '''The Steelhead Mercenary Company:''' The standard by which all mercenary companies are measured. The Steelheads are men for hire, motivated by gold, but tempered by professional standards, maintaining discipline on par or exceeding some militaries in the region. Considered the finest merc company, they're certainly the most profitable with having chapterhouses everywhere, even (a very profitable)one in Cryxian territory. They even have a code of conduct should two franchises be fighting on opposing sides, mainly to treat each other as enemies but make sure the Steelheads on the losing side get returned to the company and not fed to something large and nasty. Notorious amongst them is captain STANNIS BROCKER! A captain and all round awesome dude who fights hard and plays hard. One of the conditions of starting a branch of the company is you need a deed from the local ruling bigwig to cover your ass legally when being hired by one merchant to and not fight wars against them, most merc companies consider this nice but not essential but to the Steelheads it is mandatory. Stannis however has a deed from a fallen kingdom, so as a mercenary he gets to play whatever side he wants and gets to ignore anyone with authority, even the head branch can't make him do anything, he's too profitable and too badass to fire and then risk an uprising from other branches. Another figure of note is Captain Amador Damiano, a Steelhead Warcaster who loves war, gold and his men. Brocker is more the blood knight of war to his captain of adventure.