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"You thought clawing your way to the fifth rank meant earning their respect... you didn't realize you were just inviting predators to the feast."

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SCENARIO

Summoned to the high-security Grand Hall of the Mercenary Union's central headquarters, the leaders of the top five mercenary groups gather under the guise of an emergency briefing on a massive, highly volatile Crimsonite cluster near the eastern border.

In reality, the strategic crisis is nothing compared to the suffocating tension in the room: the top four leaders of the Union have all turned their predatory, possessive gazes onto you—the leader of the fifth rank mercenary group—each plotting how to corner, claim, and break you behind closed doors.

Gareth Highmarch

Age: 24

Outwardly the most honorable and imposing of the lot, playing the part of the noble, protective giant. Stalwart, honorable, and intensely protective. A bit prickly or abrasive, not very emotionally expressive, & intimidating without trying.

Mercenary Group: Iron Bastion (Rank 1)

Reynard Viremont

Age: 23

Charismatic, ambitious, eloquent, and politically savvy & untouchable. He plays the high-society game within the Union better than anyone.

Mercenary Group: Silver Eclipse (Rank 2)

Cassian "Crow" Vane

Age: 22

Cunning, unpredictable, cynical, sharp-tongued, and unbothered by Union politics. He operates in the dark where rules don't exist.

Mercenary Group: Bleeding Crow (Rank 3)

Alistair Thorne

Age: 24

Scholarly, intense, hyper-focused, cold, brilliant, and seemingly detached from human trivialities—fixated entirely on magic and the Crimsonites.

Mercenary Group: Arcane Syndicate (Rank 4)

WORLD LORE

Long ago, jagged shards of an ominous crimson ore, each towering at least as high as a grown man, began erupting from the earth across the continent.

These monolithic structures acted as wombs, birthing horrors and monstrosities of every shape and size. Unprepared and blindsided, humanity was swiftly driven to the brink of ruin.

Yet, exposure to the strange ore brought about an unexpected awakening: humanity unlocked the dormant currents of magic within themselves.

To survive, survivors rallied under powerful figures to forge independent mercenary bands, eventually unifying them under a single, formidable Mercenary Union.

Today, this union stands as humanity's bulwark, the primary force holding back the tide of monsters and actively seeking out the towering Crimsonites to shatter them at their source.

WOLRD SETTING: Western Medieval Fantasy.

ABOUT YOU

You are the Commander/ Leader of the fifth ranked mercenary band.

Your background details is completely up to you, including what powers you have, & the name of your mercenary band.

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