Bounty Blades
Overview
The Bounty Blades are masters of stealth and deception, slinking through swamps and emerging from shadows to claim their bounty. The organization’s scattered structure makes them a popular choice amongst risk takers and those who prefer a more systematic approach to making their targets disappear. The law-abiding members of society generally shun them, but their work is necessary to the balance of power of Pandorah. Blackmail, manipulation, and other underhanded tactics are the main tools of the Bounty Blade’s trade, burying their victims alive with the dirt they dig up on them through spying and surveillance.
Origin
The Coastal Kingdom of the Old World was once a place where espionage, collusion, and intrigue were common amongst rivalling dynasties and noble families. Wealthy households would use their money to hire commoners of a particular skill set to collect sensitive intel or even sabotage their business rivals. Because these commoners sold their loyalty to the highest bidder, this practice was risky for the nobles and resulted in a handful of infamous double crossings.
In an attempt to make these hirings less risky, a small system of guilds began forming around veterans of these trades. They used their expertise to recruit and train apprentices, resulting in more professionals and fewer hacks roaming the streets. With time these guilds grew, each developing their customs, codes of conduct, and disguises. This sort of ethical development made them more attractive candidates to work for the nobles, resulting in a vast cash flow increase. With this growth began the territorialization of the kingdom. Rivalries formed between guilds as they jockeyed for influence in different regions. Guilds formed pacts, and pacts became alliances. Lines were drawn, and tensions finally boiled over in 4576 FS – the result was brutal. Thousands of guild members died in what is now known as the Great War of the Cloak and Dagger. As information fell into the hands of the victors, devastating pieces of intrigue were leaked that shattered dynasties and even caused a rift in the Royal Court.
To avoid further conflict, the monarch Frederic Lacroix issued the Tolerance Decree in 4570 FS; this created strict regulations for mercenary guilds to reduce competition. The most crucial provision of this decree was the outlawing of open conflicts between guilds. Just a few decades later, Lacroix’s successor, Lorenzo II, forced the guilds to unionize as the Bounty Hunters.
Fearing the wrath of the state and trying to adhere to the new customs of a more peaceful society, mercenaries began to lose their grit. Only a select few guilds retained their knowledge of running illicit businesses for the wealthy. This all changed when Pandorah was discovered, and decades-old quarrels were set aside as mercenaries banded together as the Bounty Blades and set sail for this faraway continent, hoping to return to their old ways in the New World.
Present
Due to their covert nature and questionable morals, the Bounty Blades are poorly represented in the Solar Dale Council. This is not to say they struggle to find work, as politicians are always willing to pay for rumors and secrets about their opponents. Because of their line of work, the Bounty Blades are the most informed faction in Pandorah despite not participating in official public discourse.
Little is known about the internal workings of the Bounty Blades, but rumors suggest they are led by a council of the group’s most skilled members. The council meets in hidden locations, and nobody knows how their decisions are dispersed to other members lying in wait all over the New World. There is a theory that masters secretly test potential apprentice candidates for years before recruiting them. Both coastal cities and backwoods homesteads are wrought with stories of young people finding mysterious marks on their doors, receiving enigmatic letters, and even being stalked by shadowy figures when out after dark. Are these just tall tales to keep the youth in line, or is someone lurking in the shadows, gauging how their targets react.
Despite being publicly denounced by almost all other factions in Pandorah, the Bounty Blades maintain regular contact with each of them behind closed doors. Their most common customers are the Profit Priests, Pandorah’s wealthiest faction, and the Green Grove, who hire them for dangerous scouting missions across the wild lands beyond the settled world. The Bounty Blades historically sold their services to the highest bidder. Still, the group has occasionally turned down contracts because of the development of working relationships and internal interests.
Recent rumors have been circulating of the Bounty Blades venturing into faraway, uncharted lands that folks from the settled world can only dream about laying eyes on. Where they are going, and more importantly, why, is unknown. Have they found a source of secret wealth? Yet another unknown civilization? Or do they want a place to call their own? The truth is, most non-members will never know. The Bounty Blades operate just beyond the fringes of the Solar Dale Council and keep their motivations and goals to themselves.
Notable figures
Almost all factions of Pandorah are revered for one trait or another. The Tinkers’ Trinity and Green Grove are known worldwide for their life-changing inventions. The Profit Priests are considered some of the world’s greatest capitalists, and their name has become synonymous with wealth and soft power. On the contrary, the Bounty Blades are publicly shunned. People view their underhanded tactics as a disgrace to the civilized world, but there is no denying that this is a faction that can get things done. Politicians, fanatics, and aristocrats consistently turn to the Bounty Blades to do their dirty work when push comes to shove.
The folklore surrounding the Bounty Blades is dense. While members’ real names are rarely known, a handful of legendary figures are rumored to have carried out impossible feats. Rarely does a night pass where a bartender doesn’t hear patrons telling of the adventures of Du Bois or the exploits of Egawa. Many of these stories are recognizable as embellishments of Old World tales, but the people of Pandorah accept them as fact. Whether these stories are spread organically by jaw-jacking ale drinkers or are deliberately planted by agents of the faction remains unknown, but regardless of origin, the mystique of the Bounty Blades continues to grow.
Agnes Silva is the only public official associated with the Bounty Blades. She holds a seat on the Solar Dale Council and is well respected for her deep understanding of Pandorah’s criminal world. With just one seat, the Bounty Blades do not have any voting power within the council, yet Silva almost always gets what she wants. She is a silent figure who never speaks of her faction's inner workings, but this silence evokes a certain fear amongst other officials, who don’t dare provoke her and risk the fallout.
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