Arcadian Factions (Dominaria Supplement)
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Geno Huradin[edit]
History: Originating in the port city of Salarino in Silicia, the Geno huradin started as an Assassin's Guild tied to the Laurentine Spice Company. The Company began hiring Assassins, Pirates, and local scum both as protection on their ships and in an effort to establish Salarino as their stronghold. Over time, these shadow elements coalesced themselves into the Geno Huradin, which is a Southern Gutter Argot term for anything invisible that taints water. The arangement with the Laurentine Spice Company flourished for 30 years as the company expanded into Crete and Nova and made headway in Arcadia. As the Company's power and wealth grew however, the shadowy triad that led the still secret organization of the Geno Huradin began to plot. It was on the annual feast that the Company held that the Geno Huradin struck. Nearly every member of the Laurentine family as well as all 5 Executive Officers of the company, as well as all present family, were killed.
The Geno Huradin now took control of the Company's assets. Captains received visitors, as did dock managers loyal to the company as well as the owners of subsidiary companies. Those that agreed to the take over, and most did freely having little option to disagree and actually much golden reason to agree, retained their position or actually were raised to fill "vacancies" left by those who disagreed. The Geno Huradin was more ambitious than the Company had ever been, and now free of any controls they waged an all-out shadow war first against smaller Crime Families and guilds in ports their ships plied, and then a campaign of piracy against their smaller competitors. As their power grew, the Geno Huradin began to move on larger targets and expand to new ports and then further inland.
The 10 years or so after the Geno Huradin's takeover of the Laurentine Spice Company marked a period of extreme internal strife for Arcadia. Crime spiked dramatically and the Geno Huradin set off a pair of slave revolts to cover their increasingly aggressive moves on rival syndicates and gangs. The Geno Huradin and their allies fought three pitched battles punctuated this dramatic period in Arcadian history. The Battle of Ramaro Junction involved nearly 30,000 mercenaries, assassins, pirates, and scum and ended resistance to the Geno Huradin south of the port town of Ramaro. At the Battle of Colvan's Bridge, the Geno Huradin drew five Arcadian Legions into a pitched battle against a slave army and three of the most powerful gangs in Arcadia. Although Arcadia nearly fell, the Arcadian troops ended up crushing their foes and dying the river red for 100 miles with their blood.
The most dramatic battle though was of course the last: The Five Day's Battle, or The Battle of Three Armies. The Geno Huradin, who at this point could call on an army of nearly 50,000 mercenaries, pirates, criminals, and volunteer levies, marched on the encampment of Jordan of Selucia. Jordan had gathered 40,000 Selucian and Felixian freedom fighters and mercenaries, many of whom were trained legionaries, and aimed to declare independence from the apparently crumbling Arcadia. Leading the Geno Huradin amalgamation of an army was the Assassin and Former Mercenary Amare Goldenhand. Amare knew how monumental of a risk this battle was, but knew that the climax was near and the fate of the Geno Huradin would be decided. A whole range of possibilities was present, but at either end of the spectrum lay control of northern and southern Arcadia and a shot at an Empire, or total anihilation. Also at the top of his mind was the 35,000 Arcadian troops under the Arcadian Statesman Gaius Flaminius. These men were the last best army Arcadia had, with the rest of their troops scattered across Arcadia putting out brushfires, or in complete disarray.
Amare moved quickly to engage Jordan, and the two sides sparred for position on the first day; Jordan arrayed his men along the old Sarnian highway and Amare chose a series of hills and forests opposite to the south. On the second day the two sides joined battle in earnest, both cognizant of the stakes, and both aware of Gaius' forces. Jordan held back his most deadly asset until the height of the battle but at mid-afternoon, with a blast of trumpets, almost 50 Armodons charged into the fray and broke Amare's center. The Geno Huradin attempted a withdrawl but in the end their force retreated several miles to the Glen Abbey Mill and set camp. On the third day Gaius arrived, and again there was a shuffling as the sides adjusted to each other. Light skirmishing broke up the maneuvers, but day three was mostly tense calm. Day four featured a monumental battle between the Arcadians and the Selucian/Felixian coalition. Both sides made attempts on Amare's camp but his men dug in with the desperation only criminals can muster. Amare was banking on the fact that the other two sides would demolish each other and allow hit to strike when they were weakened, but in the late afternoon something happened which he did not foresee. Gaius called for a parlay with Jordan, and the two men met upon the field stained red and drenched in ankle-deep gore. What passed between them is lost to time, but it saved the Arcadian Empire. On the fifth day of the battle the two Arcadian forces, joined under Gaius' command, struck at the Geno Huradin. Amare held out for as long as he could and held his camp nearly all day, but as night fell he ordered his remaining men to disperse and run while they could, for the camp was in danger of falling and was nearly surrounded.
So was the fate of the Geno Huradin and Arcadia decided. The Geno Huradin gave up their dreams of Imperium, but decided to consolidate and allow the Arcadians to think the broken. They had destroyed all but the last of the criminal elements that opposed them and, by proxy and their shadowy influence, controlled many towns, ports, and districts in cities. As Arcadia recovered and lay down new laws and rights for their provinces, the Geno Hurdain grew strong in the shadow: they thus controlled almost all things illegal in the Arcadian Empire. Aside from the newly renamed and cleverly formed Arcadian Spice Company, the Geno Huradin formed the Miner's Consortium to further expand their influence and footprint. This arm of their vast influence operates throughout Arcadia and into the Verge, and rarely hesitates to strong arm other companies or bend laws to get their way. As with the Spice Company though, many within the Consortium do not know they are part of the Geno Huradin and think themselves legitimate businessmen. Both organizations help the Geno Huradin wield immense power throughout Arcadia and the Southern Isles.
Following the Barbarian Invasion and subsequent Imperial Wars they moved on the guilds of Ramosia and spread their business into the Imperium. This power took a dip following the Dragon Wars, but the Geno Huradin still operates in the Old Empire and in Coalition territory. Their power grows weaker the further they get from Arcadia, and they have many very strong competitors in the West, but they are unquestionably the most powerful Criminal Organization west of the Caliphate.
Area of Influence: Arcadian Empire (Primary), Southern Isles (Secondary), The West (tertiary and weaker as ones gets further from Arcadia)
Base of Operations: The quiet and clean port town of Salarino in Silicia
Leadership Style: A triad based on geography (slim part of North Arcadia and the 3 main Proconsulates, South Arcadia and the island Proconsulates, and the Southern Isles) as well as the nominal leader of their pirate arm.
Patron Deity: N/A
Symbol: Red Hand
Other: More of a mafia now than an organized guild, and their assassins tend to be more brutal in their killings rather than the silent but deadly Hash’Osh-Ym.
Knights of the Red Shield[edit]
(Current to 77 FA.)
The Knights of the Red Shield are the offspring of the Children of the Light in Arcadia. In the late Third Age, following the Second Campaign of the Wandering One, the chapters of the Children in Arcadia felt that the Children's high command had not concentrated enough strength to defend Arcadia. The Arcadian Chapters understood the need to defeat the Wandering One's armies but they felt that Arcadian cities were needlessly sacrificed in the effort. The Arcadian Chapters held a summit in Tarragonne after the War and after 4 days decided to submit their decision to leave the Order to the Lord High Commander and the other Chapter Masters. Before a summit of the entire Order, the Arcadians submitted their decision and the assembly released them in a vote. The two sides agreed to work together and form a mutual pact, but the Knights of the Red Shield were now forever separate. Over the decades that followed and led up to the Third Campaign of the Wandering One, the Knights of the Red Shield reorganized and integrated themselves into their new routine. The standard uniform became white cloaks with red piping and armour a glimmering crimson. Their shields were painted a bright matte red with a golden sun gilded over the top. Armor and weapons stayed the same, and the training stayed the same. The command structure revolves around the Chapter. Each chapter, like the Children, is 1,000 knights or more split up into companies of 100. Clerics are mixed in as are the occasional wizard. Each company falls under a Captain, each Chapter under a Captain-Commander (commonly Chapter Master), and the entire organization falls under the Lord-Commander. The Lord-Commander organizes and commands the Knights and leads the Order's Honor Guard into battle when needed.
One major change the Knights of the Red Shield made was the addition of a large ground corps. The Children of the Light were and still are an all-mounted force, but the Knights of the Red Shield decided early on to recruit and equip supplementary ground forces, especially in Selucia. These ground forces are drawn from local men who equip and train at the Chapter forteress they will serve from; as opposed to the Knights themselves who are rotated to another Fortress once their training is complete. The ground forces have a standard kit the sanme as the Knights: the wear crimson scale over white cloaks and carry tall kite shields with the Order's seal emblazoned on. They carry either a sword and pike or a sword and crossbow, and upon becoming a block sergeant they are given the breastplate of a knight. This ground force varies in size by area: the three Selucian Chapters especially have large ground forces - military inclined men who chose the life of the Order as opposed to joining the Arcadian Army. Felix too, with two very active Chapters, has a large number of recruits and large standing ground corps.
So for the past two centuries the Knights of the Red Shield have patrolled, ministered to, and protected the people of Arcadia. In peacetime they roam the coutryside acting as protectors and arbiters. Their fortress monastaries are built along major roads and river crossings, and are in good repair. At full muster, the Knights can field nearly 15,000 knights from 13 chapters and just over 24,000 ground troops. They have never amassed at full strength, but in recent years the Knights have amassed into two armies to fight with the Coalition and defend Selucia from the Caliphate's forces. The Army of Liberation fights in the West with the Coalition and has 8 Chapters with it. These Chapters have been afield for nearly a decade - since the formation of the Coalition and the Battle of Nurim's Plains. The Army of Purity fights in the East against the Caliphate and has 5 Chapters with it. These Chapters have been afield for about 5 years - ever since the Arcadian Empire went to war with the Southern Caliphate over Otaria.
Even when afield, their fortress monasteries are garrisonned with enough knights and ground corpsmen to patrol the walls and train new recruits; although the tasks of patrolling the countryside and protecting the locals are often neglected out of necessity. Knight patrolls do go out at times, but with so many of the Order afield and the Arcadian interior so peaceful it's not worth the time. Overall the Order is doing well, although as the War in the Westlands dies down and tensions between the Coalition and Northern Alliance heat up, many in the Knights wonder if it's time to bring the Army of Liberation home or use them to reinforce the beleagured Army of Purity.
Area of Influence: Arcadian Empire
Base of Operations: The Crimson Keep on Peligi Hill outside Syracuse
Leadership Style: Lord-Commander and his staff command the Chapters under their Captain-Commander/Chapter MAster
Patron Deity: Pelor, Heironeous
Symbol: Red Shield with a Golden Sun Emblazoned on it.
Other: None
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