Foglanders Raiding Society

History:

The Foglanders have been an established group for quite some time, though they only really grew in prominence under Warlord Tarcix Kronen, after a number of reforms. These vampires were always strange among others as they were a bit more straightforward in their approach to combat, disregarding long-ranged weaponry, traps or magic altogether. There was a practical reason for this - accessibility. The Foglands are not a popular destination among vampire wizards due to their highly unpleasant climate and terrain, giving predators the ability to prey on unprepared wizards with no backbone for a fight with a tougher creature. As wel as that, materials for creating ranged weaponry, such as bows and crossbows, aren't common as the foglands lack any abundance of lumber. This is why the majority of Foglanders had to rely on melee and melee alone in order to better their opponents. This led to the development of many ambush tactics. They were adapted to fit just about any terrain and the Foglanders are some of the few vampires who, while not ideal, are capable of fighting under the sun for some periods of time. Their frequent travels outside Khaerum have made them adapable to their surroundings, making them some more of the year-long hunters of vampiric society.

Tarcix' rise mostly had to do with simply playing on their pre-existing strengths with developing tactics for fighting their most difficult opponents - knights, wizards and archers. After years of putting these tactics into practice and proving their effectiveness, the Foglanders became a very valuable group of raiders due to their ability to constantly provide Khaerum with livestock. This expanded their funding and availability to weapons-- which, by and large, go ignored by the raiders who've grown to adore their crude melee options and shrug off ranged firepower in favor of funding their miserable province.

The Raider:

The Foglander Raider is a purely vampiric male specimen, often handpicked as the hardiest of the land. This can be a peasant whose proven himself more capable of work in the mines than others, a particularly brutal individual that's brought down a noble in order to escape his awful living conditions or in very rare cases a foreign vampire that has managed to survive some of the Foglands predators whilst traveling through the province. These individuals are then trained in martial arts, foglands weapon specialization and are even provided basic education in foreign languages and customs, allowing them to intercept letters, write false messages and read maps effectively. The Raiders are taught to be without remorse to those who do not share their views in regards to combat even among their own kind. Other vampire raiding parties often avoid them as, in Khaerum, its every man for himself. Cannibalizing 'lesser' raiders is considered a perfectly viable alternative to hunting animals or snatching human prey when the latter aren't available.

Every Raider accepted among the Foglanders is given a set of plate armor. While the quality itself is relatively poor compared to the blacksmiths of Adrila, it is enchanted by the Fogland Hags in order to be silent and lend itself well to their tactics. This protects them against ranged projectiles and can be a lifesaver in melee combat, though is not to be relied upon entirely. This is where the vampiric prowess of many members comes in handy, as they are taught to avoid blows altogether, making use of their speed and strength in order to carry themselves in ways that betray their intentionally clumbersome appearance. They are deceptively agile and fiercely capable in a scrap, unlike a good portion of their kin who'd rather not enter striking range.

The weapons of the Foglander raiders include a few staples only common to their kind.
- The classics are namely their purely iron twin axes, double-bladed axe, having been employed for the longest time.
- Modern additions to their arsenal however include the bonecrusher - a massive stone club with many notches, designed by Tarcix for taking on heavily armored opponents, by using the notches to hook around enemy shields, falter their grip and then smash the opponents' skull. This heavy weapon is quite difficult to use so only veteran raiders employ it but those who do often make use of another one of the Warlord's designs:
- The Stake Driver. A close-ranged weapon, attached to the free hand's wrist, capable of launching a sharp steel stake. When a vampire needs to feed in the midst of combat, the Stake Driver offers a quick shortcut to combat, where if an opponent is caught off guard, it can quickly puncture the neck, helmet visor, elbow or armpit pieces and pin its enemy to a nearby surface, opening them up for feeding.

Raider Appearance:


Bonecrusher:


Stake Driver: