Tables of Contents:
I Current organization
II Standard Black Guard
stats and equipment
III Black Guard NPCs
IV Black Guard
Pets, Familiars, and Special Mounts
I Current organization
Captain: Hathron
Lance 1:Devon/Wilhelm
Lance 2:Mourn/Japheth
Lance 3: Bruil/Eoghan
Lance 4:Jared/Denerlian
Lance 5:?/Lianna
Mage lance Marik
Chief Tactician Thand
Chief Scout Aliske'
Quartermaster Aeges
Each Unit has two sergeants (My policy is to keep one 'nameless').
Named Sergeants:
Lance 1: Grenek
Lance 2: Kreela
Lance 3: Quintus
Lance 4: Rikard
Lance 5: Calryn
Staff lance: Crisp
II Standard Black Guard
stats and equipment
Lances One to Five:
(? hm F1 or F2) or (? hf F1 or F2)
Average abilities scores.
HP: 8-16
AC: 4 (Chainmail and shield) or 7 (Leather and Shield)
# At: 1
THAC0: 20 or 19
Damage: 1d6 (composite shortbow), 2d4 (broadsword), 1d6 (light lance), 1d4
(dagger)
Range: 5/10/18 (composite shortbow)
ML: 12
Age:16-22
Skills
Prof: w/shortbow, broadsword, light lance/spear, dagger
NWP:varies widely from trooper to trooper but horsemanship, fire building,
gaming, weather sense, and agriculture predominate. Most soldiers have 2 NWP,
speak common and cannot read/write. The level 2 Guards have 4 NWPs and are often
specialized in broadsword or longsword.
Equipment (what each soldier in the Black Company has standard): chainmail,
leather armor, broadsword or longsword (and scabbard), Light Lance, Small
Shield, composite shortbow (extra strings), 20 arrows (and quiver), flint and
steel, winter blanket, clothing (including riding boots), Winter clothing (hats,gloves
et al), Winter cloak, bedroll/hammock, desert robes, saddlebags, horse blankets,
dagger, and rope. Every trooper has some personal items as well.
The men and women who make up the troops are almost all human. About 90% are
male. A few (maybe 2-5%) are half-elves or half-orcs. None are halflings,
dwarves, or gnomes. There are a lot of hayseed farm kids and Dock Ward street
urchins in the mix, and many Tethyrean bravos as well. The average age is 18.
Sergeants are F3s and they have a high statistic (Str or Con usually), high HPs
(15-30) and are specialized with a weapon (usually broadsword or longsword).
They also have 4 or 5 NWP instead of 2 and are older. Some may even have a kit
of some sort (Peasant hero is common).
The Mage Lance:
(? hm or hf W2 (x8) or W1 (x2) Militant Wizard kit)
Average abilities scores.
HP: 3-10
AC: 6 (Armor spell)
# At: 1
THAC0: 20
Damage: 2d4 (broadsword), 1d3 (hand crossbow), 1d4 (dagger)
Range: 5/10/15 (shortbow)
ML: 12
Age:16-22
Memorized Spells: W1: 3 1st Level W2: 4 1st Level
Skills
Prof: Broadsword, hand crossbow
NWP: All have Cantrip, Spellcraft and either Healing or Herbalism, but the rest
varies widely from mage to mage. Fire building, Cooking, Weather Sense, Animal
Lore, and Agriculture predominate. All mages have at least 5 NWP total, speak
common and can read/write.
Equipment (what each mage in the Black Company has standard): broadsword, hand
crossbow (extra strings), 20 bolts (and quiver), flint and steel, quills, ink,
parchment, cheap material components, winter blanket, clothing (including riding
boots), Winter clothing (hats,gloves et al), Winter cloak, bedroll/hammock ,
desert robes, saddlebags, horse blankets, dagger, and rope. Every mage has some
personal items as well.
Spellbook: Read Magic, Detect Magic, Sleep, Magic Missile, Armor, Muffling Blow,
Chill Touch
The men and women who make up the mages are all human. About 90% are male. They
are all natives of Tethyr with some background in the Art, most were apprentices
to hedge wizards or local witches but have now sought for better instruction in
the Black Guard. The average age is 18.
III Black Guard NPCs
These are the NPCs directly attached to the Guard.
Calryn (hm)
Sergeant of lance 6. Tall, thin, and on the prissy side, Calryn has elevated
himself above the ranks of the rest of the bravos through attention to detail
and a mind for tactics. While his somewhat effeminate demeanor are looked at
strangely by some of his peers, they respect him for his skill of command.
Calryn seems to do reasonably well with the local girls, perhaps because they're
tired of overly-macho idiots.
Crisp (hm)
Height:6' 1" (slightly stooped)
Weight:265 #
Age: early forties?
Hair: Salt-Peppper (Black-Gray mix) slightly wavy and worn wild and shoulder
length.
Eyes: Gray/Blue.
Physical appearance: Crisp is a weathered man. His body shows the traits of an
experienced warrior, but his power has diminished with age and injury. His rough
complexion allows a fair number of minor scars to show on his face, with a
significant burn scar on his neck below his right ear. Crisp refuses to speak of
the cause of the scar, though two general possibilities are considered most
likely: a significant battle with a wizard, or a cooking accident. Crisp simply
enjoys being a part of a mercenary unit. He is often found checking on the
supplies, or at times he makes a point of preparing meals for himself and many
of the officers. The quality of his cooking is a gamble as it is as often burnt
beyond recognition as it is prepared to gourmet quality. Either way, Crisp
himself seems to always enjoy eating his share. He passes out good advice at
times to some of the younger officers, especially in dealing with the troops;
but he is more than willing to let most officers make a foolish mistake before
providing it. When it comes to the provisions, Crisp takes his job most
seriously and takes great care in distributing the food in equal portions with
no one, not even officers getting more than their fair share. In general he
refrains from combat, but if drawn into a battle situation he is skilled in both
sword and axe, and his use of a long bow is on par with many of the finer
archers in the company.
Kreela (1/2Orc f)
Height:6'
Weight:200 #
Age:low twenties?
Hair:Black and straight
Eyes:Black
Physical appearence: Kreela might have been pretty if not for the two tusks
which betray her orcan heritage by protruding slightly. Her checks are
scarred, most likely from small pox, but she looks very fit and has the best
legs in the company. Think a half-orc Xena:) Kreela spends a lot of time with
Antonio, and seems content to do her job and enjoy life when possible. Kreela
is now a sergeant in Unit 3.
Grenek (1/2Orc m)
Grenek looms a half a hand over six feet in height, with cropped short black
hair and brown eyes. He has a dusky cast to his skin and a fierce visage that
has been barely tamed by his human blood. Grenek wears a suit of chainmail
armour scavenged off a Zhent, and is armed with a fine longsword and vicious
looking dagger. He joined the Black Guard when it was first formed in Waterdeep,
serving first with Alazar, whom he backed in protest over Helix's treatment of
prisoners. After the raid on the drow, Grenek was promoted to officer but he was
hard hit by Alazar's disappearance in the first Storm Siege of Myratma and asked
to return to sergeant status.
Quintus (hm)
Quintus hails from Sembia. He is the fifth son, hence the name, of a family of
fairly-well off merchants. Quintus is more adventures and loves to have fun - so
the merchant's life never appealed to him much. He left home to become a
mercenary, and has been at it now for several years - the Black Guard is his
second mercenary troop. His younger brother Septimius has recently joined him
the Guard, and while Septimius, who is more idealistic than his older brother,
befriended the young officer, Eoghan, assigned to their lance, Quintus has sort
of taken the officer under his protective wing. He makes sure the young officer
gets the necessary respect from the troops, for he understands the importance of
solid and unquestioned leadership in battle. In his off time, Quintus loves to
gamble and game. He just wants to have fun, and really is satisfied with his
life choice - "Much better than counting and weighing spices all day", he snorts
sometimes. Quintus is a human, with a naturally tanned skin, dark hair - cut
short, a muscular - but not overly so - frame. He has a quick smile, but knows
when to be serious as well.
Rikard (hm)
Rikard is a grizzled man, middle aged, with dirty blonde hair running toward
grey, and a scraggly beard that always looks like a weeks growth no matter how
recently shaved, frame a square, plain face. He has a moderate build, with broad
strong shoulders developed by years of wearing armor as a mercenary. Rikard has
been with the Black Guard since its inception. He spends most of his off time
gambling and drinking with the troopers.
IV Black Guard
Pets, Familiars, and Special Mounts
Armitage (falcon):
Wilhelm's familiar, Armitage has a wingspan of nearly five feet. His brownish
red feathers seem to glisten as sunlight hits them. Armitage is usually either
in the air gliding on heat thermals or perched on Wilhelm's shoulder. Wilhelm
gained his familiar shortly after the Guard sacked the drow strongtree.
Drogo (dog):
Eoghan's moorhound. A trained guard dog who fights by Eoghan's side, and is
never far from it. Drogo and Eoghan have a very close relationship and have
saved each others lives once or twice.
Hisie-arauka ('Swift-mist') (a teu'kelytha or moon-horse) A seemingly ghostly
horse, snow white with a snow white mane and blue eyes. Mourn's familiar,
the horse has shown an unnatural amount of intelligence and empathy. After the
Tethir Forest ambush, the moon-horse recovered many Black Guard horses on his
own, then he comforted Tye.