Brine Blades

The Brine Blades are a mercenary guild that excels at quests and missions on the coasts and at sea. Although only ten years have passed since it was founded, the company has already made a name for itself in the Empire.¹

Founding

The guild began with the sorceress Marisela Stormweaver, who had made her name in Neptun taking mercenary contracts. On one such mission she met Magnus Driftwood, a former officer of the VII. Legion who had grown tired of military life, and found in him a kindred spirit. Their friendship grew, and when Isabeau Blackthorn joined them in later years, the foundation of the Brine Blades was laid.²

Isabeau, an orphan of the Neptun streets who had learned her trade in the gang of the Hanged Devils, had resolved to leave her life of crime behind. A parchment with a cryptic message summoned her to a secluded cove outside the city, where Marisela and Magnus stood waiting.³

The guild truly came into being when its leaders found the wreck of an imperial cargo ship that had sunk on its way to the New World, carrying a great fortune in coin and a huge stash of black powder. After a fierce battle with the elven pirates who had sunk it, the party claimed the loot.⁴

Organisation

The guild owes its success to its three branches. The intelligence branch, which leads its covert operations, is headed by the "Rogue Corsair" Isabeau Blackthorn, a master strategist who gathers vital information through espionage and stealth. Captain Magnus Driftwood commands the field operations branch and leads the guild's mercenaries on missions. Marisela Stormweaver is the face of the company: she represents it at court and controls its finances.¹

The guild works from a hidden coastal stronghold, a fortified base concealed within a rocky labyrinth. It serves both as a training ground for new members and as a vantage point from which to watch and intercept maritime missions. A network of informants in coastal cities and harbours keeps the guild informed of possible clients, rich bounties and the doings of its rivals, and every contract is weighed carefully against the guild's expertise and standards.⁴

Members

The ranks of the Brine Blades are filled with experienced sailors, cunning pirates and skilled cartographers who know how to navigate treacherous waters and uncharted territories. The guild welcomes all who can prove their worth and dedication, which has made it a melting pot of cultures and skills and a home for many misfits seeking a second chance.⁴

Besides its three leaders, the guild's members include Bartouk Hanneker, Seischa Grasheel, CHOMPS, Ozzigus, Merindiel Stargazer, Randor and Revna the Spearmaiden.⁵

• CHOMPS joined knowing the guild accepts everyone. The power of his affliction made him an unmatched asset in aquatic skirmishes and sea battles, and among the Brine Blades his transformation was seen not as a curse but as a boon.⁶
• Ozzigus, or Ozzie, a mechanical genius, is the guild's ship master. He met the Brine Blades in a tavern full of guild members when mercenaries came for him; the guild promised to settle his debt to a noble in return for his allegiance.⁷ He later shared his knowledge of a stolen firearm with Zherafinn.⁸
• Merindiel Stargazer came to know of the Brine Blades as their fame grew.⁹
• Randor, Isabeau's closest friend from the Hanged Devils, later left the gang and asked to join, but his old friend turned him down.¹⁰
• Revna, who had expected to be rejected because of the guild's ties to an ex-legionnaire, was welcomed instead, took up sailing and naval combat, and became indispensable to the guild.¹¹
• Seischa Grasheel, an exile from Athrokaan, is a fairly new member. She accepted Marisela's offer to join without a second thought once she had made her name.¹²

Gregory Dask, who had served the nobles of Westreach as a hired sword for a decade, achieved many heroic feats as a member of the guild. Isabeau disliked him from the start, and their constant disagreements led to his expulsion. He no longer takes missions the Brine Blades are seeking.¹³

Rivals and ambitions

While hunting for the sunken ship, the founders unintentionally offended one of the pirate lords, the formidable ruler of Neptun. That lord has lately come to own the second most powerful armada at sea, and every Neptunian knows that control of the sea means dominance over Neptun. The Brine Blades seek new relations with the Empire's navy, and aim to gather enough power to overthrow the pirate lord, who keeps interfering in their business.⁴

The Scarlet Spears, the oldest mercenary company in the Western Provinces, are rivals of the Brine Blades because of the newer guild's aggressive expansion, and they look for any contract that sets them against the Blades so that they can eliminate their members.¹⁴ Commander Gustavius of the Spears works to stop the Brine Blades forging close ties with the legions near Neptun, and whenever he learns that they are bidding for a mission he sends a competing bid, even if it puts him in debt.¹⁵ The monk Eleanor Ponytail, who serves under him, has made enemies among the Brine Blades.¹⁶