Order of Utor-Ka
Icaril
The Little Armada
The Nineteen
Hundred Hands of Argos
Jacaln
Monastos
Well-trained warriors-for-hire.
Common in all of the Free Cities, but they headquarter in Essenor.
They serve as the foremost police force, or Guard Gang, under direct contract with the Dreaming Magelords.
as told by Aril Parchi Elangor
"The Icaril consist of three separate hierarchies:
- Steersmen
- Arbiters
- Accountants
"My only title is Aril, or 'master,' which I share with all my brethren who have mastered the Art."
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Though not a faction, this establishment does have a substantial
following whose repect for ritual is uncommon in the Free Cities. The Little Armada is relatively new, having opened only twenty-odd years ago. The drinks are the cheapest in town, the setting serene and the method of waiting tables unique. The owner and bartender, Urtur Belios, is a large man, soft spoken, who prepares drinks at a relentless pace. |
| The two-foot wide ‘river’ that wends its way
through most of the large drinking room is contained by foot high adamas walls. There are
a few crude wooden bridges to cross it. Dozens of floating wooden trays, each of distinct design and coloration make a circuit of the drinking room on the river, passing every single table one after the other. To order a drink, one merely places a pile of the correct coinage on a tray and waits for the tray to return, with the drink. Each drink has a distinct cost, noted on a hanging bit of vellum on the wall. Distinct piles of coins mean distinct drinks. Coin piled on a folded bit of parchment, vellum or papyrus means a message for Urtur Belios, one of his patrons, or a question that Urtur Belios might know the answer to. The answer comes back the same way. Considering the large amount of time he spends simply fixing drinks, the Little Armada’s owner is quite knowledgeable of local gossip. The tables are widely separated and the white noise of the river makes for a sense of privacy among the patrons. It is rumored that the once boisterous Urtur Belios first wished to open a tavern years ago, but was loathe to buy grugs to do the waiting, whether for humanitarian or racist reasons is unknown. He set off to the West and returned after a number of years, older, more soft-spoken and with a look of wisdom about him. Soon thereafter the Little Armada opened its doors. The impetus of the river is supposedly a giza spirit of some puissance, nicknamed Proof by early customers due to the number of drinks accidentally spilled into the once-pure stream. Urtur Belios in turn is reckoned a rogue sorcerer of some skill. There is no bouncer or other assistant to the bartender. No one dares to cheat or rob Urtur Belios, and the closest thing to a fight in the bar is a balls-to-the-wall staring match. Of course, anyone who steps outside is fair game and this is one of the worse parts of town, utterly unlit. In fact, the closest restroom is the alleyway ten steps from the tavern’s entrance. There is at least fifty feet of enclosed tower above the bar, and presumably Urtur Belios occupies that too. This tower has been broken off near the top, supposedly from when the Shifters invaded the city. Notable patrons of the Little Armada:
"First off, there's no other Gang that's as the good to the people as these sorts, eh! They even has a law where no Nineteen member'll kill an ordinary citizen. Like myself. The Hundred Hands of Argos "Listen, you don’t sign on with Cestus...he’s the archêgos, no one knows his real name...you don’t sign on with Cestus to get rich, you sign on to be one of the best. The Argos are the best mercenary outfit this side of the ashen wastes and I’ll kick in the teeth of any Utor-Ka that says different, get me? You sign on for the training and the gear, ‘cause it’s five seasons ‘fore you see a single flat out of the coffers. Make it through the year though, then you’re company, you’ll draw down alright, ‘specially if we go out on campaign. The Jacaln
"You hide here, in your dirty city canyons, and fight for scraps while Icaril and Nineteen and rich merchants, roaring like peho'xa, eat your sorrow's sweet flesh. Narrows needs not six gangs, not seven, but One. Strength lies in unity, and we young, we cast-off, will run in Packs, to take back what should be ours.
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