Outrider Knights

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The Outrider Knights

Those Who Challenge Death

"Fight, my riders. Struggle, my riders. Rage, my riders. Rise above the accursed fate that led you here"

-A Nameless Knight

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While it would have been simple for the Council to overrule, or hinder Evric's attempts to establish his order of Outer Province defenders. In truth, the Council had been looking for ways to quell the growth in the Horror population within the Outer Provinces for some time, with the threat of Horror attacks substantially slowing the rate of the Shoffenway's expansion into some of the Empire's annexed territories. While the Shoffenway Military Police was effective at deterring brigades and dealing with civilian obstruction, bringing down a Horror attracted by the sounds of construction not only caused a massive delay in productivity but would often claim the lives of several officers.

They had been close to simply passing legislation that would order provincial lords to reserve a large quadrant of their forces solely to handle the issue. Yet that was move that would likely have stoked the already disgruntled aristocracy into a frenzy. Thus, while not perfect, Evric's plans was a solution they were willing to risk trying. All the better that the King solved the Council's problems while he thought he was solving his own. Of course, several elements were changed from Evric's initial proposition of constructing a new order with funding comparable to the Shoffenway Military Police dedicated to protecting the Outer Provinces, yet even the King had known such a goal was far too lofty. It was far from perfect, but it would have to be enough.

When the Council founded the Outrider Knights in 204 IBC, there was a concerted effort to use as few resources as possible while getting the militia off the ground. As such, instead of constructing a new keep or fortress for them to base out of, the Outriders were given an old stronghold that had been seized and renamed to commemorate the war hero who’d claimed it. The fortress was old and had spent more than a century unmanned, however, the first of the Outriders made do.

Frowden’s Hold’s purpose is largely two-fold, both training new recruits and serving as a centralized administration hub. The former is the simpler of the two, as once a citizen of Bryonsworth is conscripted into the Outrider’s they are ordered to arrive at the fortress at the beginning of fall. Afterwhich they are given lodging and food while attending a six-month training regime with the rest of the year’s recruits. Before they released into active duty at the start of spring. The administration of Frowden’s Hold largely makes sure that the militia keeps running as smoothly as possible. They’re charged with sorting through requests for the Outriders, conscription, direct orders from the Council, and myriad of other tasks. This administration work is largely done by veteran Outriders who were removed from the field after suffering debilitating injuries, and secretaries personally appointed by the Bryonsworth Council. Currently, the Outrider Knights are lead by Grand Arbiter Vynhauser, an ex-Royal Army soldier who has been serving as Grand Arbiter since the creation of the Outriders on King Evric's personal request.

While the Outrider Knights may commonly be perceived as a military organization, much in the same vein as the Royal Army or the Shoffenway Military Police, this isn't wholly accurate. In part due to the underfunded nature, and in part due to the high turnover rate of its members, Outrider recruits get very little simply for serving. While other soldiers are at least given room, food, and steady pay no matter how actively they're deployed, the situation is extremely different for members of the Outrider Knights. If anything, the Outriders share more in common with a guild or contract agency than a dedicated force. In which the amount of money an Outrider receives is solely determined by how many jobs they complete. A method of pay that instills a continual motivation to keep hunting down Horrors, the only motivation that seems capable of keeping up with the rate of contracts the Outriders receive.

However, there is one last method the Outrider Knights utilize to guarantee that without someone constantly watching over their shoulders their members cannot desert or attempt to pick up another trade. For upon entering the Outriders, a mark is imprinted upon one's left forearm, The Outriders Crest along with their identification. An emblem that represents the bearer's eternal responsibility and duty to serve the Outriders. In the case that the Outrider Knights suspected an individual has abandoned the order, they will excommunicate the suspected member's identification. At which point, any business found employing this excommunicated Outrider will not only be ordered to give up the Outrider but suffer harsh punishment. Which is often enough to deter most businesses from working with uncertified Outriders on any level. Giving deserting Outriders one of two options, attempting to survive alone and away from society in the wilds, or try to join with a group of brigades. Either option proving just as dangerous as simply remaining with the Outriders.

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There are three means in which someone might find themselves an Outrider Knight. The first, and most common, is by way of the draft. Once a year, the Outrider Knights will gather a handful of men and women who satisfy the draft requirements and bring them to Frowden's Hold for training. These requirements state that any healthy adult aged sixteen through twenty-two, born within the Outer Provinces with at least one unconscripted sibling is eligible to be called by the Outriders at any time.

The second is by way of punishment. Criminals in the Outer Province who cooperate with authorities and give substantial leads on half a dozen associates are often given the choice of service in the Outriders over execution. While the decision to include, at times, violent criminals into their ranks has no doubt added to the distrust some feel towards the Outriders, it has proven quite effective at bolstering the order's ranks. Generally, these criminals are placed into teams with others in similar positions, however, there have been countless exceptions.
The last is by voluntary conscripting. While this doesn't make up nearly the same percentage of new recruits as the previous two methods, it's far from unheard of. While the extremely poor will sometime attempt to enlist to stay afloat, it's far more common for overly eager or naive glory seekers looking for a way to leave their mark on the world to sign themselves up. Yet few find that renown they crave, and even fewer live long enough to realize how empty that renown really is.

After completing the six months required training in the Outrider's chosen, or often designated, discipline, Outrider recruits are placed into a small group of fellow recruits ranging somewhere between five and eight members. While no Outrider is forced to remain with this initial team, it can be extremely hard for fresh Outriders without any experience to be accepted in veteran and established teams. Thus by providing an initial team, with each member lightly curated in an attempt to guarantee synergy, every new Outrider is given a place to start from. While this first team is often used as a springboard in the case that a particularly gifted Outrider rookie garners a substantial amount of renown, most average teams simply chose to stay with the members they began with, bringing in new members only when they need to fill a void.

Once these teams are put together, they are prompted released back into the world. Armed with standard-issue equipment, and enough pay for a week's worth of rations. Everything past this point is up to the Outriders themselves. Purchasing better or replacement equipment, renting or purchasing a place to live and house belongings, buying additional rations, and even purchasing books or additional information surrounding Horrors they may find themselves hunting.

While dumping fresh teams off with so many responsibilities and nothing in the way of guidance has undoubtedly resulted in an increase in the rate of rookie death, the truth is giving them anything more than this is something the Outrider Knights can't afford.The current system is simply the best way to make do with the resources provided to them.

This is not to say that Outriders are doomed to poverty, rather that whatever they need they must earn themselves. Typically through the three main ways for an Outrider to earn revenue, Official Contracts, Unlisted Contracts, and Civilian Contracts.

Official Contracts are found posted within Outrider strongholds and are generally speaking the most stable form of income for an Outrider. After a provincial lord or governance observes a Horror operating in or near an inhabited area, all known information is given to the Outrider Knights. At which point they attempt to narrow down the possible breed of Horror, before assigning the contract a rank and reward before posting it. Then, any Outrider team with a rank acceding or equal to the rank of the quest may claim the contracts and attempt to complete it. If they return successful, with proof of completion they are given pay, and progress proportional to the difficulty of the contract is marked towards increasing their rank. If the team returns after failing, or the estimated time of travel and completion is exceeded by a grace period of three days, the contract is reposted and the team is considered deceased. At which point if their corpses are never recovered they are similarly considered excommunicated if found alive lest they return.

Unlisted Contracts are jobs that while never sent to be officially examined by the Outrider Knights, are never the less issued by official members of the governance. This can commonly include cases in which there is not enough physical evidence of the Horror or cases in which the Horror is not proving enough of a nuisance to pay the generally steeper cost of submitting a contract to the Outriders. Having never undergone official evaluation these contracts typically have no rank, nor any official speculation on the breed of Horror. As such it is not uncommon for novice Outriders to take on Unlisted Contracts far above what the Outriders would consider their rank. Never the less, if these contracts are completed and proof of Horror slain with the seal of the official who provided the contract is sent to an Outrider stronghold, the Outrider team's rank will be increased by the suspected rank of the Horror.

Civilian Contracts are simply contracts posted not by official members of the governance, or the Outriders Knights, but by the common folk. These contracts can usually be found in inns or signposts, and are the least official form of contracts. These contracts share a great deal in common with Unlisted Contracts, with a few key differences. Even if the contract is reported with proof of Horror slain, the Outrider Knights will not increase the standing rank of the Outrider team that reports it. As such when attempting to increase one's rank as an Outrider, Civilian Contracts contribute nothing. However, since payment from Civilian Contracts is made directly from the contract holder to the Outrider team, these payments aren't taxed by the Outrider Knights. While this would make this type of contract enticing to those simply looking to make as much money from Contracts without taking higher-ranked Official Contracts, there is a known problem with the lack of accountability with Civilian Contracts leading to contractors listing more than they can actually pay, or outright refusing to pay an Outrider for completing a job.

It is by completing enough of these contracts that an Outrider can become certified, at which point they have passed the first threshold to be truly considered an Outrider. Once certified, several new benefits open up to an Outrider, both on a technical level, such as gaining access to more lucrative contracts, and on an abstract level, as most people tend to treat a certified Outrider far better than an uncertified one.

Past becoming certified, the next goal for most Outriders is attempting to increase their rank so that they may take on higher ranked, and higher-paying contracts. Ranks are divided into five classes, with each class containing five degrees. As such a freshly certified Outrider who has risen one degree will be considered a Fourth of Five. Despite these rankings, the attitude that the ranks exist to be "climbed" is strongly discouraged. Rather the ranks exist to define what a team has proven themselves capable of dealing with. As such it is commonly accepted that in order to rise past First of Three, one must align themselves with a large guild of hunters at a similar level.

Thus far no hunter has been recognized as First of One.

Structure

Arbalests

The role of the Arbalest is simply to satisfy the sole ranged position in an Outrider unit. Yet despite this simplicity when it comes to describing their function, the task of fighting Horror with bolts or arrows is anything but simple. While most Arbalests wield crossbows capable of loosing high tension bolts without spending the few precious seconds standing still required to draw back a bowstring, it's not extremely uncommon to encounter an Arbalest who favors the consistent yet slow speed of the bow to the fire-disengage-load routine of the crossbow.

While the use of ranged weapons when hunting is nothing new, the Outrider Arbalests are forced to operate in a method significantly different from that of a typical wild game hunter. For the simple reason that, aside from some of the smaller pack-based Horrors, most Horrors are often far too large or protected to simply put down with a single well placed arrow. One could loose an entire quiver of arrows into the flank of a mid-grade Horror and achive little more than irritate it.

Instead, the role of the Arbalests is to direct their missiles towards the vulnerable points of their mark, with the goal of crippling or disorienting them as opposed to killing them outright. This can mean robbing them of their sight or smell with shots towards their prey's eyes or nose, it can mean causing extreme pain with shots towards their reproductive glands or the inside of the mouths, or it can mean damaging tendons with barbed bolts fired at key joints. Targeting weak points of their prey is a crucial skill for all Outriders, yet it is the Arbalest job to target the positions the other hunters cannot.

As a general rule of thumb: if the Horror wants to do it, the Arbalest's job is to make it as difficult and as painful as possible for them.

Alchemist
There are times in which the weaknesses of a Horror prove too specialized to simply be exploited by targeted assault or beasts that no amount of physical abuse can ever truly fell. It is in these cases that the gifts of an Alchemist are most needed. For despite their often extreme and grotesque genetic aberrations, Horrors are flesh and blood like any other creature. Thus, just like all other creatures, their body can fall victim to any number of toxins and poisons. So potent these toxins can prove, that with a skilled Alchemist the objective of a hunt may outright shift from slaying the beast directly to inflicting a single blow.

While not all Horrors are vulnerable enough to an Alchemist's tricks for a single prick to seal their fate, most can suffer an extreme hindrance to their performance and large cuts to their stamina after a slow and steady build-up of toxicity. Slowing down the fight enough that it becomes far easier to line up a fatal thrust towards the crippled beast's vitals.

Furthermore, just as an Alchemist can use their compounds to debilitate their prey so can their cordials and libations prove the sole method of saving a teammate brought to the brink of death. While an Alchemist may not be able to perform miracles, the fact that they're capable of bringing back any soul that falls victim to a Horror attack is astounding on its own. However, even in the cases in which a patient doesn't require treatment quite so intensive, an Alchemist can still provide assistance with managing wounds and providing physical stimulants.

While Frowden's Hold does provide Alchemist training, a significant portion of the Outrider's Alchemists are chemists by trade. Falling into the slim margin of Outriders who volunteer for service, looking for an easy way to get their hands on otherwise expensive minerals that can only be harvested from Horrors. However no matter how an Alchemist comes to join the Outriders, what's expected of them is the same. Adequate skills in both chemistry and combat, for on the highly specialized field of Horror hunting, there is no room for a member of the team who cannot fight.

Trackers

The role of Tracker often requires the most eclectic assortment of skills and knowledge to perform properly, with the exact responsibilities of the Tracker typically varying from group to group. However, primarily the Tracker is tasked with the job of finding and identifying the Horror their unit is hunting. A task that often requires a deep understanding of several breeds of to accurately and quickly classify the target, sharp perception and environmental awareness both to uncover tracks and avoid detection, and enough wildness survival skills to survive delving deep into the wilds while away from the rest of their unit. These multifaceted requirements often mean that not only do most Trackers tend to specialize in their given task, but they often have a very different approach when it comes to completing them. A particularly aggressive team of Outriders will often provide their Tracker with a steed and hound, letting them race ahead of the group and locate the Horror while guiding the way. While a more cautious team may prefer Trackers skilled in stealth to act with more tact, taking several days or even weeks to stalk the target and report back with the Horrors exploitable habits. It's due to this disparity that the loss of a Tracker can often prove rather crippling to even the most experienced team, as even bringing in another Tracker with equivalent experience can't make up for the loss of synergy.

Much like the Alchemist, while the Tracker's unique training might not be centered around combating a Horror directly, they still possess a level of combat proficiency. As given the often immense difference in strength between the target and the hunters, there is no room on an Outsider unit for a non-combatant

Agitator

It is known to all but the most naive that very few Outrider Knights grow old, that the reason for the force's aggressive drafting is ultimately to staunch the bleeding created by the increasingly high turnover rate of fresh recruits. It is said there are two kinds of Riders. Those that die before they learn anything, and those that survive long enough to learn how fucked they truly are. No role embodies this attitude more than the Agitator, the position in which the most skilled the hunter becomes, the more they realize just how close to death they were.

By far the most dangerous position of a typical Outrider team, it can often prove the most valuable. As the role of the Agitator places the hunter directly in front of the Horrors line of attack, attempting to draw the beast's attention away from the rest of their team and onto themselves. At which point they begin the death-defying gambit of evading the beast while goading it into poor positions and opening it up to strikes from other members. Never drawing too far lest the beast loses interest, and never slipping to close as for the narrow miss to grow an eighth-step less narrow. As one might imagine, this balance is extremely hard to find, and even more difficult to maintain given the rough terrain and inconsistent nature of attacks during a Horror hunt. For not only must an Agitator account for each species of Horror's possible means of attack, but they must always keep in mind the fact that, while often only slightly, even Horror is both mentally and genetically divergent. And it is this risk that can give rise to the plight of all Agitators, the demon that haunts them all.

This is Agitator Anxiety, a condition that all but the most resolute Agitators suffer from eventually. A unique anxiety in that it only grows within experienced Agitators, never novice ones. For it is inherently an anxiety built upon knowledge and the realization of how little they had before, and a fear of how little they could have now.

While an Agitator might spend the entire hunt trying to evade getting into range of the Horror, this game with inevitably come to an end as the superior advantages of the Horror can no longer be outdone. At this moment, despite the myriad of options the Agitator might have in front of them to avoid a single lethal blow from the beast, only two outcomes truly matter. Survive, or parish. Those who fail are torn apart almost instantaneously, given little time to reflect on their mistakes before they're eviscerated. However, it is those who pass the trial and narrowly avoid the gaping maw of death that are faced with a crippling realization. Knowing they were a single breath away from making the wrong decision, from moving another half step into the claws of the beast. And with that knowledge can come the paralyzing fear that if it was pure blind luck they had chosen the right path today, then who was to say they could survive the next. From that fear builds hesitation, and it is through hesitation that this self-fulfilling prophecy is inevitably completed.

Pointman

While the other roles have fairly defined jobs within a team, the role of the Pointman is often extremely loose. So loose that not only do several teams often look to other members to fill the role of Pointman, but it can often be rare to even find a dedicated Pointman within both newer and veteran Outrider teams. A scarcity caused by the fact that the term Pointman more or less refers to the position of on-field leader. Tasked with directing the rest of the team and establishing the general fight plan. While all teams typically have some degree of leadership, it is quite rare for them to have a primary Pointman. New teams rarely have the experience needed for one of the members to act as an effective leader and typically can devolve into a frantic free-for-all to slay the beast. Even those young teams with the wherewithal to realize they need a plan with either work together and vote on plans, or default to their most charismatic member. While most experienced teams find having a single trusted member direct their fight plans massively improves their efficiency, this is generally after each member has gathered enough time hunting that they could each serve as an effective Pointman. Thus another member is typically appointed the Pointman, rather than hiring a primary Pointman. With Arbalests, due to their disengaged position in a fight giving enough space to observe the entire fight at once, and Trackers, generally possessing ample knowledge about the beast and an aptitude towards assessing unique mutation, proving the two most common roles raised to the position of Pointman.

This is of course not to say that primary Pointman don't exist, nor is it to say they don't have their uses. While they are rarely utilized, a solid Pointman can often assist a team in subtler ways. As most primary Pointman provide leadership, structure, and direction beyond just the field. Managing the group's funds, assessing and haggling contracts, gathering information from townsfolk and even keeping track of every member's performance in a hunt to best assess what skills need improvement or what gear should be purchased to assist them.

This is of course not to even begin on the tangible shift that occurs when a competent Pointman takes the reins of a team. Proving capable of transforming a team of volatile rookies into a competent enough force to bring down Horrors far above their ranking. Yet just as a skilled Pointman can prove a multiplicative force on a team, elevating them high above their stature. So can a single poor one conduct an entire squad to their death.

Buster Crew

The Buster Crew is a unique profession among the Outriders for one major reason; while the other roles are commonly filled by one member while still encompassing a wide selection of functions and tasks, the Buster Crew represents the exact opposite. Required to have at least two members, with the sole responsibility of wielding the Horror-felling Shoffen-powered Buster Lance. This requirement imposed by the fact that this weapon is simply far too large for any single human being to lift, much less fire without immediately breaking or dislocating both of their arms. As such the Buster Lance is constructed to be operated by two incredibly strong wielders, carried between them almost like a battering ram and fired with two linked triggers by both operators.

In the extremely high-risk, face-paced combat that arises when fighting a Horror, reaction and movement means everything. There are few situations in which a human can hope to take the strike of the Horror head-on, instead, keeping the creature out of range and evading its blows is the best path to survival. Yet with the Buster Lance, not only are both members crippled by the extreme weight of the weapon, but failure to move in perfect step with their partner can quickly lead to them stumbling over one another.

It is for this reason that when in control of the weapon, a Buster Crew must act as one. Perfectly in sync in every action. As a half-second out of position can often lead to not only the quick death of an if not both operators, and the damage or destruction of an extremely expensive piece of gear.

On top of this unity, a Buster Crew will often sit on the outskirts of a fight rather than ducking in and out of the monsters range in a style similar to the other roles. Often one can discern the experience of a Buster Crew is how often they enter the fray, with the most advanced crews often going through an entire hunt without firing their weapon once. As they know rushing to fire the Buster Lance at a suboptimal time is far riskier than it is worth, and that one of two things will happen in a hunt. The rest of the hunters will fell the Horror before they are needed, or the fight will drag on long enough that their golden opportunity will arise.

However, the fact that the Buster Lance is so risky to bring into a hunt, yet still considered the premier of Horror elimination speaks to the immense rewards that successful piloting the weapons yields. With many considering it the only practical way to bring down Horrors of a higher weight class. A single well placed shot from the Buster Lance is often enough to not only penetrate through many Horrors regardless of natural defenses, but in the cases that a vital is not directly destroyed the internal kinetic diffusion can often create a powerful enough shockwave to pulp most critical organs. While they rely heavily on the rest of the team, and especially the Agitator, to open up a window to strike, most Buster Crews know how to make this one window enough to end the fight altogether. In no small part because failure to put the Horror down in a single strike can often result in immediate retaliation.

Holding back the night, defending the light.

Founding Date

204 IBC

Type

Military, Paramilitary/Militia

Alternative Names

Riders

Demonym

Outriders

Leader

Grand Arbiter Vynhauser

Parent Organization

The Empire of Bryonsworth

Location

Frowden's Hold