Kandoran Eviscerator

The culture of Kandor leaves little room for large standing armies. Although they can be put together quickly at the command of the Ash Khan, this is not done very often because of Kandor’s violent history of internal power struggles. Chasing the Tiger, or pursuing a military career, is rare for most Kandorans. Still, almost every person is expected to receive formal military training, usually early, at some point in their lives.
The desert horse tribes are naturally more aggressive than their city-dwelling countryman. Still, there are, of course, those that seek out the Blade path naturally. For the Tuvehruz, as the city dwellers are fond of calling the nomadic tribes, every day is a battle for survival against the Red Rock Desert. They have a long-standing military tradition and are quick to assemble when the Ash Khan or their Dor Khan calls them.
The Dogrogi, or stagnant, as the nomads call their city cousins, have fewer outlets for a warrior tradition, especially with the use of the undead in large military operations. Most forces are nomad horse soldiers, local levies, and hordes of the undead raised by the Jackal Priests and other Necromancers.
For Dogrogi wishing to pursue the path of the blade, their journey starts in a Temple of the Tiger. The Tiger Temples are home to most military training that the commoner will undergo when they come of age and must register for the levy.
Most Kandorans will finish their training and return to their everyday lives, awaiting the day they are called to service by their Khan. However, some desire to devote their lives to war. Kandorans call them Irgbahlan or little tigers.
Irgbahlan refers to those young tigers learning how to live and fight, and their mother teaches them these things. The Irgbahlan constantly play, fight, learn, and hunt until they are ready to strike out independently.
An Irgbahlan becomes like a monk at the Tiger Temples, learning and honing their craft. Because most Tiger Temples are located within military fortresses, the Irgbahlan learn tactics, leadership, and other military principles. Most of them also take up a specialty martial form or Erkhe.
One of the most popular Erkhe is a sword form known as Dorkukra or Fast Death. The warriors who practice Dorkukra are known as Khozog Batlak or Eviscerators. These Eviscerators are the closest thing that Kandorans come to having Bladesworn.
Eviscerators are incredibly agile in combat and excel at landing blows so quickly that their enemy is killed before they even have a chance to strike. They are very knowledgeable in the sword forms of other factions and practice ways to overcome those forms and counteract their weaknesses.
An Eviscerator’s training is challenging and constant. Because the Eviscerators are not called to duty until needed, they spend most of their time practicing with their spikedrach. They also have a physical training regimen that includes endurance and meditation.
The Eviscerators draw their erkhe and martial philosophy from a series of writings compiled as Molu Ixtakan Usat or The Spry Hunter. This book was written by Monks of Falsurtarx near the Symidian city of Phraxazar. Phraxazar lies near a deep and impenetrable forest where the monks observed the local Tigers hunt and take their prey. From their observations, they developed the Fast Death form and the martial philosophy of Molu Ixtakan Usat.
The Spry Hunter was compiled over hundreds of years and eventually spread to other Tiger Temples in Symidia and beyond with the Symker Migrations. Jingnar Grakel was said to be the first to introduce it to the Tiger Temples of Kandor. Still, in reality, it had probably been practiced for centuries and handed down from teacher to student before the rise of an established system of instruction.
Jingnar established the first Tiger Temple. He taught from The Spry Hunter, and it swiftly became one of the most popular martial arts among the temples in Kandor. This was probably because those in the city were without a traditional warrior form, and the desert nomads would not teach their practices to outsiders, especially Dogrogi.
Jingnar’s Eviscerators proved themselves for the first time in 603 at the battle of Varkusun Kulgesy. A force of Thormenalan Mercenaries had pushed through the Paz Hrol and routed the levy army of Dor Khan Torgus. The Eviscerators stood their ground against the onslaught. They fought for almost a day until the Ash Khan’s reinforcements arrived in the form of cavalry from the desert tribes. The Thormenalans were thrown back in disarray. Most survivors were ridden down and did not reach the pass to return to their own country.
Jingnar joined Krayech a few years before necromancer zealot Ezeel Zonjara started a civil war in Kandor. Like so many other aspects of Kandoran life at the time, the Eviscerators split their loyalties between Zonjara’s forces and the Ash Khan’s loyalists.
Despite part of their force serving Zonjara, Ash Khan Volash utilized the Eviscerators when he reorganized Kandor after the destructive war. Eviscerator training became commonplace in each Tiger Temple, and the Ash Khan often would take their best warriors to serve him as personal guards.
Eviscerators learn to fight individually, in small groups, and in units. They are cherished members of Kandoran Freebands and are sometimes tasked to lead them, especially when the patron is a government official.