The Grim Legion
The Grim Legion claims all those who die by violence. Despite the common assumption, soldiers do not make up most of this Legion’s membership. Instead, most of the Grim are unwilling participants in the violence that took their lives — victims of mob or gang warfare, assassination, hate crimes, feuds, and suchlike. Since murderers themselves often die violently, both murderer and victim may both end up in the Grim Legion, which means there’s the very real possibility of a murder victim serving in ranks with his killer.
But still, Soldiers who die in battle do make up a significant portion of the Grim. Membership in the Legion takes no notice of the sides one took in the Skinlands, so often former enemies find themselves expected to fight together. Sometimes, however, the feuds of the living can’t be abandoned, and a situation similar to that of murderer and murder victim arises.
Over the centuries, the Legion developed its own way of dealing with this dilemma. Whenever a murder victim finds her way to the Grim Legion, she receives a promise from the Smiling Lord. If the new recruit’s killer is reborn into the Shadowlands, the victim will get a chance to see her murderer brought to trial, or at least to have a face-to-face encounter with that individual.
It’s not an empty promise. Hundreds of Legionnaires work tirelessly to bring murderers back to the Smiling Lord’s domain, regardless of whether they were just reaped or are well-respected members of another Legion. During the ensuing trial, the truth of what happened inevitably comes out. A guilty verdict usually results in a sentence of soulforging, while lesser convictions range from imprisonment to immobilization through Moliation to being assigned to suicide missions on the Smiling Lord’s behalf. Rarely, victim and murderer find a resolution that allows both parties a second chance, usually in separate Legions or in locations distant from one another.
The Legion tends to look the other way when one of their own violates the Dictum Mortuum in order to discover the identity or location of their murderer, or uses Arcanoi to harass that person in the Skinlands. The saying “all is fair in love and war” takes on an interesting extension among the ranks of the Grim. “All is fair in love and war — and murder.” Members of the Legion stand together on this issue, and their solidarity makes them one of the tightest fighting units in Stygia.
But still, Soldiers who die in battle do make up a significant portion of the Grim. Membership in the Legion takes no notice of the sides one took in the Skinlands, so often former enemies find themselves expected to fight together. Sometimes, however, the feuds of the living can’t be abandoned, and a situation similar to that of murderer and murder victim arises.
Over the centuries, the Legion developed its own way of dealing with this dilemma. Whenever a murder victim finds her way to the Grim Legion, she receives a promise from the Smiling Lord. If the new recruit’s killer is reborn into the Shadowlands, the victim will get a chance to see her murderer brought to trial, or at least to have a face-to-face encounter with that individual.
It’s not an empty promise. Hundreds of Legionnaires work tirelessly to bring murderers back to the Smiling Lord’s domain, regardless of whether they were just reaped or are well-respected members of another Legion. During the ensuing trial, the truth of what happened inevitably comes out. A guilty verdict usually results in a sentence of soulforging, while lesser convictions range from imprisonment to immobilization through Moliation to being assigned to suicide missions on the Smiling Lord’s behalf. Rarely, victim and murderer find a resolution that allows both parties a second chance, usually in separate Legions or in locations distant from one another.
The Legion tends to look the other way when one of their own violates the Dictum Mortuum in order to discover the identity or location of their murderer, or uses Arcanoi to harass that person in the Skinlands. The saying “all is fair in love and war” takes on an interesting extension among the ranks of the Grim. “All is fair in love and war — and murder.” Members of the Legion stand together on this issue, and their solidarity makes them one of the tightest fighting units in Stygia.
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