The Riders

"Who goes there?!" The chainmail-clad general bellowed across the water to a cloaked troop of horsemen steadily approaching. His voice disappears weakly into the foggy air, swallowed by the endless expanse of foot-deep seawater atop uncertain sands. The horse he rides looks down at its submerged front legs with an uncertainty that the general can sympathize with. The sky had taken on an ominous sanguine hue, reflected up into the mist by the ever-honest sea.
No one hears him. His men shift in their tall sap-coated leather boots behind him, hands reaching back towards the weapons on their hips.
Summoning his courage and his pride as a noble, he waves his hand through the air and casts a spell. Thaumaturgy; with it, he can control sound. It was a rare talent and earned him the title among his men, "The Calling General".
"I repeat: who goes there?!"
A brief pause; then, a voice floats over the wind, as close to his ear as if someone whispered into it, the controlled proximity tickling the shell of his ear. He flinched terribly, almost falling off his horse.
"A dead man tells no tales... but that rookie at the tail of your troop may." It's a velvety, prickly voice, like a spring fawn that grins with three rows of human teeth.
The enshrouded figures advance.
I'm going to die, he thought, for the first time since he took up his military badge. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.
The dark figures part on the other side of the saline expanse, and a slim, even slight rider atop a red, red horse bursts between them, trampling the still water into jets. A fraction of the cloudless sky was chiseled away and fell into the water, perhaps, where this flawlessly red steed sprung out; and though the figure above it may be no Leviathan or Kraken, as she throws off her cloak back into the water from whence she came, her face would be etched into stones and books and her enemies' last memories for eternity.
"I am Doria, Doria Locketpicker! ...And I am here to ensure you never again tread easy beneath my red sky!"

-Perfect Red, Part II | Red Raid Ride, Epilogue- "Opening Number"

Structure

The most notable part of the Riders' structure is their decentralization. While many such organizations have been attempted before, none have lasted long enough to make an impact that was quite nearly the scale the Riders have achieved over the years. Through a detailed system of various races and their unique, unlearnable languages, magical assistance, direct captain-to-subordinate communication, swarm tactics, aid from the Feywild, and use of figureheads and public, demonstrative announcements, the Riders act as swiftly and decisively as an above-ground militia would. However, even through the years, they've upheld their traditions of individual anonymity, though they've become very well known over the years.
Currently, the Riders are led by five Leaders, each known by a title developed over time through rumor and espionage. While most of these titles are not known to all, they are not exactly confidential, as legend tends to make for good PR. They are, respectively, based in Caomh, the secretive Seer and the calculating Sniper; active in Wysteria, the malicious Shifter and the untraceable Messenger; and lastly, known to all, whose name and appearance are common wood: Kikira, wine-haired, ring-wielding figurehead of today's riders, the Dancer.

Culture

Much of what "culture" has developed within the Riders makes it akin to a nomadic group more so than just a military. Word is spread far and wide outside of Stormfell of the great deeds of the Riders, attracting volunteers of all shapes, sizes, and ages to their cause. Generally, though, the Riders are composed of two (informally named) parts. The Wysterian Riders are those who are actively on duty in Wysteria, mostly Stormfell, participating (whether by contributing through the effort by smuggling people and supplies, actually swinging their weapons, pulling strings, arranging safehouses, or the like) in their raids, espionage, search-and-rescues, and political coups. Meanwhile, the Caomhic Riders, more an honorary title than anything, are all the Rider-affiliated folk back in Caomh; their volunteer families and spouses, youngsters in training (also known as Rookies or Little Reds), the injured, retirees, and everyone thanklessly involved with making the war effort possible. 
In Wysteria, the Riders stage riots and raids on military bases, various storage spaces, carriages of traffickers, etc to obtain goods and rescue victims of Stormfell's tyranny. They then smuggle out the trafficked individuals, though sometimes by dubious means leading to many falling through the net, out to shores, where they are shipped off to Caomh. They prioritize efficiency as well as the safety of the Riders, reasoning that a Rider can go on to save more people if they can be protected more, rather than wasting time and resources on extra security of the folks they do save. Meanwhile, in Caomh, some of these rescued people join the Riders themselves, while others volunteer to help for them, and yet others go off to build themselves new lives. Rookies of all ages train in Caomh for defensive purposes, but those who can pass rigorous mental and physical testing go on to a higher level of training, eventually hand-picked by experienced Wysterian Riders to join them in Wysteria. These people can vary from talented fighters to captivating sex workers, from hardened surgeons to prolific actors. People from all walks of life can find their use among the Wysterian Riders, so long as they are willing to put their neck to the blade of Stormfell.
Part of what make the Riders such a loyal group is that their circles of interactions are small, and all members are valued and honored for their work; a Caomhic farmer providing grain and lending carriages to the supply chain is adorned a Rider, and their assistance will go only directly to the squadron belonging to the captain they are in contact with. They will know the fruits of their labor very locally. It also makes tackling the organization terribly difficult; through decades of declared war, Stormfell has never quite been able to uproot-- or even come close to uprooting-- the Riders, as the tracks always end somewhere. One or two loyal martyrs shut their mouths and the trail runs cold. 
Of course, despite that, the original image of the Riders have always been that which people associate most with what it truly means to be a Rider: bearing the red sun, sky, and sea at your back as you ride a horse across the plains, spreading news that your people can be free.

Public Agenda

The Riders have a series of stated goals. While every leader's opinion is known to differ, and as a decentralized organization would be, many branches see the problem differently, their primary cause unites them before one front.
1. Liberate the enslaved, oppressed, and otherwise unfairly treated nonhumans from Stormfell and its satellite colonies all around Wysteria.
2. Defend the collective haven of Caomh and her people from harm.
It is these two tenets that form the two-part structure of the Riders. Though a thorough scholar might find that an end goal is not well established: where and how do they plan to shelter and tend to the newly "freed" nonhumans? How do you define harm? What roles do part human mixed race people and full humans play? What happens with Stormfell, will a massive mega-ethnostate be created excluding it in wake of the Riders' campaign? Do they want war in the first place? These questions are all left to the individual, somewhat intentionally left unanswered.

Assets

deez nuts

Demography and Population

A very diverse group, dappled through notably by varieties of tiefling and elves, as well as many birdfolk in the Caomhic sectors.

Foreign Relations

it aint lookin cute wit stormfell ngl what wit duh douse em in blood biz

Mythology & Lore

Worships the Caomhic interpretation of Life as a turbulent, inconstant force of fortune and the coming of things known as Chantalle.

Douse the Heavens in Blood, and Ride On!

Founding Date

Unclear

Type

Illicit, Rebel

Alternative Names

The Red Ride

Demonym

Rider

Leader

Kikira

Deities

• Life

Location

Caomh

Related Ethnicities

• Latent Tiefling