Ruination Guards

No blade of grass or weed or flower pushes through the rubble in these ruins. No tiny creature has burrowed through the soil and stones. No vines or ivy drape across old stone arches, or crumbled stone walls. No lichen on the walls and cracked cobbles, only layers of dust. Dust! It replaces the morning mist of lush woodland landscapes with it's dire, sepia clouds, choking the living, and clogging crevices of broken buildings.
In amongst the husk of a town, long since lost to the dust, ten squat figures trudge, carving a path through the dust and heavy air. Beneath their feet the cracks inbetween paving slabs are indistinguishable beneath an excess of dust. The hollow buildings around them sag, leaning precariously over the street. Each member of the group is a dwarf clad in once shining spiked armour, carved with protective symbols, which glow faintly in the gloom. Each member is armed with a falchion and a poleaxe and more protective charms, worn around their necks. The leader carries a bronze lantern hanging from bronze chains, which spills out yellow light, casting enormous shadows of the soldiers. They walk through the ruined landscape with power and confidence, hands on sword hilts, suggesting a formation well versed in combat. However, the stolid expressions on their faces as the darkness of this world strikes blow upon blow on their sanity is proof that this regiment is as well trained in mental durability as in physical strength.
The Ruination Guards are a regiment of Dwarven Warriors specially trained to survive in the wasteland that is The Lands of Ruination. They are highly specialised, and are mostly deployed to rescue those who stray into the wastes before they are consumed by the Ruination, to hunt down monsters injured at the frontier before they can regain their strength, or to deliver vital supplies to those who are unable to make the journey back to Archaria in The Half-Ruined Temple of Mirosaer. What sets apart this regiment from other specialised warriors is their level of mental training. Once inside The Lands of Ruination, the oppressive land and it's malevolent spirits will try to wear down those who stray from the mountains and the road bit by bit, preying on their deepest fears and woes. Ruination Guards are trained to become virtually mentally invincible to survive in this place. Nevertheless, teams almost always carry abjuration charms to provide an extra layer of defence.

Composition

Manpower

Due to the requirements, intensive training, for the role, the manpower of the unit is small compared to most other units, numbering about 1,500 soldiers across The Blackwyrm Mountains. This is not much of a problem, however, as the Ruination Guards are not particularly focused on field warfare, but mostly rescue and scouting missions which only require small teams.

Equipment

Having to travel on foot, and having no baggage train, Ruination Guards must carry only what they most need. They carry a few days rations, and survival equipment including rope, a tinderbox, a light hammer, and climbing pitons. Rather than using tents, they instead find shelter in the many ruins. Along with these, they wear plate armour inscribed with protective runes, and amulets known as Drallum Tokens (see sidebar).

Vehicles

Only the arcane vehicles of the Age of Expansion could ever hope to traverse the wastes on land. Flying vehicles leave the flyers exposed to airborne attacks from malevolent spirits, or the wrath of the eternal dust storms which batter the Ruination. For these reasons, the Ruination Guards always travel on foot.

Tactics

The Ruination Guards main enemies are the monsters which lurk in the Ruination. These monsters can sense creatures based on emotions, most notably fear and woe. The Ruination Guards therefore have been trained to repress emotion on missions to become invisible to these monsters. When in combat, they mostly rely on high powered skirmish attacks, fighting and retreating quickly before the monsters can hit back, as their foes are notoriously powerful in melee.

Type

Special Forces

Founding

0 AR

Overall training Level

Elite

Assumed Veterancy

Decorated/Honored

Drallum Tokens

No warrior is perfect. During the intense training required for the Ruination Guards, it is inevitable that a trainee's weaknesses will be revealed. These weaknesses can be worked on and ironed out over time, however, they almost always will still have some sort of impact on the warrior. If this weakness is one to do with mental defences, such as willpower to resist the waste spirits, a Drallum Token will be given. This is a protective amulet which will assist in the protection of a warrior's mind. Each Drallum token is unique, tailored to it's owner by the dwarven smiths who forge them and the clerics and abjurers who enchant them.