The Deathguard

"Once, they served with noble purpose, but their arrogance and their corruption has festered. Zubia the Heretic has tainted their name. The Deathguard are traitor and they must be destroyed."

— Dynasty King Heprates

The Deathguard are a cult-like group of warriors and assassins who protect the Necropolis from intruders. Dedicated to their dogmatic philosophy, they kill indiscriminately those who enter the City of the Dead. Only the heralds of corpses to be entombed or those who bear the blood of the Dynasty Kings are permitted. In the past, under the leadership of Zubia, they attempted to lay siege to the city of Thripia. Since his death and their reformation, they have declined in power. They served as the template Dynasty King Xartses used when creating the Cabal of the Black. They are often identified with the symbol of the snake.

Equipment

Members of the Deathguard wear sand colored headdresses and robe-like clothing. Typically, they also wear bronze chest plates. Also made from bronze, in opposition to traditional designs, is a Deathguard's funeral mask which they wear at all times. The mask is intended to separate the Deathguard from the living, much in the same way as an ordinary funeral mask, but also serves to strip them of their sense of liveliness and individuality. Deathguard are only permitted to remove their funeral masks within the Sanctum and never in front of outsiders. In terms of weapons, the Deathguard prefer fast and light equipment such as knives, swords and wrist blades. Many also use ranged weapons, primarily bows. They are also fond of poisons which they make from the venom of desert creatures.
The Deathguard once supposedly made use of magic, able to move the sands of the Meleatte Desert according to their will. This included suffocating enemies by dragging them below the surface or into traps, moving at a faster pace in the desert and even conjuring sandstorms. It is believed that they were introduced to this art by Zubia the Heretic who in turn derived his knowledge from studying the Sand Shapes during his exile. Yet, over the years as the Deathguard declined in power, they likewise lost access to their dark knowledge.

Organisation

Due to the relative smallness and simplicity of their operations and membership, no complex hierarchy is required among the Deathguard. Rather, a council of elder Deathguard exist, known as the Long Dead, who are deemed the wisest due to their age. It is on their authority that all actions are undertaken. For more practical matters, a captain instructs individual units on everyday operations and in combat. Though the captain answers to the Long Dead, in times past the role wielded sole authority as the representative of the Deathguard to Thripia. The Deathguard are known to recruit from the criminals of Thripia, with permission from the Wise Council, or from those who desire new lives in the City of the Dead.

Agenda

The Deathguard is focused on a singular goal; the protection of the Necropolis. Established by the Dynasty King Pyocla for this purpose after the construction of the site, their role was initially a practical one. Due to the riches entombed alongside the dead, it was feared grave robbers and other thieves would target the Necropolis for looting as they had many other royal tombs. Pyocla's response was to order a contingent of soldiers to guard the area and kill unauthorized intruders. After years of dutiful service, a skilled and mysterious warrior named Zubia worked his way into the organisation after being exiled from Thripia decades earlier and was eventually named captain with the wider city unaware of his true identity. He shifted the Deathguard's focus to banditry, attacking desert travelers and concealing their crimes with magic. He was eventually so bold as to attempt to hold the city to ransom with his power and laid siege to it. After he was killed and the organisation reformed, however, a new dogma was introduced. They were forbidden from anything but seeing to the defense of the Necropolis. Additionally, it was declared that any who attempted to enter would be killed, this time without exception. Further restrictions were put in place in order to ensure their organisation would not fall to corruption again.

Philosophy

To maintain their apolitical stance, the Deathguard encourages separation of its members from the ordinary living. They refer to Thripians as stone-folk and themselves as sand-folk. All contact between the two is highly discouraged. Involvement in the city and its politics, it is believed, will corrupt individual Deathguard and sway them from their purpose.
Their mission itself, and their zealous slaughter of all intruders, is justified by the need to preserve the legacy of the Dynasty Kings. The Deathguard see the Thraeo lineage as divine, as did many during their rule, and believed that they were the embodiment or order and the sun god Sargos. It is the Deathguard's belief that this legacy endures even beyond death and that to violate their tombs is an affront to their sacred duty and the respect they are owed. Moreover, to them, disturbing the afterlife has very real consequences in the forms of disaster and death. They are also of the belief that normal men and women are incapable of truly understanding death and its true ramifications for they are surrounded, always, by life. They, on the other hand, isolated and disconnected from concepts of liveliness and identity, walk the boundary between existence and non-existence. The philosophy of the Deathguard, and its effectiveness in assuring the loyalty and dedication of its members, later served as a template upon which the Cabal of the Black was formed.

Type

Military, Other

Location

The Necropolis

Controlled Territories

• The Necropolis