The Reapers of Despair

The Reapers of Despair are an organisation made up of the remnants of many cultures that have and still exist in Central Europe. It is led by Drakov Adolfsson at present. It is a loose paramilitary organisation with a mix of infantry, cavalry, archers, and skirmishers. They take mercenary contracts rarely, as they are seen as outlaws by many settlements & nations. The Reapers regularly target small to medium settlements all through the main regions of Europe to get gold, war materiel, food, and the necessities of life. Based in and around the Alps, they have took in the remnants of other armies, tribes, and criminals. Their attitude to the places they raid, and people they accept in, is that the Reapers come first, and if you don't accept them they kill on sight.
Their encampment when hot fighting is in an old village dating back to the old Celtic Helvetii tribe in a region that the proto-Swiss are living in. It has had Roman Legion improvements at one stage, and now Germanic improvements. The area is a mix of forest & snow-covered mountain, making it very difficult to get to, and find. Not all the group can be found there and there is always some out hunting, raiding or causing mayhem wherever they are. Their small forces allow for surprise attacks to happen quickly, and to disappear quickly too. When a determined force is encountered a large portion of the rest is called in to carry out a raid. When they get treasure or important documents / people / items, they will look to sell it on or to ransom it back to their enemies. Most countries, nations etc have  a kill on sight policy towards them for this, and even the Thieves of Frankia take the same view, seeing them as an opposing faction.
In the ranks of the Reapers, might makes right, and the hardest most bloodthirsty make it to the top. It has been around for 35 years, and has had 4 leaders in that time, with Drakov Adolfsson being the current leader. He also is responsible for the slaying of the previous leader (called Petrel Knut). Rumours are that they are also cannibals too, at least when food is scarce but nobody has ever proven this, at least who have survived. The units they use during battles & raids, are based round mixes of basic levy style units, backed by sword or axemen, heavy archers to back of them, and light archers to the sides. The latter, along with javelin men & slingers, usually act as scouts & skirmishers. Light & heavy cavalry can also be found though small in number due to the difficulty of them looking after the horses. Every once in a while they have a magic user in their ranks giving them an edge when needed. Smaller raiding parties are more common & ad-hoc relying on what is at hand and it is not unusual to have mixed units instead of dedicated ones. These are more likely to rely on hit-and-run tactics instead of an all out pitched battles.
There are many types of races in the organisation as well, and more specialised character types. It is not uncommon to find Half-Orcs, Wood Elves, Orcs, Goblins, Black Elves, Duergar, Dragonborn, and Tieflings mixed in, and a higher percentage of them than in most Human dominated societies. Bards, thieves, assassins, warlocks, and sorcerers have a slightly higher occurrence in their midst.

Type

Paramilitary