.: The Black Hand :. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE ETERNAL FANTASY USER HELP ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***** Your comrades in the struggle to break the cycle of war ***** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CAUTION - MINOR STORY SPOILERS AHEAD
Content warning: The Eternal Fantasy's main scenario is written at the equivalent of an M rating by the ESRB for strong language, intense fantasy violence, and mature themes. Reader discretion advised.
The Black Hand is a group of Baronian freedom fighters with the goal of ending the reign of the usurper and warmonger King William and ensuring there can never be another Baronian war of aggression by abolishing not only the monarchy, but the nobility that empowers and protects the monarchy. Fifty years of war interrupted by fleeting moments of peace have shown the Black Hand that waiting for a saviour accomplishes nothing. The Black Hand seeks self-governance for the people, free from the depredations of autocratic rule.
The Black Hand is comprised of members of all walks of life. Each has their own reason for opposing the Kingdom of Baron. Baron's crimes are numerous, and thousands of people have been hurt or killed to satisfy King William's vision of a "glorious" kingdom. Aside from the player character, these are five NPC members of the Black Hand at the end of chapter 1, listed in order of appearance:
ALICE Age: Mid 30s Gender: Female Class: Dark Knight Formerly a Dark Knight of Baron under King Ceodore, Alice found herself discharged from King Ceodore's service as a matter of political expediency. A life of service to the crown was all she knew, and in its absence, she found she was no one. Alice stood aside, disillusioned, during Baron's war of succession, and saw a flawed "good" king replaced by a tyrant. As King William's crimes against the people mounted, Alice found she could no longer remain passive. Alice, Loran, and Moira formed the Black Hand in the wake of an engineered riot that left hundreds dead in what was the nobility's worst atrocity to date. Although the Black Hand does not have a formal leader, Alice provides both ideological direction and years of experience as a field commander to the Black Hand.
LORAN Age: Early 30s Gender: Non-binary Class: Dragoon A Dragoon of Baron and a former loyalist to Ceodore Harvey, Loran's career came to a swift end during Baron's war of succession as a squad of Baronian black mages eradicated Loran's company and left Loran permanently injured. Baron has little sympathy for the infirm, especially those who back the enemies of the new king. Loran found themself reduced to extreme poverty and squalor. Society had turned its back on Loran. Loran had almost resigned themself to oblivion when they met Moira and Alice. Together, the three formed the Black Hand in an attempt to bring justice to Baron's tyrannical nobility.
MOIRA Age: Late 20s Gender: Female Class: Rogue Moira is one of the two de facto "leaders" of the Black Hand, along with Alice. Formerly a tax assessor for the crown, it was decided at the outbreak of the war of succession that only those of noble birth could be trusted with the crown's finances. The lowborn Moira was summarily dismissed from service and barred from any future financial or commercial work, citing security concerns. Enforced poverty didn't sit well with Moira, and so she helped form the Black Hand to right the injustices she and others like her faced. While Alice brings years of field command experience to the Black Hand, Moira provides a keen strategic mind, highly honed diplomatic and negotiating skills, and a fair few connections both above and below board.
PADMA Age: Mid 20s Gender: Female Class: Monk Padma is the oldest child in a very large, very poor family. She never fit in with her family, and found herself disowned towards the end of King Ceodore's reign. When the war of succession destroyed Baron's economy, she was left with no one and nothing to support her. Unable to find stable employment, she drifted onto and off of the streets. Unfortunately, this caused her to run afoul of the law on more than one occasion. Padma caught the Black Hand's attention due to her fearless resistance during a wide-scale police crackdown. After the event, she joined the Black Hand, having finally found people who accepted her.
TALIA Age: Early 20s Gender: Female Class: Seeker Talia originally got into the monster hunting business for the independence it provided. What she learned was that "monster hunting" is simply a term for low-paid, unstable wildlife control work for the nobility. With few other options, she was trapped in a trade she grew to hate. In such situations, some turn to the bottle. Talia turned instead to nepenthe, an amnestic draught that induces powerful but temporary memory loss. However, Talia refuses to discuss what, exactly, she wants to forget. She was discovered by Padma, and her recruitment into the Black Hand is the focus of the start of chapter 1.
See Also: help earth - Background information on The Eternal Fantasy's main scenario help rp - General roleplaying information for The Eternal Fantasy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |