Name: Arnau d’Orfes
Covenant: Sa Dragonera (visitor)
Saga: Light of Andorra (Sa Dragonera)
Characteristics: Int +2, Per 0, Pre +1, Com +1, Str +2, Sta +1, Dex +1, Qik 0
Age: 27
Conf: 1(3)
VIRTUES AND FLAWS
FIRE CASTER (accelerated ability)
Life Boost
WEALTHY
Mercenary Captain: 20-ish almogavers under his direct command with medium armor, swords and shields. Some of them carry crossbows.
Improved Characteristics
Arcane Lore
Flight (HMRE p.35) Earned through Initiation
Veteran. Earned in his campaigns
Well travelled. Earned in his campaigns
AGE QUICKLY
FURY (Displays of disrespect towards Christianity )
Driven (“Mystical Reconquista”).
Infamous (Butcher 4 among Muslims)
Weakness (pretty girls)
Lame (Ordeal for Flight) Earned through Initiation
ABILITIES
Speak Catalan (military) 5
Speak Langue d’Oc (military) 4
Speak Latin (church) 3
Speak Arabic (low class) 3
Catalonia Lore (politics) 2
Iberia Lore (Arab lands) 3
Balearic Islands Lore (geography) 1
Maghreb Lore (geography) 1
Animal Handling (horses) 1
Athletics (flying) 2
Awareness (alertness) 1
Chirurgy (slashing wounds) 1
Ride (battle) 2
Stealth (at night) 1
Survival (forage) 1
Carouse (social) 2
Folk Ken (soldiers) 2
Charm (soldiers) 1
Bargain (services) 2
Intrigue (court) 1
Leadership (soldiers) 2+2
Etiquette (court) 1
Guile (feigning strength) 1
Org Lore: OoH (militant magi) 1
Org Lore: Sahirs (personalities) 1
Org Lore: Folk Witches (initiations) 1
Org Lore: Flame Brothers (leaders) 2
Org Lore: Church (militant orders) 1
Tactics (raids) 3
Magic Lore (Djinn) 3
Faerie Lore (Catalonia) 2
Infernal Lore (Infernal djinn) 1
Profession: Scribe (letters) 1
Artes Liberales (Geometry) 1
Flight (take off) 3
(Second Sight 3)
(Hex 3)
FIRE CASTING 14+3
Penetration (Djinn) 4
Brawl (dagger) 2
Single weapon (Sword) 5
The XP also pay for the Flight, Veteran and Well Trevelled virtues (plus the lame flaw), 4 enriched items (one major, 3 minor) and 3 quality items: Talladora (sword), Aegis of Faith (Armor) and Firebringer (pyrite)
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Brave +2
Flamboyant +3
Lecherous +2
Dislikes Muslim men but really likes women +2
Cares for friends +3
COMBAT
Brawl: -1, +2, -1, +2
Brawl (dagger): -1, +5, +2, +5
Talladora (quality arming sword): +1, +14, +6, +8
Talladora + large shield: +1, +14, +9, +8
Soak: +17 (hauberk, clam shell); +25 (full armor & clam shell)
Load: 6 (armor load 3, prot 13)
Encumbrance: –1
Enriched Items
- Clam shell in a necklace (Tough)
- Topaz in his helmet (Puissant Leadership)
- Dripstone in a pendant (Second Sight 3)
- Blackthorn branch (Hex 3; 13 uses only)
Quality Items
- Talladora, longsword (+4 attack)
- Aegis of Faith, hauberk (+7 soak)
- Firebringer, pyrite (+3 fire related effects)
MUNDANE EQUIPMENT
Arnau dresses like a knight. He has a penchant for red and orange. His best possessions are Talladora (Cutter), a Toledo steel arming sword (longsword) that has been worked on by a Verditius (+4 attack), and his sets of armor. the chain hauberk of his main suit has been enchanted by the same veriditius as Talladora, and provides an improved protection(+13 prot). he only wears the whole suit of armor when expecting pitched battle, sinc eit slows him down. In the cross of his sword he carries Firebringer, a pyrite of quality that he grates against his armored rugged forearm to generate sparks, that then he intensifies into full firecaster effects. He got Firebringer from the charred body of a dead sahir he bested in magical combat. He also has all the apparatus and paraphernalia of his role. Horses, weapons, tents, supplies and all the equipment needed for an Almogaver unit and its HQ.
BACKGROUND
The Flame Brothers are an almogaver mercenary band. There are between 450 and 600 active Flame brothers at any given time. They tend to work for Christian armies fighting the Muslims, and tend to be active in both Iberia and the Levant. Their base of operations is located near castell Toló, in the County of Perelada, in northern Catalonia.
The Flame brothers specialize in siegecraft, both offensive and defensive. They are specially adept at taking enemy fortresses by escalade. Troops that tend to associate with them have noted that enemy fortresses have a surprising tendency to combust when the Flame Brothers are around.
The Flame Brothers trace their (mythical?) origins to the auxiliary troops that were helping Flambeau and his seven champions during their campaign against the Sahirs of Iberia. They were present in the final battle. Delendos took the survivors and retreated to the Pyrenees. Here, he decided to teach the leaders of the Fire Brothers a version of fire magic. The objective of this was for them to continue the war against the Sahirs unrestricted by the code. This was the case because some Sahirs were already on negotiations to enter House Ex Miscellanea and continuing to wage war against them (even Wizard’s War) was deemed undesirable politically by the leaders of the Order. The creation of the independent (but likely-minded Flame Brothers) by teaching them a version of Ignem and making them swear an oath to wage a crusade against the Muslim magic wielders was Delendos’ response to his needs under the political mood of the time.
The Flame Brothers contribution brought down some of the killers of Flambeau and ensured that the Sahirs looked more keenly to acquire the Parma Magica and be under the aegis of the Order. By 1230 the attention of the Flame Brothers tends to centre more on Berber magicians than Sahirs, but their general crusade against Moorish and Berber magic wielders continues to this day. They have a long story of animosity with the Iberian and Middle Eastern Sahirs, since they have waged a low intensity war for centuries, and some members of the Flame Brothers still try to bring down a Sahir when they can.
Most leaders of the company are Fire Casters. Fire casting is a mystical ability that allows them to access their Inner Fire and summon flames at will, giving them great military power. However,t his comes at the cost of them consuming themselves, and they tend to die relatively young. Recently (in the last 50 years) the Flame Brothers have developed knowledge that the powers of the folk witches can be taught. They have contacted a coven and learned some of their powers, right now several small units of the Fire Brothers are experimenting with several powers to see if they try to incorporate them into their Initiations arsenal or not.
Given their expertise with magic users and the supernatural, the Fire Brothers work for the Order of Hermes from time to time. Redcap escorts and acting as auxiliaries for magi during hunts and wizard wars are common acts. When contracted by magi, they are paid both in silver and in magical resources.
The Flame Brothers were contracted by the Catalan crown for the conquest of Mallorca. Around 350 of them were available for the campaign. Their high water came when the knights refused to enter the breach in the wall of the capital city (“shame on you, gentlemen, shame on you!” Jaume dixit); the Fire Brothers spearheaded the assault. Ciutat de Mallorca burned. This earned them the gratitude of the king and the contempt of some of the nobles in the campaign since it put them in evidence. The king has kept Arnau and his mercenaries on Mallorca in pacification operations and they are to be used in further Balearic actions. Around 200 mercenaries left for the Levant after the fall of the city, to reinforce the operations that the Phoenix (Grand master) of the company were performing there. This has left around 150 Flame Brothers in Mallorca under the command of Bernat de Ferrofós, one of the 3 Conflagrations (triad of leaders) of the Fire Brothers. They are doing mop up activities around the island.
Arnau is one of the Combustions (middle ranking officer) of the Fire brothers. He commands around 60 [b]Flames /b and has a series of [b]Torches /b under his command. However, most of them are not available to him on a regular basis. Arnau’s unit is specialized in escalades, and some of its members have undergone initiation to be able to fly to help secure a wall section and help their companions to climb it. Their performance so far has been good in their actions, but the fact that this leaves the warriors lame has meant that they tend to act as support crossbowmen when not in active escalade actions. Arnau is the bastard son of the Compte d'Empuries (Count of Empuries). He was well cared for in his early years, and has maintained contact with his family, even if they were glad to see him go off with the Flame Brothers. Being one of the Fire Casters of the Brotherhood he has had formal training regarding the supernatural and liberal arts paid by the company, and is well educated by medieval standards. He is both a fighter a leader and an ambassador of the Brotherhood and the wares it offers, so they ensure that he is capable of conducting a series of activities with a modicum of success. Arnau likes women, likes his wine and likes to laugh loudly. He hates being lame, but enjoys the possibility of flying that it brought him.
After the conquest of Mallorca, he is preparing his unit for a reconnaissance in force against Eivissa. The Fire Brothers have been assigned as one of the main forces in the mission.