The Blackhearts

Nearly seven thousand years ago, House Hugjorr recalled nearly every member of the house to their private enclaves in the remote Godswrath Plateau, and disappeared from dwarven social life. Not quite a millennium later, they launched a devastating assault on dwarven kind, bringing enough skyships and warmachines to challenge the combined might of the other Houses. The few Hugjorr bodies recovered showed signs of significant and malignant warping and mutation, and they fought to the death, every one. Showing no honor or mercy in their combat, these twisted dwarves earned the wrath of the entire world, and though the remaining dwarven Houses alone drove Hugjorr back to their alien warrens (the latter collapsed the entrances, trapping themselves in side but preventing the others from wiping them out), the human kingdoms of the time refrained from pressing undefended dwarven territory.
Knowing that this new enemy wouldn't remain buried, the dwarven council took the small handful of uncorrupted Hugjorr and created the Blackheart Legions around them. Orphans and warriors too bitter to ever let the war go also entered service in these legions, forsaking old family ties to spend their lives preparing for the next Hugjorr incursion. Though only one major conflict has occurred in all the millennia since, Hugjorr raiders engage in piracy and hit-and-run tactics constantly, ensuring that the Blackhearts are constantly busy (and that other dwarves understand the value of these warriors).

Structure

The Triumvirate in charge of the two Blackheart Legions includes the Grand Marshall, High Inquisitor, and Coin Master. Below these three (all of whom can issue orders, though discreet chains of command exist for the rare instances when these three contradict each other), are two colonels in charge of the two legions, each with an executive officer and typically a small staff. Each legion maintains roughly 5,000 warriors with a few hundred auxiliary warriors. A captain commands around five cohorts (of roughly one hundred warriors each) with an additionally captain overseeing the auxiliary, which typically includes the legion's warmachine assets. A lieutenant oversees a cohort alongside a sergeant (the latter typically being of more common birth, but the two maintain different duties all the same). A corporal leads a squad (usually eight other warriors), with the lowest rank referred to as 'warrior'.
Skyship assets have their own chains of command as appropriate, but all are subordinate to the Triumvirate. Warmachines confer greater rank on their pilots, with each warmachine jock having the equivalent rank of sergeant (though this rarely matters except in terms of pay). The Blackhearts are the only non-House specific legions to receive funding from the Dwarven Council directly, and their mission statement makes it very clear that will not become embroiled in politics. Though they have been called upon to fight conventional wars, their specialist training make the council loathe to waste them on such endeavors.

Public Agenda

The Blackhearts monitor most of the world for Hugjorr activity and dispatch cohorts to deal with them as necessary. Though their willingness to take in certain criminals and give them a chance to serve the dwarven people has made them slightly infamous, more often the Blackhearts take second suns or retired warriors from other legions. Blackhearts are famously apolitical, to the point that a tale of one Blackheart soldier refusing to stop an assassin from killing her own brother because she didn't wish to influence politics has become a popular legend.

Assets

Blackhearts receive ample funding for their travel needs, equipment, and reasonable food as well as extra pay to provide the soldiers with a modest salary. Most of the skyships and warmachines they possess have been gifts or brought along with particularly wealthy recruits, the Master of Coin has ensured that any needed parts are acquired and the Blackhearts all told own just over two hundred warmachines and fifty skyships of varying sizes, all meticulously maintained. (Some have been in service for millennia.) Most soldiers who arrive bring their own weapons and armor, though the arms that have enchantments on them aren't typically left for anyone outside the order, giving the Blackhearts an impressive armory at this point.

History

For nearly six thousand years, the Blackhearts have maintained their duty against the Hugjorr. Forged from the remains of the First Thoughtblade War, the Blackhearts have focused on small unit tactics and reconnaissance ever since, only engaging in direct large-scale war during the Second Thoughtblade War in 7215. (Their numbers swelled considerably then, making this type of warfare easier.) They briefly lost Council funding when the Triumvirate of 8220 refused to commit a squad of Blackhearts to the empress' personal guard, but the Houses protested by withholding taxes and paying the Blackhearts directly until the end of the dynasty in 8245. Blackhearts abide by the original charter carved into stone at their creation, and steadfastly refuse to engage politically or even to participate in the Mercenary Exchange.

"Ever vigilant."

Founding Date

4211

Type

Military, Army

Alternative Names

The Blackheart Legions, The Svarterz

Training Level

Elite

Veterancy Level

Veteran

Related Ethnicities

• Dwarves