College of War: Headsman School

Zathiske was once home to a wide variety of exotic military traditions. One of the less popular, but still quite powerful, was the Headsman School. The school was charged with the task of training executioners. Those failing to graduate with honors became general executioners, responsible for removing hands, performing torture, or overseeing hangings. The elite were Headsmen, the only official performers of beheading — the execution style favored for merchants and noblemen. It was considered a saving of face to be executed by a notable headsman, while noblemen sent to a hanging stained the honor of their surviving family.

With the disruption of the Divine War and the chaos afterward, the Headsmen grew into an honor guard of sorts. While not really well versed in warfare, they had accrued a great deal of fear and prestige. Crucial mistakes in defense against the Calastians destroyed this honor. The Headsmen managed a few brutal killings of Calastian officers but they had no real impact on the war. It did, however, spell the official end of the Headsman School once the Calastians took charge. Currently, Headsmen still perform executions, but their school has been stripped of reputation and is overseen by unsympathetic Calastian “observers.” The college is slowly being transformed to strengthen its ties to Chardun worship, remaking it into a beacon of Calastian culture.

A branch of the Headsman School has been established in Hollowfaust. The elite headsmen of the royal family were left to ply their skills as sell-swords after Zathiske fell. It is known as the School of the Headman's Sword (see Hollowfaust: City of Necromancers, Chapter Two, "The Civilian Quarter").

Location: The official buildings of the Headsman School are located in northern Quelsk, though there are important quarters in Pahjam for elder members.

Notable Traits: Headsmen are typically large. Very large. Full graduates wear long beards, worked into two braids that curl outward almost like tusks. The few female members grow their hair long and keep it pulled back into two braids. Faces are always covered with a “sanguine cloth,” a bright red silk mask, with eyeholes or patches of thin black cloth that can be seen through. Jewelry is common, as are piercings all over the body. A series of ritual scars and tattoos mark out the lives of everyone the Headsman has executed. The torso is usually left exposed, though women may wear some simple support. Lesser graduates wear a rust-colored hood and loose clothing, with much of the chest exposed. Tattoos of birds in flight, representing spirits of the executed, normally cover the chest, indicating the measure of experience. Headsmen favor a Greatsword or Greataxe, ideal for their line of work. Some, particularly lesser graduates, use more diverse weapons — such as knives, or weight and rope— for other lines of work.

Requirements: Strength is the primary requirement of a Headsman. Loyalty and honor to the school is vital, though instructors expect they can make up for any lack with a healthy dose of beating. A raw recruit needs no martial proficiency, but more seasoned characters must be familiar with martial weapons before the school will consider acceptance. Though the school favors male humans, women and members of other races can work to gain admittance. Dwarves are typically rejected, as they are falsely considered too short to use a Greatsword effectively.

Style: Beating, beating, and more beating. Students are subjected to constant physical punishment to purify their spirits and toughen their bodies. The end result is a group of highly arrogant, nasty, brutal characters who consider all outsiders as worthless. Which is, of course, the point.

Style Feats

Combat Expertise

Dodge

Mobility

Improved Critical (Greatsword or Greataxe)

Iron Will

Power Attack

Furious Focus

Finishing Strike*

Improved Sunder

Greater Sunder

Toughness

Vital Strike

Improved Vital Strike

Greater Vital Strike

Weapon Focus (Greatsword or Greataxe)

Dazzling Display

Shatter Defenses

Deadly Stroke

Greater Weapon Focus (Greatsword or Greataxe)

Weapon Specialization (Greatsword or Greataxe)

Type

Educational, Society