Dragonslayer

During the Age of Warlocks, one of the weapons deployed by the Clarati were monsters. They used a combination of magical spells and The Egregoric Force to create incredible creatures that they used against each other and against the rebels who eventually overthrew them. After Solis, the last Clarati, was slain, many of these monsters still remained. In the centuries that followed, the Dragonslayer companies became an important feature of life on Ynys.

These military companies, most of which were for hire as mercenaries, specialized in hunting down and eliminating the monsters that plagued the populace. These monsters were not all dragons, but they acquired the name 'Dragonslayer companies' after one of the most famous, which was led by Llywelyn the Dragonslayer. His group (more commonly known today as the Knights of Elmet), was just called Dragonslayer's company, and it spread to similar organizations from there.

These specialist groups trained squads in a variety of skills that were useful in handling giant monsters. They included three to four support personnel for each soldier, including healers, trap specialists, and other necessary support. The monsters were incredibly varied, and many showed an unexpected tendency to build complicated booby-trapped lairs that destroyed many would-be dragonslayers before they even reached the monster.

However, over the years, the population of monsters dwindled. Many of them did not breed, and even those that did were being exterminated. At the peak, there were a dozen different Dragonslayer companies operating in Ynys. One by one, they disbanded, or shifted away from monster-slaying. Some became elite members of other organizations - one example is the Iron Guard of Dyfed, which has its roots in a long-defunct Dragonslayer company. Today, there is only one extant company - the Eiðbundinn. They were formed when a group of Eyjamaður prisoners convinced their captors to exchange their freedom for a five-year oath of service. They were used to slay monsters, and started calling themselves the Eiðbundinn, or Oathbound. They were highly successful, and their ranks grew dramatically as their successes piled up. Today, they are no longer prisoners of war, but they still swear five-year oaths of service. They contract out to handle a variety of special missions, including dealing with strange and unnatural monsters, and they are considered some of the most versatile forces you can hire.

Type

Military