Stormguard of Malakan

Hatred is our lifeblood. Vengeance our eternal purpose. As long as that wretched city stands, we will remain.

— Creed of the Stormguard

Uranon is a land awash in famous warriors. Many a group can trace its origins back to the illustrious days of the Great Rebellion, but few are so intrinsically connected to it as the Stormguard. Their very existence revolves around finishing that war begun so long ago in the days of Faron, Hero of Wind and Storm.

Forged in War

The Stormguard formed when Faron and his rebel group were at their lowest point. Imperial forces had pursued them relentlessly and their enigmatic technology proved invincible. Surrounded up on the flanks of Ironpeak, a few of Faron's followers learned to channel lightning itself as a weapon.
The ensuing battle was a devastating defeat for the Empire, as their technology proved uniquely vulnerable to the new weapon. Faron and his group escaped and from there turned the tide of war. Or that is how the story is told these days, at least. Fact is that whatever happened on Ironpeak gave birth to the Stormguard.

Since that day, they have been the most elite of rebel forces, always ready to counter the vilest of machines unleashed by the Empire. When imperial forces were pushed back into their capital and the Last Siege began, so too did the time of the Stormguard as a wandering force end. They settled down in the great siege camp of Malakan and have remained there ever since.

Brotherhood of Warriors

Stormguard form an insular group within wider society. They live, work and pray far away from most others, and only interact with the officers and soldiers of the Stormhost on a semi-common basis.

Only the Strong

Recruits for the Stormguard come solely from the children of the poor masses of Malakan. Only the strongest, most ruthless and keen to survive may be able to stomach the training of the guard. Disguised recruiters move through the city at all times and not always do the families of those chosen know what became of their children.

Only the Pure

How exactly the training of the guard plays out is a well-kept secret. Sure is only that it is based on one singular creed: hatred for the Uranians and their Eternal Empire. The Stormguard lives and breathes hatred, their sole focus in live the destruction of their old enemy. Those who cannot endure such a life cannot become Stormguard.

Weapons forged in Lightning
The Stormguard cast a striking image on the rare occasions they can be seen. Clad in grey armour made from material unlike any metal known to man, with visors that hold no eyes and only a single glowing upside down triangle, and wielding long poleax-like weapons with dark black heads, they appear like inhuman spectres on the mist-clouded battlefield around Uranon.
They wield only a single weapon, known as the Khevailion or Stormlance, with which they can channel lightning into devastating attacks at range and in melee. Even without the aid of the element, their strikes are said to take down any man no matter how strong.

To Fight the Abomination

All Stormguard, of which there are only about 400 at any give time, live within a single, tall, metallic tower located in the southern core of Malakan. They only emerge from Radek's Keep on two occasions: two celebrate the founding of their order via pilgrimage and to do battle with the technological abominations that occasionally sally forth from Uranon's white walls.
These battles are titanic in nature, the empire's machinery able to wipe out small armies by itself, and days may go by where the people of Malakan hear only the roar of thunder and inhuman screeches from the mists of the battlefield. But while they may endure casualties the guard always triumphs in the end.

Some may call them invincible and I can see why. Not since Ironpeak have they ever lost a battle. A thousand fights and more, all won by their might.

— Lorn, Tenth High-Marshall of the Stormhost

Founding
Year Five of the Storm Age

Assumed Veterancy
Veteran

Overall Training Level
Elite

Part of
The Stormhost

Famous Members
Loras Redhammer - Knight of the Thunderclap

Exceptions
Only twice did they venture forth from that holy place in arms, once to bring the body of Faron to its final resting place, and once to crush the False Shepherd who had claimed to be the Hero Reborn. Both times are seen as black marks upon the guard's record and some whisper that their third journey out will hail the return of Faron in a new body.
Pilgrimage
Another exception to their isolation is their pilgrimage. Once a year, a fourth of the guard will set out to visit both Faron's Keep and Ironpeak Mountain. They will wear neither armour nor weapon on this journey, their only gear a grey coat that covers both face and body.
This pilgrimage will take them roughly three months and any noble along the way, be their minor lordling, tribal chief or king, will give them shelter and food. To not do so is seen as sacrilige and same whisper about storms of lightning burning those that refused the guard in the past.

by Bastien Grivet