The Blackmark Brotherhood

Unsanctioned Mercs, Rogue Hunters & Risk-for-Coin Operatives
“No job too cursed. No risk too high.”

Quick Facts

Known Headquarters: The Guttervault, Tidefall at Lowreach
Power Tier: Moderate (Mercenary & Smuggler Power)
Reach: Docks, black markets, outlands, and shadowy contract zones
Defense: Armed escorts, coded safehouses, blood-bound contracts
Influence: Controls high-risk transport, sellswords-for-hire, and under-the-table firepower
Respect: Feared by enemies, trusted by employers—for the right price

Overview

The Blackmark Brotherhood walks the knife’s edge between soldier and scoundrel, contract and crime. They are the ones who take the jobs nobody wants—or nobody should. Graveyard shifts in haunted ruins, recovery missions in cursed vaults, assassination contracts with too many witnesses—if the coin is right, the Blackmarks will take it.

Many call them mercenaries. Others call them grave robbers, bounty hunters, and butchers. But even their enemies admit one thing: they get results. And no one out-hustles a Blackmark who’s been paid in advance.

Headquarters

Black Iron Hall, Wraithcross District – A rust-stained fortress built into the bones of a burned-out foundry. Inside, flickering warlamps light halls strung with wanted posters, broken weapons, and trophies from jobs that should’ve killed them.

Within the Hall:

The Job Wall: An ever-shifting board of open contracts, from artifact recovery to contract enforcement
The Red Forge: Used to brand new members and bless weapons with “last rites” enchantments
The Locker Vault: A maze of cages where cursed items, payment chests, and unfinished missions are stored
The Smoker’s Pit: Not for tobacco, but for venting trauma with rotgut, storytelling, and knife games

Identity & Philosophy

The Brotherhood doesn’t ask why. They ask what it pays.
Honor is for paladins. Glory is for poets. A Blackmark lives on grit, pragmatism, and risk.

That said, most members follow their own moral code—sometimes fiercely. Some are ex-soldiers who broke with the system. Others are survivors of wars, cults, or betrayals with nowhere else to go. Brotherhood means something to them: not loyalty to the guild, but loyalty to the life. You take a job, you see it through. Or you don’t come back.

Roleplay Hooks

Accept (or refuse) the job no one else will
Track monsters through dangerous wilds or haunted ruins
Betray a contract for personal reasons—will your brothers understand?
Sell dangerous secrets to the highest bidder
Collect bounties, protect smugglers, or sabotage rival mercs
Deal with a cursed object you regret taking

Power Tier

Moderate (but with unpredictable impact)

Combat Reach: High
Reputation: Infamous
Wealth: Swingy (huge payouts or nothing at all)
Legal Standing: None

They’re tolerated because they’re useful. If they weren’t, Ironspire would have buried them long ago.

Rivalries & Tensions

The Bastion Guild – lawful, clean-contract mercs with disdain for “dirty freelancers”
The Iron Accord – look down on them as untrained, unprincipled sellswords
The Wayfarer’s Vow – conflict over artifacts, ethics, and “stealing our thunder”

Sometimes rivals, sometimes collaborators—but almost never trusted.

Leadership

Karra Veyne, known as The Coin-Fanged – A former debt enforcer turned battle-scarred leader. She earned her name by biting a gold coin clean in half during a duel. Cold-eyed, iron-willed, and utterly pragmatic, Karra doesn’t tolerate betrayal or excuses.

She doesn’t care who you are—just whether you’re useful. If you are, she’ll back you to the gates of death. If not, she’ll walk over your bones on the way to her payday.

Known Practices & Traditions

Coinburning – ritually burning a silver piece before a high-risk mission for luck
The Last Letter – each merc writes a final message kept in the vault in case they don’t return
Blackbinding – a blood-sealed vow that you will complete a job no matter the cost
Tag & Claim – members mark recovered goods with an iron tag and blood sigil to claim salvage rights
The Brotherhood Bell – only rung when all members are called to arms (used maybe twice… ever)

Membership & Structure

Common Roles:

Fangs – front-line brawlers and contract enforcers
Marks – scouts, sharpshooters, curse-breakers
Brokers – negotiators and job-takers
Skins – handlers of corpses, trophies, or remains (specialized and grim)
Brandbearers – elite members who wear the guild’s iron sigil burned into their flesh

Symbols & Style:

Their brand: a black fang biting through a silver coin
Favored weapons: brutal, practical—axes, spiked hammers, repeater crossbows
Style: lots of leathers, wraps, bandoliers, ward tattoos, and protective charms

Rumors & Whispers

“The Brotherhood once dragged a ghost back from the deadlands just to pay off its own bounty.”
“They’ve taken jobs from vampires, dragons, even a Sovereign’s mistress. Gold talks louder than blood.”
“There’s a hidden job board only the Brandbearers can see—the truly cursed work.”