Guild: Blackhawk Company
Alignment: Any alignments are welcome. However, non-good alignments are better suited to solving problems through military violence, and the M'Chekian Army has usually tended towards the Neutral and Evil ends of the spectrum.
Base of operations: The Nation of M'Chek.
How to contact us: Any of the senior officers (listed below) will be happy to help.
What we do: Blackhawk Company is the PC division of M'Chek's armed forces.
What to expect: Kicking ass for M'Chek! Expect a lot of military-themed roleplaying, including planning and executing daring missions in wartime as well as regular guild meetings and outings. Wherever there is a threat to M'Chek and its citizens, Blackhawk Company stands in their way. We are not law enforcement, though we do aid the M'Chekian Guards when necessary.
Miscellany: The Blackhawks are part of the elite-forces wing of the M'Chek Army, and as such are called upon for dangerous military tasks requiring flexibility, ingenuity and outstanding bravery. M'Chekian citizenship is a must, as is a clean criminal record (you can't be wanted for crimes in other nations). Your character will be expected to spend a majority of their time in M'Chek. That's not to say they can't travel, but characters who only come to M'Chek to take part in DM-run army events aren't what the guild is about.
Blackhawk Company Introduction and Organisation
Blackhawk Battalion is part of the Special Operations Division of the M'Chekian Army, and is currently part of the 12th Infantry Brigade serving under Lord Derrington. While the highly trained Agents and Special Agents of the elusive M'Chekian Special Forces devote themselves to intelligence-gathering, assassinations and other deep-cover operations, the troops of Blackhawk Battalion represent the very best soldiers that M'Chek can call on, a reputation won over years of campaigning. The Battalion is made up of a mixture of veterans, specialists picked from the ranks of the regulars for their talents, mercenaries and adventurers. While the unit has a fearsome reputation for martial skill, its true advantage lies in the level of initiative and imagination expected of a Blackhawk soldier. The Battalion is not assigned to the long, dull garrison duties or parade ground drills of the regular army - they are expected to gather their own intelligence, plan their own missions and achieve victories for M'Chek at their own intiative, whatever the threat.
Blackhawk Battalion is a unit of nine hundred soldiers when at full operational strength, and is the first of the three Battalions that make up the 12th Infantry Brigade.
The current commander of Blackhawk Battalion is Lt. Colonel Justin Watersdown
A Brief History of the Blackhawks
Blackhawk Company was formed by order of the Joint Houses after the end of the M'Chek-T'Nanshi war to clear select areas of the Underdark for colonization and farming. Dala Wennen, former Commander of Alpha Corps, was asked to lead this new unit, which she did until her apparent death in a raid on a Shaahesk temple. Morran Unuldur, then a Lieutenant, was promoted to Captain and granted command. He led the company for the rest of the campaign against the Underdark Bugbears. At the conclusion of the Underdark campaign, it was decided that Blackhawk Company was no longer necessary. Members were offered the choice of either joining the Guards or being demobilised. Only one member chose to join the Guards; the others retired to civilian life. Later that year, however, M'Chek once again had need of her devoted defenders, as a flight of Pyrite dragons led by the monstrous Tharul'Zhannadar threated to destroy all life in the nation. The Blackhawks were reformed, and with the aid of several other groups defended M'Chek from the draconic onslaught before taking the fight to the dragons' island. There, the mighty Tharul'Zannadar was finally defeated. After this success, the rulers of M'Chek saw the use in keeping such an elite unit available and ready to react to any nw threat, so they were placed on standby with the understanding that they could be recalled at any time to deal with threats that were beyond the Guards' abilities. From this point until the outbreak of hostilities with the nation of Drotid, Major Caitlin Swift was in command. She helped guide the Company through the fraught months of invasion by the Undead of Lord Kale, the Demons of Kimonictinus and the Drotid forces of Voivode Kassesshisrath.
The M'Chek-Drotid War
Since the invasion of M'Chek's eastern shore by the forces of Drotid, Blackhawk Company has once again been at the forefront of the M'Chekian war effort. In their capacity as an elite, special forces unit, the Company has been called upon to undertake a series of daring missions, shoring up the nation's defences and taking the fight to the enemy. While initially faced with a crisis of leadership following the death in battle of then-commander Rolan Fyne, the Blackhawks rallied around the leadership of Major Thaylis Beign.
Blackhawk Battalion, and especially the First Company, have been heavily involved in the planning and execution of some of the M'Chekian forces' greatest successes in the current conflict. A hastily-formed army of M'Chekian Guards, Blackhawk Company soldiers and local regular army regiments successfully defeated the nascent Shaahesk beachhead at Eastshore, liberating the town and protecting it until its rebuilding. Operation: Iron Fist saw the Company spearhead the first M'Chekian offensive into the Shaahesk lines since the outbreak of hostilities, and succeeded in clearing, taking and holding an important Shaahesk supply base on the eastern shore. Operation: Wyvern sought to repay the Shaahesk for their earlier assault on the M'Chekian Army position at Greylake, and resulted in a decisive defeat for the forces of Drotid. The Blackhawks were, as ever, in the vanguard, ensuring the success of the mission by preventing the Shaahesk alerting their reserves of the attack.
As the war drew on, the Blackhawks remained at the heart of the fighting, but also assisted the war effort in other ways. It is rumoured that the wave of reinforcements from the northwest which bolstered the lines on the eastern front at a critical moment was a direct result of interventions in the northwest by Blackhawk soldiers. Army leadership has always refused to comment.
The Blackhawks found themselves playing a vital role in the grand offensive which saw M'Chek retake much of its lost ground, some years into the conflict. It was Blackhawk scouts who discovered the withdrawal of several of the most feared warbands from M'Chekian soil, who had been redeployed to invade the distant city-state of Elysia. As the M'Chekian army counterattacked, the Blackhawks ensured the success of the crucial engagements - during Operation: Highland Flood, the Battalion provided an essential diversionary operation which allowed the main attack to advance and successfully capture the Forward Camp west of Fort Kasslesstha. They then saw what, for many of the Battalion, would prove to be their finest hour, as they outflanked and ambushed the dreaded Red Demon warband en route to roll back the M'Chekian gains. In a brutal engagement, Blackhawk Battalion was able to decisively defeat the warband, although initially outnumbered. Artillery and archery from the M'Chekian forces in the forward camp itself completed the rout.
Subsequently, the Battalion was called in to reinforce and defeat the inevitable Shaahesk counterattack in Operation: Blunt Fall. The Blackhawks used their cunning and knowledge of the countryside to outflank the onrushing Shaahesk forces, taking the lizards' artillery pieces from the rear and destroying them. The forces of Warlord Kasslesstha have since been unable to mount attacks from their fortress, surrounded as they are by M'Chekian redoubts.
In Operation Serpent's Tail the Blackhawks enlisted the aid of civilian mercenaries to remove a thorn in M'Chek's side - the Old Iron Mines in the Warrens, which had been reopened and turned to the production of iron for the Drotid war machine by the Shaahesk and their Bugbear allies. The M'Chekian forces boldly assaulted the surrounded lizard positions and destroyed the mines with explosive charges, crippling the Shaahesk ability to arm and equip themselves with locally-sourced ore. As a result, the alliance hangs in the balance.
After long service on the frontlines, Major Beign's talent was recognised by the army's commanders, and he was promoted to the general staff of the Army's Third Brigade, where he remains. Silver Fox took over command of the Blackhawks in his stead.
Under here leadership operation Hailstorm was executed and brought to a successful end, this was the first major victory in the war against the Shaahesk. In this operation the army retook a large piece of land that was previous lost in the initial outbreak of the war. This operation had the added effect that the bugbears rose up against their former alley.
Operation Steel Sky was the name off the multiple staged attack plan which drove the lizards from the M’chek shores once and for all. First of the forces in Fort Kasslesstha where bottled up so that they where unable to reinforce Fort Msaelifriss. Then Fort Msaelifriss was attacked and taken, cutting off the Shaahesk from reinforcement from the sea and in effect also cutting off their escape route. After Fort Msaelifriss was taken the focus of the M’chek armed forces was put on destroying the last Shaahesk stronghold Fort Kasslesstha and its commander. A long and bloody followed, seeing that all was lost Kasslesstha made a desperate counter attack with her remaining forces against fort Chasworth which housed the M’chek High Command staff. In the finale battle in and around Chassworth the Blackhawks were able to kill Kasslesstha and her forces. And the war with the Shaahesk came to an end in the Nation of M’chek.
After driving the Shaahesk from M’chek soil, the Blackhawk regiment aided in driving the Shaahesk from T’Nashi and later on where instrumental in driving them from the city of Elysia. It was a Blackhawk who ended the war with the Shaahesk al together. General Being landed the killing blow that killed the Voivode in the final battle.
Blackhawk Brigade
Following a major incident involving an abortive attack on Fort Kasslesstha made by foreign agents, a restructuring of Lord Derrington's armed forces took place. The 12th Infantry Brigade, previously under the disgraced Brigadier Tanners, was reconstituted as the Blackhawk Brigade, under the overall command of Brigadier Thaylis Beign. Most of the old Blackhawk Battalion was transferred to this new organisation, to continue to serve as M'Chek's elite troops and to assist in bringing the formation up to fighting strength.
The Marko Incident
Marko was an immortal priest of Dagath who was estimated to be around 100 years old and had a piece of the Death Stone embedded in his chest. The Death Stone was created by what are said to be some of the first priests of Dagath, Marko was one of them, the stone keeps those near it from continuing to the next stage of the cycle. The stone was destroyed but a piece of this stone was lodged in Marko's chest while he commanded a hoard of undead against the other priests, presumably in an attempt to take it for his own.
To further his cause, which was believed to be the recreation of the Death Stone, Marko raised an army of undead. And these undead would attack then the living to supply Marko with more dead for his army. So many towns and villages in the nation came under attack from undead. And once again the Blackhawks spearheaded the defense of these towns and villages against the onslaught of former undead enemies and friends. For Marko raided the former battlefields and graveyards of the M’chek-Drotid war.
After having fought off his armies in multiple fights a trap was set for Marko, a wedding between two Romini Clans would take place in Blandenberg. Marko took the bait and in the battle that followed he was wounded. He fled the field of battle and withdrew to his base of operations, an ancient temple under the nation. Cornered in this temple he chose death over surrender.
Brigade Command Structure
High Command
- Lord Tobias Chasworth, War Commissioner of M'Chek
- General Cassius, M'Chekian Special Operations Division
- Lord Andrew Derrington
12th Infantry (Blackhawk) Brigade Command
- Lt. Colonel Justin Watersdown, Commander of Blackhawk Battalion
- Captain Florence Hetter, Adjutant to Lt. Colonel Watersdown
- Colonel Silver Fox, Commander of Sable Lions Battalion
- Derrington's Medal, Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal, Red Rose of M'Chek
- Lt. Colonel Serria Atterman, Commander of Onyx Boars Battalion
- Major Robert Wallace, Chief of Staff Onyx Boars Battalion
- M'Chek Copper Eagle Medal, Medal of Distinction, Victory Medallion, Medal of Mikona's Valor
Blackhawk Battalion Roster
Commanding Officer
- Lt. Colonel Justin Watersdown
Executive Officer
- Captain Vaako SandFireStorm
- M'Chek Golden Lion Medal, Silver Unicorn Medal, M'Chekian Army Medal of Meritorious Service, M'Chek Army Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal, Medal of the Eastern Seas, Serpent's Tail Medal, Medal of Distinction, Medal of Pride.
Senior Officers
- 2nd. Lt. Kara Kalinor
Enlisted Soldiers
- Sergeant Major Kathea Nyht
- Sergeant Rollek Heloc
- Sergeant June Osammy
- Sergeant Drashter Volterz
- Serpent's Tail Campaign Medal, Medal of the Eastern Seas, Victory Medal, Mikona's Valor
- Sergeant Rakuug Yug'Loz
- Medal of Mikona's Valor
- Corporal Raar Juwmax
- Corporal Ferria Mouze
- Corporal Freddull Mouze
- Corporal Etz Elor
- M'Chekian Ruby Rose Medal, M'Chek Golden Lion Medal, Medal of Distinction, Medal of the Eastern Seas, Jewel of Msaelifriss
- Corporal Arkiem Tagalas
- Corporal Givy Kelve
- Corporal Rudash Amuur
- Private Seka Ravenswylde
- Private Prishll Zrgera
- Private Cinder Fireblaze
- Private Vugaris Hurdokan
- Private Vruh
- Private Lestek Rakov
- Private Bymund Leaf
- Private Jeneta Cend
- Private Elainee Aerlin
- Private Melanie Fischer
- Private Flowera Jooscia
- Private Moriand Dias
- Private Paddleton Snarestep
- Private Owen Thayt'or
- Recruit Freddy Mouze
- Recruit Melanie Fischer
- Recruit Groshnak Rish
- Recruit Paddleton Snarestep
- Recruit Kingsley Relish III
- Recruit Lorick Addams
- Recruit Gorg
- Private Cale Bross (4th Company)
- Victory Medal, Medal of the Eastern Seas, Silver Unicorn Medal, Golden Lion Medal
Additional Background Information
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