Soldiers of the Underkeepers – Mafia Brigands

Among the men of the Underkeepers, a story of tragedy follows them each. None make it to Underkeep Downs by choice, but by the constant tread of the boots that march atop them. Those who join the Underkeepers are those who would rather plant a knife in the heel of the boot, than let it continue to wear them down. Though their movement is diametrically opposed to many other revolutionary movements in Baldur, including the current Lumens-Octavia insurrectionists that occupy Grimhelm, they still share a common goal of ending the centuries of Grimshaw rule in Baldur, and bringing about a new age of prosperity to the land. For them, the festering squalid conditions of Grimgate and Baldur at large are a symptom of their ruler’s own comforts, forcing the decline onto their people rather than forgo their own lavish lifestyles. With the slave industry becoming the backbone of Baldur’s economy, many laborious jobs either ceased hiring for paid workers, or paid so little that only the mad and truly desperate would take them. As slavery grew, so too did poverty, with hundreds of thousands of workers brought in chains, whose hunger was sated first, before civilians. Slaves were seen as a more essential cog than the lower class citizens whose trades held little impact on the kingdom’s future, whilst slaves built roads, rails and Baldur’s future. The Underkeepers thus detest slavery, but for reasons far different to their fellow insurrectionists, and would gladly see all the Orcs sent back home to die in bloody tribal wars than continue to instill poverty wherever they tread. Similarly, they are bound to the old Baldurian ways of hating magic in all its forms, finding things such as Breath Wielder’s Licenses a horror of modernity, heresy to be purged. So whilst they and the insurrectionists led by Octavia may have a common goal of dismantling the monarchy and instilling a new system, the two are destined to become opposing factions immediately after. Both hold very different hopes for the future of their nation.