Post by Stix on Nov 17, 2005 11:30:42 GMT -5
Faction Philosophy. As far as this faction's concerned, justice is everything, and there ain't no sod who can give it the laugh. Those cutters that try'll have the Mercykillers on their tail, so the smart thing is just don't try. It's the whole reason laws exist - to see that justice is carried out. Justice purges the evil in folks and makes them better, fit to belong in the multiverse.
Once everybody's been cleansed, then the multiverse reaches perfection, and perfection's the goal of the multiverse. Justice is absolute and perfect, but it's got to be correctly applied. A body's got to know the knights of the post, the criminals from the innocent, so he doesn't make a mistake. Mercy's an excuse created by the weak and criminal. They think they can rob or kill and then escape their crimes by pleading for mercy. The Mercykillers are not so weak. Every crime must be punished according to the law. There are no such things as " extenuating circumstances."
That being the case, some smart cutters figure they'll hang the Mercykillers by their own yardarm and accuse them of some of their own crimes. Well, the Red Death'll just smile and say it answers to a higher law. Charged with protecting justice, they can do things others can't - all in the name of justice. How else could they survive their own ideals?
'Course now, other folks don't agree with Red Death logic. To them, the Mercykillers ain't above the laws or even right in what they do. The Mercykillers don't like such folk's attitudes, but they can't hang a being for its opinions - at least not in most places. See, the Mercykillers say they don't make the laws, they only enforce them. All in all, they're no better than the rest, but no worse than a few.
Primary Plane of Influence. The Mercykillers are most powerful on the plane of Acheron. Within Sigil their headquarters is the Prison.
Allies and Enemies. The Harmonium, the Guvners, and the Mercykillers form a natural triad of arrest, trial, and punishment. As in Sigil, they are often found together in the other towns of the Outlands, serving as the local justice system. The Doomguard is sympathetic to the goals of the Mercykillers, seeing ultimate entropy in the process of punishment.
Not surprisingly, the Mercykillers are at odds with those groups who place the individual over all. Signers, Sensates, and Anarchists in particular seem to have constant runins with the Red Death. It'd be expected that Indeps would defy them, too, but this group has the sense to leave well enough alone.
Eligibility. The Mercykillers are a strict group, allowing only those of lawful alignment to join them. Thieves and known criminals are absolutely unwelcome.
Benefits. Because of their passion for punishment, every Mercykiller can detect lie to a single question once per day. Twice per day, a Mercykiller can enact a "justice blow", declared before the action (which could be an attack, a spell, rolling a rock off a cliff onto someone, et cetera). The Mercykiller receives half of the damage dealt on the die roll, and damage is doubled for the victim.
Restrictions. Mercykillers consider themselves innocent of crimes when these are committed in the course of punishing a known criminal. Should a Mercykiller commit a crime for any other reason, he or she would be subject to full punishment under the law. Furthermore, although a Mercykiller can accept the surrender of an individual (so that person can be properly punished), he can never release a lawbreaker until the proper sentence has been carried out.