Veilguard

The Veilguard of the Badlands

Origin: Darraknoir (ritual),
Badlands (ritual) 

Lifespan: 400 years on average, can live upwards of 600 years

Pros:

• Have use of a soul-bound katana

• Magic: Fire

• Magic: Ice

• Magic: Movement restriction

Cons: 

• Eventually the mutagen kills them

Origins

Since their beginnings the Radicals ruled and governed the ways the Veilguard were: brutal and merciless, specialized and indiscriminate. They killed and maimed all that strayed from humanity's pure and feeble path, however monstrous and hypocritical they made themselves become in the process. They ruled as a specialized militia back then, ruling with an iron fist and steely resolve from Rotheim Hold, their massive fortress.

Every few years, Elders would descend on the villages and towns of the Veiled Wastes, taking children as young as 3 years old to bring them back to the Hold to be trained and form the next generation of the guard. 

Once a neophyte reaches age 12, they undergo the rite of blood, wherein they consume a mutagenic potion, after which they are welcomed as a true Guard. The process is not risk free however, for the mutagen is remarkably potent, violently forcing the neophytes' body to morph, change and mutate, culling the weak and the unfit in the supremely painful process. The rite itself sports a 90% mortality rate, leaving only the strongest and toughest of recruits to be improved and strengthened.

Veilguard created in the Badlands rarely use the barbaric practices of taking children in the night. Though some radicals still tried to initiate these practices, many that came through the rift changed to performing the ritual only for volunteers. Many humans in the Badlands wanted a way to help fight the monsters and found the Veilguard as a way to quickly take up arms against them. While some radicals still have a hold on Veilguard orders, there are many tolerant Veilguard who accept help from other supernaturals to fight the creatures that continue to threaten life in the Badlands. 

The revolt and downfall

One day, an elder named Ianor grew disillusioned with the system: Having developed sympathy for his sworn enemies, he sought to overthrow the Radicals. He spent years spreading his teachings of a tolerant veilguard order, one that would not fight the supernatural and instead use diplomacy to maintain order and protect humanity. The board was set, his disciples ready to desert alongside him and yet, he did not leave. 

He had grown obsessed with the quest to destroy the Radicals and tampered with one of the batches of the mutagen, imbuing them with forbidden magic, for he sought to create the perfect veilguard, one stronger than any elder. And then came the day of the rite of blood, the neophytes lined up in the great hall as Ianor looked on with anticipation, were given the mutagenic potion, and drank. 3 seconds went by in a deafening quiet. Then came the screams. They collapsed onto the Stone floor and writhed in unending agony. The children screamed, though not from their own voices. The elders heard the howls from the children's throats, the hounds of the things below, the screams of the things once contained now set free once more.The laughter and glee of the never born, the damned, the things that prowl in the dark, the terrors that once roamed free, now unleashed once more as the neophytes congregated, creating a new gateway to the land once forgotten. The elders were frozen, stuck in place as they could only watch in horror at the macabre scene unfolding before them: The neophytes bodies congealed together, forming a single writhing mass of flesh, morphing as they created a new portal, anchoring themselves within the floor of the great hall. Abominations poured out from the newly formed gate, flooding the elite hunters as they tore lanor and the elders to shreds in seconds. Thousands of guards took arms to attempt to retake Rotheim Hold to no avail as the rift only grew stronger and larger, the laughs of the downtrodden and the fiends were unending, revelling in the guard's hubris as the bodies piled up, grafting themselves onto the portal, strengthening it even further.

Only a handful of Ianor's disciples escaped from the massacre and only 75 of the radicals that were on patrol were able to avoid the carnage as Rotheim Hold was lost.

The representatives of the two doctrines, tolerants and radicals fought often, never leaving any ground to the other.

On one side, the tolerants utilized other castes and a more expansive range of weapons and tools to aid them in the fight against the demons and monsters of the Rift 

The radicals however, waged war against any and all creature or being born from or utilizing the Rift. Their training was barbaric, focusing on sheer martial prowess and mastery of all matters of weaponry.

Traits

Veilguard are, at their very core, human. They are a caste of beings that embraced the changes that ritual and mutagens would bestow upon them, mutating themselves so that they would be able to battle the monsters and the forces of darkness that they see as a blight upon the lands and an evil that requires that need to be cleansed.

These mutations give them a better constitution than your average human. They also possess  the ability to heal wounds and injury much better and tend to be immune to many more minor ailments. They also possess the ability to use magic through the way of sigils that they cast. They also have an extended lifespan that can allow them to live between five hundred and six hundred years.

Weaknesses

The Veilguard are not particularly weak to most things considered deadly to other castes, although the mutagens that they take on eventually lead to a violent and painful death as they eventually destroy the Veilguard’s body from within.

More Information

The Veilguard’s Sword

Although not actually a katana, the Veilguard use a sword that looks very similar to the katana that can be found beyond the Badlands. These swords are made from minerals only found within the mountains of Darraknoir, the mines of which as a closely guarded secret known only to the most trusted of Veilguard. The blades themselves are forged over the hottest flames for one-hundred days and nights, then quenched in a mixture of special waters, tempered with the wielder’s own blood to forge a bond stronger in nature than magic itself.

These blades are ever wielded by a single Veilguard. Their trusted weapon forever at their side as they wage war upon those they see as abominations and a danger to humankind. A Veilguard can never be parted from their sword; the sword would burn the flesh off of any that tried. After the Veilguard has died in battle or otherwise been consumed by the mutagen that gives them their strength, the blade is buried with them where it becomes fused with their very bones.

Magical Proclivity

While all Veilguard have access to elemental magics because of their mutagen, there are a small few that dive deeper into magic to help bolster their abilities further. Typically favoring elemental magic, there are those that study more defensive and offensive spells to give them greater power when fighting their enemies. It is very rare to see anyone in the Veilguard dive deeper into other magics as it is seen as a disrespect to their oath and the ritual they took to become Veilguard.