Mawite Legend
Scar Hounds Tribe
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To expand on The Mongrel's rise to the position of Warlord.
- Image Credit:
- Top Image: Wasteland 3 Concept Art, by Nate Abell, via Artstation
- Army Symbol: Custom Guild Wars 2 guild emblem created on nailek.net
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: The Mongrel, Brotherhood of the Maw, The Gathering, Head of the Snake, End of an Era, Mar'Zambul, Firefang Wardogs
- Army Name: Scar Hound Tribe
- Classification: Mawite Marauder Tribe
- Affiliation: Brotherhood of the Maw,
The Mongrel
Description: The savage fury of a wild beast, joined with the unyielding strength of cold metal; that is the founding principle of the Scar Hounds. Scavengers, machinists, beastmasters, and hunters, they take joy in perverting the natural world by fusing flesh and machine. Inspired by the example of their warlord, The Mongrel, they take every injury - no matter how grievous - as an opportunity for further cybernetic modification. They glory in their scars, considering each of them not only proof of their valor but a part of their transition from organic beings to something much greater. At the same time, they are closely bonded with one another and with their animal companions, the Firefang Wardogs, forming one cohesive pack of hunters.
The Scar Hounds are young among the Mawite marauder tribes, founded after the Battle of Korriban by The Mongrel - the first, and so far only, Slave-Soldier ever to rise to the position of warlord. Where other tribes are driven by blood thirst and dark religious zeal, devoted to their sorcerous warlords, the Scar Hounds emulate their founder, who is not Force-sensitive. As a result, they eschew Force mysticism in favor of techno-barbarism, turning their skills to scavenging, tinkering, and taming. They believe that the natural world teaches powerful lessons and gives powerful examples, but flesh is ultimately limited, and can be perfected only by the addition of cold durasteel. The forges of Mar'Zambul provide them with the material to carry this out.
The Scar Hounds emphasize ingenuity over blind faith. They believe fully in the promise of the Three Avatars and the paradise they will craft from the galaxy's ashes, but also believe that the best way to serve the gods is through continuous innovation and self-modification. Scar Hound warriors see themselves as the Avatars' chosen engines of destruction, and any augmentation that moves them closer to that ideal is eagerly embraced. They tinker with their vehicles, their weapons, and their cybernetics between battles, coming up with strange new modifications and tactics. This is all in imitation of The Mongrel, who famously survived many encounters with Jedi and other sorcerers by being clever with his use of technology.
Advancement among the Scar Hounds is based on a combination of longevity, degree of cybernetic modification, and battlefield performance as a unit, so there is no incentive for tribe members to feud with one another. Instead they are encourage to behave as one huge hunting pack. They do everything together, and with their Firefang Wardogs as well - sleeping, eating, training, hunting, and fighting. Three roles within the tribe command extra respect. The first are beastmasters, for their bond with savage nature. The second are machinists, for their bond with cold technology. The third are good storytellers. Storytelling is a major passtime and art form for the tribe, with warriors sharing the tales behind their scars and implants with each other.
The highest-regarded story is the legend of The Mongrel himself, known to his tribe as the Thrice-Born Wolf. To Scar Hound warriors, The Mongrel represents the truth that any person - even one without Force sorcery or a soldier's training or a naturally hulking physique - can rise to become a champion in the eyes of the Three Avatars. Born a victim, he became a slave. Reborn a warrior, he was left in a grave on Korriban. But out of the blood and sand of Mongrel's Hill he was born a third time, and in that rebirth he rose to stand at the level of the mighty warlords, the only one among them who lacked their dark magics - and yet still considered worthy to join their ranks. By emulating his story, the warriors hope to earn favor in the eyes of the gods.
Army Symbol:
Headquarters: Mar'Zambul. The former throneworld of the Gundanbard and their Dark Lord was captured and purged early in the Mawite conquests. It is now a massive forge world, churning out vehicles, equipment, and starships for the Brotherhood's dark crusade. The Mongrel was granted control of the planet as a base for his tribe when he rose to the position of warlord, and he has shaped his tribe according to the planet's industrial culture, encouraging them to embrace technological gadgets and cybernetic modification. The high gravity and brutal, arid heat of the planet make for intensive training and rapid building of muscle, serving to make the Scar Hounds even more hulking and brutal than their warrior culture and mechanical self-improvement might otherwise decree.
Goals: The goal of the Scar Hounds is the goal of all marauder tribes - to see the old orders of the galaxy burn. Republics and empires, Jedi and Sith, these are all stubborn relics of the past, decrepit and corrupt. Only by burning down all of these decaying regimes, tearing every king from his throne and cutting down every adherent of the stagnant magics, can the galaxy be renewed at last. The Three Avatars will finally bring this cycle to its overdue conclusion, and a new galaxy will grow from the ashes, one without the suffering and inequity that dominates the present era. Individually, the Scar Hounds seek to bring glory to their tribe and to their warlord, The Mongrel. By their fearless service and worthy deaths they will earn rebirth into the new galaxy, and their legend will never fade.
Reputation: The Scar Hounds are a young tribe, with far fewer battles under their belt than founding tribes like the Bloodsworn and the Chosen, but their warlord's reputation as a survivor and a killer precedes them. Other tribes look on them with wariness, though their respect will grow with time and victories. The galaxy at large looks at them much the way that they look at any Mawite marauder tribe: with fear and loathing for the suffering they inflict on the worlds of known space. They have not yet earned a reputation separate from the Brotherhood as a whole, though that may change over time as their individual raids and conquests become known. Ultimately, their legend is only just beginning, and it will be some time - and many battles - before they stand out among the Mawites.
COMPOSITION INFORMATION
Army Size: Large.
Composition: The Scar Hounds differ from many marauder tribes in that they include no shamans in their ranks, relying on technology and savagery rather than the dark side of the Force. Their Aspirants, recent recruits who have only just begun to undergo cybernetic modification, are known as Pups. Pups are many, making up the largest percentage of the tribe's warriors, but most of them die in their first battle or two. Those who survive and thrive on the battlefield, gaining more cybernetic augmentations, become full-fledged members of the tribe, joining its veteran Tarar Warbands. The Tarar scavenger-warriors form the solid core of the tribe, experienced warriors who direct the pups and carry on the tribe's traditions. They are the heart of the Scar Hounds as the Pups form the body.
Technological know-how is just as important to the Scar Hounds as battlefield experience, and Tarar warriors who demonstrate it tend to rise quickly. Those with good balance and a well-developed pack hunter mindset are recruited into swoop-riding Mawite Deathgangs, swift and maneuverable warriors who scout ahead, harass enemy vehicles, and protect the flanks of the Brotherhood host. More self-sufficient technicians pilot scavenged Raider Walkers, providing the tribe with light vehicle support. Skilled pilots and gunners operate Spider Cruisers, acting as air cover and heavy ground support alike.
As a result of their technological emphasis, the Scar Hounds have more Scav Kings among their ranks than most tribes. These are the most elite and respected warriors among this marauder group, for they are considered to have come the closest to emulating the path of The Mongrel himself. Many Tarar warriors aspire to become Scav Kings, collecting scrap and useful trophies - usually weapons - from slain foes, but few are able to pass the tremendous test that is building their own battleframe. There is another position that is nearly as exalted, however: that of the Organic Mechanic, one of the tribe's cybernetic surgeons. Organic Mechanics do not participate in battle at all, instead remaining in marauder camps and starships, ready to patch up - and enhance - the wounded.
In addition to their technological terrors, the Scar Hounds employ many beastmasters. Which warbeasts they bring with them varies greatly based on the battlefield. In close quarters clashes, boarding actions, or trench warfare, they commonly unleash Branchlurkers. On planets where the climate allows and the battle is over a large outdoor area, tribal champions often ride Gore Wasps, proving their elite status with the rare mounts. Skitterwings are almost always effective, blanketing wide-open battlefields and claustrophobic corridors with equal ease. But the trademark warbeasts of the Scar Hounds, creatures they are never seen without, are their Firefang Wardogs. These Wardogs are full-fledged members of the tribe; they train, hunt, eat, sleep, and fight beside the warriors.
MEMBERS
The Warlord of the Scar Hounds is The Mongrel, also known as the Thrice-Born Hound, who created the tribe upon his ascension. The core lieutenants and favored veterans are warriors who fought beside him on Csilla, Ilum, Felucia, Enenpa, and elsewhere, earning his trust. New Tributes are drawn from the tribal inhabitants of Mar'Zambul, with preference given to the particularly brutal, the particularly cunning, and the mechanically-inclined. They also come from Slave-Soldiers, prisoners of war broken by the Taskmasters in Mawite dungeons. This is the preferred method of recruitment, as The Mongrel himself rose from such a position. Auxiliaries such as Kagan-Jin Rough Riders and the Legion of the Leech are brought in on certain missions, but are not full members of the tribe.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Before there were the Scar Hounds, there was The Mongrel. A refugee from the core who grew up on a distant colony hidden in the Unknown Regions, he was among the first to see his home burn when the Brotherhood of the Maw began their dark crusade. Captured, tortured, and remade, he became a slave-soldier, serving on the front lines of their raids and conquests across the galactic North. Against the odds, he survived battle after battle, and in time he rose to become a warleader among the Bloodsworn Tribe. Again he thrived, leading warbands on attacks from Csilla to Felucia and everywhere in-between. After three long years of campaigning, he led an elite but small honor guard to accompany the Brotherhood's Dark Voice to Korriban, looting the tomb world.
It was there, on the slopes of the excavation mound thereafter known as Mongrel's Hill, that his forces made a last stand against three larger armies. They fought without fear, dying to the last man in order to kill as many of the enemy as they could. Out of the entire honor guard, there was only one survivor: The Mongrel himself, too stubborn to die. He crawled out of the excavation pit, hauling himself out from among the blood-soaked tombs, and was reborn once again. He was hailed as the Thrice-Born Hound, deathless servants of the Avatars, and raised to the rank of Warlord. Breaking off from the Bloodsworn, he formed his own tribe out of his most loyal warriors. It was on the way back, dodging Alliance patrols as the Mawites limped home, that he found inspiration.
The Fatalis halted for repairs over the isolated Outer Rim planet of Elphrona, and that was where The Mongrel first encountered Charhounds. He was deeply impressed by the savage but loyal pack hunters, and saw their presence as a sign from the Avatars, given his rebirth as the Thrice-Born Hound. He decided to model his tribe on the beasts, encouraging pack mentality, even to the point of bringing in countless trained Charhounds to fight alongside the warriors. But this was only one element of his new tribe, for The Mongrel had also come to believe in the superiority of machines over organic flesh or mystical power. Self-upgrading, replacing damaged flesh with more powerful metal augmentations, would also be a vital part of the new tribe's developing culture.
Thus they would be the Scar Hounds, nature's fury merged with technology's power.
As a warlord, The Mongrel was raised to dominate one of the planets of Mawite space. He was granted the shadowed world of Mar'Zambul, once the seat of the Gundanbard horde, now a key industrial planet for the Brotherhood's dark crusade. The planet's deep mines and brutal industry shaped the new tribe's development. Surrounded by machines, the tribesmen took up the practice of cybernetic modification with gusto, extensively altering both themselves and their Charhounds. By contrast, they steered clear of Force mysticism, with no shamans or darkly-blessed Cirihut warriors among their ranks. This allowed them to develop distinctly from the many other tribes of Mawite marauders, emulating the path of their founder's progress from man to something more.
