The Mad Commander

The Parthians have, throughout their history, battled the various pirates and brigands whom sack caravans, then flee East to hide from justice. The Far Eastern Coast of the Mainlund, in particular, is a known haven for pirates, buckaneers, and brigands, and the Parthians have launched countless invasions and expeditions to flush them out. One such expedition, launched some 20 years ago, was expecially prolonged and bloody. The War of the Red Sash was a Parthian campaign launched by the previous Lord Commander of Partha as an effort nominally to smash the Order of teh Red Sash, a pirate league of fierce reputation. The war was somewhat conducted purely for the purpose of politicizing the strength of the Parthian army though, and the citizenry in general was fully supportive of the long, expensive campaign by its end, despite fervently demanding it from their leaders at the outset.

Commander Klarn Justicarus was a young Parthian general of incredible reknown. He had found himself the commander of a Parthian fleet patroling the waters of Sylivas, after having proven himself in combat with Gurtharian Ogres, but instead of enjoying his prime position, Justicarus instead volunteererd to be sent East, with his men, on a mission surely to last several years, wherein his fleet would track down and destroy the Red Sash once and for all. His men became fervently loyal to him, due to Justicarus' unusual tradition of sharing his war-spoils with his men quite equally, and also for leading them into battle instead of directing the fight from the safety of a fortified bunker.

Justicarus found himself unable to simulateously follow Parthian military instruction (which emphasises due process and minmimizing civilian casualty) and also be effective against the pirates. He discovered that the locals of the East Coast are primarily funded by priacy, either directly or indirectly. Even merchants, tailors, blacksmiths and the like all get their business from purloined gold, if the money is followed. As much, Justicarus took a turn that many describe as mad; he decided that normal citizens on the East Coast could be considered "brigands" if their livelyhood was funded primarily by pirate gold. This decision was debated hotly back in Partha. Hard-liners agreed, while others felt this was an illogical extention of the letter of the law.

Justicarus traced the Red Sash fleet back to a small port town near the Gray Coast called Darthaven, which was known mostly for selling salted shrimp, leather, and metal goods to the various pirate fleets in the area. His forces would find themselves ambushed any time they ventured near the city, leading Justicarus to suspect that the citizens there were selling his wherabouts to the pirate fleet directly. He sacked the city, emprisioned its people (including children, the elderly, the infirm, etc), and eventually summarily executing the entire population. Pirate attacks on his men dropped to practically zero in that sector for the following season, leading Justicarus to believe he had done the right thing.

This event, and a few other similar judgements on his part, led to Justicarus being officially recalled to Partha to stand trial for this action. Local bards in Partha had been describing his butchery in great detail in popular song, and there was a cry amongst the people that he be stopped. To Justicarus, these same people had previously been begging him to take any action needed to stop the piracy, so he felt no need to listen to their shallow judgements. Rather than return to Partha, he slipped into the depths of the Verdant Expanse with a cadre of his most loyal soldiers, to continue his mission untehtered by the weak moral judgements of the soft Parthian citizenry.

Plot Hooks

The PCs are retained in secret by the Parthian government to locate Justicarus and terminate his command.