Human Faction Threats

AX.GAN.13.06 - Human Faction Threats

The Third Arrival's Human cultures, Ekhari, Kyne Daas, Sereindal, and Ustara, arrived through the World Gate and spent three generations building institutional frameworks to secure their position on Andrus. Those institutions generate their own threat profiles: commercial enforcement, legal authority, arcane operative networks, and the specific weight of an organization that outlasts any individual confrontation.

Human Faction threats are defined by institutional reach more than individual capability. An Ekhari House Guard is a less dangerous opponent than an Anima Territorial Guardian in a straight fight. The Guard's danger is what they represent: a dispute log, a Merchant Council record, a network of House affiliates still operating in this city after the encounter resolves. Defeating one creates paperwork. Defeating several creates enemies with long institutional memories.

The institutional layer: Every threat profile below includes notes on what resolution looks like and what consequences survive the immediate encounter. Combat resolution with Human Faction threats is rarely a clean close; it opens channels that trained operatives will use later, at a time and place of their choosing.

EKHARI HOUSE GUARD (Minion)

Commercial enforcement in the Merchant House ecosystem, numerous, disciplined, and backed by documentation the party doesn't have.

The Ekhari Merchant Houses maintain in-house enforcement personnel for physical security of goods, commercial premises, and House personnel. House Guards are not career fighters; they are commercial employees whose job occasionally involves violence. They receive enough training to handle civil disturbances and deter casual theft; they are not equipped or inclined to engage a determined opposition without numerical advantage.

The Guard's real utility is organizational. When a Guard calls for backup, House channels produce more Guards quickly. When a Guard files a security incident report, it becomes a Merchant Council record. Three Guards sent home bruised is not a resolved situation; it is documented aggression against House commercial interests, and that documentation will be waiting when the party next needs anything from Merchant Council channels.

What the Guard wants: Compliance. They want the situation to end with the party doing what the House requires, leaving the premises, surrendering goods, presenting identification. A Guard who achieves compliance without violence has done their job. One who ends the encounter injured has failed, and the incident is recorded either way.

Type: Humanoid (Ekhari) | Power Level: Minion | Size: Medium

Attributes - Body: 2D | Speed: 2D | Wit: 0D

Talents - Strike: 1D - Fortitude: 1D - Notice: 1D

Combat Statistics - Health: 27 (20 + Body 2 + Minion Modifier 5) - Defense: 2 (Speed 2 + Armor 1 = 3 ÷ 3 = 1, +1 base = 2), House standard light duty armor - Armor: Light (+1, Ekhari Merchant Guard commercial armor, see AX.GAN.10.02)

Saves - Body Save: 3D (Body 2D + Fortitude 1D) - Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 0D) - Wit Save: 0D

Attacks - Guard Blade: Body 2D + Strike 1D = 3D vs Defense, 2 damage typical

Humanoid Traits - Tool User: Guard Blade, House light armor, House signaling (hand signals, whistle codes for internal communication) - Social Tactics: Guards identify themselves and their House before engaging; this is policy, not courtesy. A party that knows which House this Guard represents can invoke an appropriate contact relationship to pause an escalating situation. This works until violence has already occurred; after that, no contact invocation closes the incident record.

Special Abilities - Formation Discipline: When 3 or more House Guards are within Close range of the same target, each Guard gains +1D to their attack roll. House Guard training emphasizes numerical overwhelm; a solo Guard who cannot Signal Call reinforcements does not press a losing engagement. - Signal Call: Free Action. The Guard signals for reinforcement through House channels. After 3 Rounds, 1D3 additional Guards arrive. Once sent, the signal cannot be recalled. The party may identify and disrupt the signal before it completes (Notice Threshold 3 to recognize the signal; Speed action to disrupt before the Guard finishes).

Tactics Guards identify, challenge, and wait for a response. They close distance only when the response is non-compliant. They do not attack first if any avenue of verbal resolution exists, the incident report implications are identical whether violence was provoked or self-initiated. Against a clearly superior force, Guards withdraw to a defensible position and Signal Call rather than pressing a losing engagement.

Lore & Ecology Guards are assigned to specific House properties and commercial routes. A Guard recognizes their premises and regular House personnel; they are not intelligence operatives and cannot identify targets by reputation alone unless specifically briefed with descriptions. A Guard who accepts a bribe will still file an abbreviated incident report, House accounting cross-references security expenditures against incidents, and an "irregular financial transaction" noted as the resolution method is a different kind of problem for the party than a standard security incident.

Institutional Consequences Any incident involving House Guards is logged in Merchant Council records. Three or more Rounds of physical confrontation constitute a formal security incident regardless of outcome. Multiple incidents involving the same parties create a pattern in House intelligence files. The House does not pursue every incident, but it knows, and that knowledge accumulates.

COMPACT WARDEN (Standard)

Cross-lineage legal enforcement operating under Stewardship Compact authority, the encounter is as much procedural as physical.

The Stewardship Compact's Warden corps draws from every lineage on Andrus. A Compact Warden is not exclusively a Human institution, Wardens may be Anima, Kin, or Human. They appear in this file because their authority operates most prominently in Third Arrival Human territories, where Compact legal frameworks are most actively enforced, and because their encounters threaten the institutional standing that Human Faction interactions are built around.

A Warden enforcing a mandate has completed a legal process before the encounter begins. They have documentation. They have a mandate. They are empowered to use proportional force to execute it. The question is not whether they have authority; it is whether the party can offer a better resolution pathway before the Warden concludes that none exists.

What the Warden wants: Mandate completion. This might be surrender of a specific person or item, cessation of a specific activity, or departure from a specific location. They will accept alternatives to physical force if the alternative achieves the mandate's purpose; this is procedurally acceptable and sometimes preferable, since force-based mandate execution requires its own documentation.

Type: Humanoid (any lineage) | Power Level: Standard | Size: Medium

Attributes - Body: 3D | Speed: 2D | Wit: 2D

Talents - Strike: 2D - Fortitude: 1D - Diplomacy: 2D - Notice: 2D - Resolve: 2D - Tactics: 1D

Combat Statistics - Health: 33 (20 + Body 3 + Standard Modifier 10) - Defense: 2 (Speed 2 + Armor 2 = 4 ÷ 3 = 1.33, round to 1, +1 base = 2), Standard Compact-issue medium armor - Armor: Medium (+2, Compact-marked plate)

Saves - Body Save: 4D (Body 3D + Fortitude 1D) - Speed Save: 2D (Speed 2D + Acrobatics 0D) - Wit Save: 4D (Wit 2D + Resolve 2D)

Attacks - Warden's Blade: Body 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense, 3–4 damage typical

Humanoid Traits - Tool User: Warden's Blade, Compact-marked medium armor, mandate documentation, Compact identification seals - Social Tactics: The Warden reads the mandate publicly before taking any action. This is a legal requirement that creates the formal record of mandate execution, not a courtesy. The party has one opportunity to present counter-documentation (Wit + Diplomacy vs Threshold 3) during the reading. Success identifies a procedural basis for delay; failure confirms the mandate is sound.

Special Abilities - Mandate Authority: Free Action, once per encounter. The Warden formally invokes the Compact mandate, stating its terms and authority. All creatures who understand Compact law and the Warden's standing must make a Wit Save Threshold 3 or gain the Shaken condition (−1D all rolls until end of next Turn) from the legal weight of formal mandate invocation. Creatures with no awareness of Compact standing are unaffected. - Lawful Pursuit: A Warden executing an active mandate cannot be legally dissuaded, only a counter-mandate from equivalent Compact authority suspends the original. The Warden knows this and will say so directly if the party attempts to negotiate based on authority claims alone. Alternative resolution requires addressing the mandate's substance, not its procedural basis. - Warden Network: If the Warden is incapacitated or killed during mandate execution, the Compact records mandate interference. A replacement Warden is assigned within 1D3 days, carrying the original mandate plus an interference citation. The interference citation is procedurally more difficult to resolve than the original mandate.

Tactics The Warden enters verbal challenge first, the mandate reading is required by procedure. If the party produces counter-documentation or proposes alternative resolution, the Warden evaluates: does the alternative satisfy the mandate's purpose? If yes, procedurally acceptable and preferable. If no, they close to position and use Mandate Authority before engaging. They fight defensively, their goal is mandate execution, not tactical victory, and a living Warden completes a mandate more reliably than a dead one. They will disengage and file an interference citation before taking lethal damage.

Lore & Ecology Compact mandates require a minimum three-day judicial process to issue. Wardens cannot be activated for immediate enforcement, there is always a process, which means there is always a window. A party that knows a mandate may be coming has time to appeal, relocate, or file counter-documentation through Compact channels. The Compact's enforcement architecture is slow by design, built for a world of diverse cultures and competing claims. The Murin incursion has not yet forced the Compact to examine whether this architecture is fast enough for existential threats, a vulnerability that has not been formally identified.

Institutional Consequences Interference with a Compact Warden during mandate execution creates a formal record that follows all named parties. The interference citation generates an automatic review. Repeated interference citations produce escalating responses, additional Wardens on the next mandate, eventually Compact sanctions against commercial and territorial standing. Killing a Warden in the field creates a standing interference citation that does not expire and requires formal Compact proceedings, not a panel review, to address.

Ekhari commercial legal specialist, their weapons are documentation, timing, and the knowledge of which claim becomes actionable when.

The Merchant House system's most effective institutional tool is not the House Guard. It is the House Advocate: a commercial legal specialist who operates through Merchant Council procedure, document timing, and the leverage that comes from knowing which claims can be filed when and for what effect.

A House Advocate encounter is not primarily a combat encounter. The Advocate is not a fighter. They may arrive with one or two Guards as escort, but their capability is procedural; they appear at precisely the moment a filed claim becomes actionable, present documentation that creates an immediate legal situation, and offer a resolution pathway that serves the House. They have already done the procedural work. The encounter is about how uncomfortable the party wants to get before they negotiate.

What the Advocate wants: A favorable resolution for the House, the party signing a commercial agreement, surrendering a disputed item, acknowledging a debt, or agreeing to an arrangement the House finds useful. The Advocate has already created the conditions that make the party's situation uncomfortable. The remaining question is how much more uncomfortable the party is willing to become.

Type: Humanoid (Ekhari) | Power Level: Standard | Size: Medium

Note: This profile represents a social and institutional threat. If an Advocate encounter escalates to direct violence, the Advocate has failed their operational mandate. Use the abbreviated stat block only for edge cases.

Attributes - Body: 1D | Speed: 2D | Wit: 4D

Talents - Strike: 1D (vestigial, Advocates are not fighters) - Deceive: 3D - Diplomacy: 3D - Notice: 2D - Resolve: 3D

Combat Statistics (abbreviated) - Health: 31 (20 + Body 1 + Standard Modifier 10) - Defense: 1 (Speed 2 + Armor 0 = 2 ÷ 3 = 0.67, round to 0, +1 base = 1) - Armor: None

Saves - Body Save: 1D - Speed Save: 2D - Wit Save: 7D (Wit 4D + Resolve 3D)

Advocate's Toolkit (replaces standard Special Abilities, operates outside combat mechanics)

Filed Claim: The Advocate has already filed a commercial claim creating legal liability for named parties before the encounter begins. The claim's effect depends on its specific nature, disrupted commerce, contested ownership, outstanding debt, breach of an agreement the party didn't know they'd entered. The Advocate controls the timing of when the claim becomes actionable and can choose to activate, hold, or escalate it during the encounter. This is their primary leverage.
Counter-Documentation: Challenging the Advocate's legal position requires a contested Wit + Diplomacy roll vs the Advocate's Wit 4D + Diplomacy 3D = 7D. On success, the party identifies a procedural flaw that reduces the claim's immediate impact or opens a legitimate dispute window. On failure, the Advocate uses the challenge to introduce additional documentation that worsens the party's position; they anticipated the argument.
Witness Record: The Advocate is always accompanied by at least one witness formally present to document the encounter for Merchant Council records. Violence against the Advocate in front of witnesses creates an assault record in addition to whatever claim was already filed. The witness is a Standard-tier NPC with no combat role.
House Writ: Once per encounter. The Advocate presents a House Writ that suspends or accelerates a specific commercial activity pending Council review, see AX.GAN.09.01 for the Setting Perk equivalent. The NPC version represents institutional authority rather than personal capability and applies within any territory where Merchant Council records are recognized.

Lore & Ecology House Advocates are educated at Ekhari commercial institutions and spend years as junior documentation specialists before operating independently. A senior Advocate has filed hundreds of claims and knows precisely which procedural tools work fastest against which types of parties. Parties with significant commercial standing, multiple House relationships, formal Compact registration, are more difficult targets; the Advocate must work around existing documentation that provides counter-leverage. Parties with no institutional standing are significantly easier to move; they have no procedural footing.

Institutional Consequences A successfully completed Advocate encounter creates a resolved commercial record favorable to the House. An encounter that ends in violence without resolution creates an assault record and leaves the original claim active. An encounter where the party successfully counters the claim creates a procedural dispute record; this doesn't harm the party directly, but it tells the House the party has legal resources and institutional knowledge, which changes how future encounters against them are designed.

SENIOR EKHARI OPERATIVE (Elite)

House intelligence asset with Consortium Arcanism access, where commercial interest and arcane capability converge.

The Merchant Houses maintain intelligence operations running parallel to their commercial functions. Senior Operatives are the Houses' most capable field agents: personnel who gather information, neutralize threats, and apply Consortium Arcanism when required, all while maintaining the commercial presentation that makes the Houses' intelligence network function.

An Operative does not look like a threat. That is the design. By the time the party recognizes they are dealing with a Senior Operative rather than a commercial associate, the Operative has already made several assessments about the encounter's likely resolution and positioned accordingly. Their combat capability is real; their preferred outcome is objective achieved before combat becomes necessary. Combat is expensive, documentable, and leaves traces that compromise future operations.

What the Operative wants: The House's strategic objective. This might be intelligence about a specific situation, recovery of a specific item, elimination of a specific threat to House operations, or confirmation of a suspicion the House has been developing for months. The Operative will negotiate when negotiation serves the objective and apply force when force is more efficient. They attach no personal value to either approach.

Type: Humanoid (Ekhari) | Power Level: Elite | Size: Medium

Attributes - Body: 2D | Speed: 3D | Wit: 4D

Talents - Strike: 2D - Acrobatics: 2D - Stealth: 2D - Deceive: 3D - Notice: 3D - Attunement: 3D (Consortium Arcanism, Power Access) - Resolve: 2D - Tactics: 1D

Combat Statistics - Health: 37 (20 + Body 2 + Elite Modifier 15) - Defense: 2 (Speed 3 + Armor 0 = 3 ÷ 3 = 1, +1 base = 2), No visible armor in commercial presentation - Armor: None visible; concealed Light armor (+1) if prepared in advance (Notice Threshold 3 to identify as protective)

Saves - Body Save: 2D (Body 2D + Fortitude 0D) - Speed Save: 5D (Speed 3D + Acrobatics 2D) - Wit Save: 6D (Wit 4D + Resolve 2D)

Attacks - Concealable Blade: Speed 3D + Strike 2D = 5D vs Defense, 3–4 damage typical (drawn as a Free Action, see AX.GAN.10.01) - Consortium Force Burst: Wit 4D + Attunement 3D = 7D vs Threshold 2; force discharge at Near range, 4 damage + target makes Speed Save Threshold 2 or Slowed (movement capped at Close; −1D Speed pools; Speed Save Threshold 2 at start of Turn to end), see Formation Echo below

Humanoid Traits - Tool User: Concealable blade, commercial documentation for at least two cover identities, encrypted House communication kit (+2D Contacts), concealed Light armor if prepared - Social Tactics: The Operative maintains a cover identity for the duration of the negotiation phase, gathering information about the party. They reveal actual capability only when the encounter reaches a decision point, earlier revelation wastes operational security that took considerable time to establish.

Special Abilities - Commercial Cover: The Operative maintains at least one commercial identity (merchant associate, House courier, contracted specialist) functionally indistinguishable from legitimate commerce without a Notice Threshold 4 check or access to internal House records. The cover survives cursory document inspection; it fails against thorough Ekhari institutional cross-referencing. - Formation Echo: When the Operative uses the Consortium Force Burst against a target within Close range of an ally (a Guard, another Operative, or any party member the Operative has maneuvered into proximity), the Force Burst gains Advantage on its attack roll. This is simplified Formation Working, the Operative alone cannot establish full Formation, but proximity resonance is real. Full Formation Working requires a second trained Consortium practitioner and explicit coordination (see AX.GAN.09.07). - Operational Assessment: At the start of the encounter, the Operative has already spent time observing the party; this is always true, regardless of how the encounter begins. They have assessed: approximate combat capability based on visible equipment; which party member appears to be the decision-maker; and any visible lineage-based capability (tradition use, cultural weapons, notable equipment). They use this to engage the decision-maker conversationally while positioning for Force Burst against the most exposed party member. - Extraction Protocol: If the Operative's cover is broken or the situation becomes untenable, they trigger a prepared extraction. This might be a Guard response that provides withdrawal cover, an invented commercial emergency requiring immediate departure, or a more direct disengage-and-stealth (Speed 3D + Acrobatics 2D + Stealth 2D = 7D vs party Notice). The extraction is always available; the only question is what information the Operative takes with them when it activates.

Tactics The Operative does not initiate combat. They create conditions in which the party initiates, or in which the party's inaction is more costly than action. If the party engages: use Formation Echo with nearby Guards, target the physically least resilient party member with Force Burst, maintain Near range to keep the Concealable Blade as an emergency reserve. If reduced below 15 Health, trigger Extraction Protocol and disengage immediately. The information the Operative carries is worth more than the outcome of this specific encounter.

Lore & Ecology Senior Operatives are rare, each major Merchant House maintains two to five at any time, operating across all commercial territories. They are expensive to train and are not deployed against minor commercial disputes. The presence of a Senior Operative means the House has classified the situation as high-value, which tells the party something significant about what the House already knows.

Institutional Consequences An encounter the Operative survives produces a detailed operational report entering House intelligence files permanently. An encounter that kills the Operative produces the same report, filed by their backup, who was observing from a position the party did not identify. The party's capabilities, decision-making patterns, lineage composition, and institutional weaknesses are now a permanent record in at least one House's intelligence system. They may encounter this record later, in the form of counterparty preparation that feels uncomfortably specific.

Adventure Hooks

The Filed Claim, The party returns to a city they passed through months ago to find a House Advocate waiting with documentation of a commercial claim against them, a legal liability attached to something they did on that visit that they had no idea carried commercial significance. The Advocate is presenting a resolution. The resolution involves something the party doesn't want to provide. The claim is legitimate. So is an alternative resolution pathway, if the party can identify it and navigate the procedural window before the claim activates.

The Warden's Timing, A Compact Warden arrives with a mandate that would force the party to surrender a person or item they have committed to protecting. The mandate is procedurally valid. The thing they need to protect is needed for something time-sensitive. The Warden will wait the required 24-hour procedural window before escalating. What can the party accomplish in 24 hours, and what does it cost their Compact standing?

The Commercial Interest, The party has been hired for a commission that, unknown to them, intersects with a Merchant House's existing intelligence operation. The Senior Operative who approaches them is offering a different contract, one that serves the House's objective, pays better than the current commission, and requires doing something the party's current employer would consider a betrayal. The Operative knows exactly who hired the party and why. The party doesn't know what the Operative knows. This is a negotiation with asymmetric information, and the Operative has done this before.