Briarward
Select Subtype:
Description:
Briarwards are the footsoldiers of the fae. They have a generally humanoid appearance, with a small and slight build, similar in stature or elves. The skin of their faces and hands is a pale green with a stripped wood texture, while the skin on the rest of their bodies takes on a greenish brown, bark-like quality. Their hair hands like spanish moss, and their eyes are wide and dark with no pupils. They where standard clothing, and often don cloaks or capes, and so can be mistaken for humanoids walking along the roads or through the forests, but they do not engage with humanoid societies. They seem to be organzanized and disciplined and will not be encountered as bandits - when the attack, it is virtually always in organized battle, and they are capable of using sophisticated mixed-unit tactics with different specialists using their complementary abilities to great effect.
Briarwards are very rare except where fae are making active incursions into humanoid territories. It is beleived that they may be some form of fae/humanoid/plant hybrid created or perhaps grown by the fae lairds to supplement their forces.
Special:
Briarwards are immune to poison and disease, but take +25% damage from flame based attacks.
Variants:
Standard briarwards are lightly armed, and will be used as guards or advanced scouts for larger, organized briarward units. They are formidable in combat, but do not apply mixed unit tactics the way the more specialized variants do. If briarwards ever enter into battle in numbers, standard briarwards may comprise the bulk of the initial force - charging in to disrupt the enemy force while groups of specialists manuever for position on a battlefield.
Forest
Forest briarwards are the heaviest and toughest variants. These either use two handed weapons or will dual wield one handed weapons, enabling them to do enormous amounts of damage. They will often be maneuvered to the flanks, and will attempt to surround enemy forces before charging into battle in the middle stages of a conflict when their relative power is decisive.
Hill
Hill briarwards are the ranged fighters, using bows and thrown weapons to rain death into the core of an enemy forc. They will tend to position far from the main conflict, and will disperse and regroup of charged.
Plains
Plains briarwards are the light infantry variants, and they use spears and shields to fight in organized phalanxs, usually following an initial charge of standard briarwards, and supported not long after by a flanking appraoch of heavy forest briarwards.