Enemy Faction: The Glaziers
A faction wot I done gone and did, answering the challenge set by this post. For no particular setting, because canon and consistency are so last-epoch.
The Glaziers are river brigands. They claim a roughly one-hundred-and-fifty-mile stretch at the high end of the mighty River Graich as their domain, extorting tribute from shipping and settlements. Local authorities are completely unequipped to deal with them, and the half-dozen petty duchies the Graich crosses are at war with each other too often to coordinate a proper response.
The Glaziers are also cultists, sort of. They claim fealty to the antediluvian glass-lich Ocalaco, a pioneer of illusion magic and one-time petty tyrant of the foothills. For most of them, it's more a costume than a serious conviction, something to scare outsiders and make them feel cool and capital-E Evil.
That scare factor is real, though - the Glaziers' tactics lean heavily on shock and awe. They scream, chant nonsense, bang drums, and use mirrors and crude flashbangs to disorient their victims, and often that's enough to scuttle any resistance. If it comes to actual violence, though, the Glaziers are surprisingly cautious, and will withdraw and wait for a better time if they're not certain they can win.
The Glaziers have no overall leader at the moment, as their last one was killed in a tragic murdering accident. Command is split evenly (in theory) between his three most trusted captains.
Caslon
The demagogue. Smooth, smug, flirtatious. Played by the late, great Anthony Head at his absolute most unctuous. Stats as a 5th-level fighter, but with half hit points due to his ill health.
If the Glaziers have a single de-facto leader, it's Caslon. He's capable of forming plans that don't involve violence or terror, which puts him several steps ahead of most of his peers. More than that, though, he has ideas. He wants to reform the Glaziers into a Nassau-style pirate republic, with laws and structure and some sort of overall strategy. Caslon has been pursuing this ideal tentatively and patiently for years, but his health is starting to fail, and he desperately wants to see his dream realised before he dies.
Caslon likes Arque personally (they're lifelong friends) but thinks she's far too committed to the bit, and would be horrified if he knew of some of her darker experiments. He thinks Finley is a dangerous idiot, but knows he can't get rid of him without collapsing the Glaziers, and settles for trying to keep his excesses in check.
He has:
Actual capital-A Authority. Most Glaziers think of themselves as temporarily embarrassed pirate princes. Through a combination of personal charisma, good command decisions, and a little cultish patter, Caslon has established himself as a genuine authority figure. Common Glaziers respect his leadership even when it goes against their personal interests. His lieutenants bicker and bluster, but they'll do what he says in the end. They may hate it, but they don't hate him.
Contacts in the Free City of Tallect. It's the one settlement in the Glaziers' domain that's unquestionably too big to raid or extort. Through gladhandling and extensive bribery, Caslon has formed a quiet truce with the city: the Glaziers and Tallectan shipping will limit themselves to token skirmishes, and Tallect will sell Caslon commodities the Glaziers can't steal.
Information. He has paid moles in many tributary villages, plain-clothes lackeys patrolling in unmarked skiffs, and concealed scryposts at a few key bridges and tributaries. (He'd have the whole river scried if he could, but his pet diviner is already struggling to stay on top of the network.) Caslon knows the Graich exceptionally well, and is very prudent about what he shares with whom.
Arque
The occultist. Severe, acerbic, high-minded. Wears a blindfold (her vision is fine but the "blind seer" angle plays well with the rabble). Played by Ambessa from Arcane if she specced into magic instead of muscles. Stats as a 6th-level magic-user.
Arque is the mystical brains of the operation, a fiercely talented and completely amoral hedge mage. She's bought completely into the whole cult thing, but from a weird angle: she doesn't see herself as a servant of Ocalaco, but a distant apprentice, hoping to build on her master's discoveries while striving towards lichdom herself. The Glaziers are really just a source of money, safety, and warm bodies to her.
Arque is fond of Caslon, but she's suspicious of his grand plans for the Glaziers and kind of wants him to hurry up and die. She thinks Finley is a boor and will almost certainly be a worse leader, but she entertains his advances because she thinks he'll be easier to manipulate than Caslon. (She certainly won't feel as bad about it.)
She has:
Apprentices. About a dozen of them. They're all pretty green (1st- and 2nd-level), but even a couple of spells can swing a fight at the level the Glaziers tend to operate at. More importantly, while they fight with the footsoldiers, they are all absolutely loyal to Arque personally, though more out of fear and trauma bonding than respect or admiration.
Magical hardware. Arque supplies the Glaziers with a range of magical trinkets, including magical flashbombs (basically just rocks enchanted with light spells), glamour-scrolls that disguise boats from a distance, and enchanted vanities that can be broken to summon illusory duplicates. They're fairly cheap tricks, but they support the Glaziers' main battle plan well, and Arque and her apprentices can crank them out fast if they need to.
A bound demon. Its name is Three-Bells-for-the-Innocent. It's chained up in a stinking, overgrown bolthole on one of the Graich's tributaries. Nobody but Arque and her apprentices knows about it. Every couple of weeks, they stop by and feed it a captive or a disobedient grunt. If they face especially stubborn opposition from within or without, Arque sends Three-Bells to invade their dreams, and that usually puts them in line within a week or so.
Finley
The rockstar. Affable in a brusque, laddish sort of way. Played by Sid Vicious if he kicked the heroin and got into MMA. Stats as a 7th-level fighter / magic-user (or elf, or whatever).
Finley's personal mythology is grand and elaborate: he's the lost son of a foothill noble, found and raised by mercenaries only to be thrust into battle against his birth family, ultimately disowned by both. The fact that anyone even pays lip service to any of this wank is a testament to his success. Caslon and Arque may be leaders, but Finley's the closest thing the Glaziers have to a hero.
Finley often butts heads with Caslon, but is convinced that the old man can't help but respect him, really. He is alternately creeped out and drawn to Arque, and is making slow, stumbling attempts to court her - besides his attraction, he thinks she'd be useful to have on-side when he inevitably ascends to leadership.
He has:
A fearsome reputation. Finley's built himself a personal legend above that of the Glaziers as a whole. He's an excellent small-unit tactician and has hand-picked many of the Glaziers' best fighters in his crew. His battle record is thus far perfect, mostly because he chooses his fights very well, making him a hero among his comrades and a boogeyman for the people of the Graich.
A souped-up battle barge. An eccentric consulting wizard built it as a weapon against the Glaziers. Finley killed the wizard and stole the barge. It's self-propelled by a bound elemental in the back - no faster than normal propulsion, but his crew don't have to row and are always fresh and ready for a fight. It also has an onboard catapult to launch flashbombs and regular bombs. The Glaziers think it's the coolest shit ever.
Raw martial and magical prowess. Arque is a stronger mage and Caslon was probably a better fighter in his day, but Finley is overall the Glaziers' biggest physical threat, and everyone knows it. He stages regular duels with his spearmates, and has yet to lose one. (He's also the only magic-user who isn't beholden to Arque.)
Ocalaco, up in his razor-atelier at the summit of Mt. Temperance, keeps half an eye on the Glaziers. They're of no real use to him, but he finds their exploits mildly entertaining.