NPCs: Nameless and the Vicious Dog Gang

They came out of the eastern steppes on ashen horses. They were scruffy and haggard, their eyes hungry with greed and the confidence of dead men. The leaders were named Muunokhoi and Nergui: Vicious Dog and Nameless. With these two were the triplets Kenbish, Ogtbish, and Enebish: "Nobody", "Not at All" and "Not This One". And least of the group was Nekhii: Sheepskin. All were unlucky born, and given cursed names to hide them from the evil spirits who kill children in their cribs. Bound together by ill omened births and poverty, these riders were starving jackals, or wild dogs who devoured what they found and shared everything amongst the vicious pack- liquor, food, women, talismans, song and death.

The Gang
Muunokhoii claimed to be haunted by the spirit of the Tiger Hunter- a great hero of his people. He was a charismatic villain, sleazy and greasy and yet- compelling and forceful. Vicious and unpredictable and occasionally merciful- Muunokhoii was a terror to his enemies and unnerving even to his pack.

Nergui was quiet and calculating. Merciless and methodical- he never lost his temper and never raised his voice. He deferred to Muunokhoi for final decisions, but Muunokhoi deferred to Nergui to do the thinking.

The triplets were vicious bullying children- stupid and violent and shallow in understanding, but powerful in their sudden bursts of action. The triplets acted without any unity. They were a disjointed mobile brawl, fighting with each other when the outside world did not meet their violent needs. Only the magnetism of Muunokhoi could bring them under control.

Nekhii was the mutt of the group, small and weak, but a survivor to the bitter end. The pack bullied Nekhii nearly to death, but protected him from outside harm just as viciously. Nekhii was the camp nurse and medic and cook, useless in a straight fight, but serviceable as a scout and look out. Nekhii wasn't quite useless to the group, but no outsider would understand why the pack hadn't killed him. Their grudging cruel mercy with Nekhii was proof of the one thing that bonded them together- the names that marked their ill omened births.

The Nameless and Vicious Dog gang starts combat on horseback if at all possible, and strive to keep their distance through the fight- harrying their enemies with unpredictable but skilled mounted archery. If forced to fight on foot they will begin by unleashing arrows and throwing knives and axes upon their opponents before drawing out paired long knives and fighting to cripple their opponents. The members will not abandon each other and will fight to the death to defend each other. That said, the group will flee if any one member is reduced by half their hit points.

Tactics


Muunokhoii has a ring that grants invisibility for thirty minutes per day, the pack plays Mahjong for the right to where the ring. There is a 60% Muunokhoi will have the ring when the pack is encountered, a 30% chance that Nergui has the ring, an 8% chance one of the triplets has the ring and a 2% chance that Nekhii has the ring. The ring wearer remain invisible even in combat, and the wearer of the ring will seek to sneak attack the most effective opponent, and will rescue any downed pack members.

The pack generally has 1-4 potions between them. There is a 50% chance the potions will all be healing potions. Otherwise the potions will be a random assortment- distributed randomly amongst the pack. The pack do not hoard potions and use them at the first potential opportunity.

Using The Gang
The Nameless and Vicious Dog Gang is a good reoccurring bandit encounter- more interesting than the usual random bandits. Likewise the Gang can be used a kidnappers and mercenaries and raiders and minor villain characters- replacing standard characters in established adventures where appropriate.

Role-Playing the Gang
The characters speak common, and their own language. Muunokhoi also speak goblin and orc. Nergui speaks his own language, common, orc, elvish, and devil. All Gang members curse expressively and frequently. Common insults include calling opponents eunuchs and brothel keepers. They like to question an opponent's ability to hold liquor and like to call all men bare faced eunuchs or bare chested boys, and prefer to call women 'bearded one' or 'plucked hens'. They also like to mock opponents aim and their lack of viciousness. Sheepdung is another favored insult.