Sky captains of today, seizing the moment while they still can!

AIR BRIGAND (#8/31, #8/365) [POT]

SKILL: 9

STAMINA: 8

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: Sword or Crossbow

ARMOUR: Leather Hauberk

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Desert, Wilderness, Plains, Mountains, Sea

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 2-7

TYPE:Humanoid

REACTION: Unfriendly

INTELLIGENCE: High

AIR BRIGANDS are a curious breed of aerial robbers, organized into loose 'clans', and given to cruising through the sky while aboard trained giant flying monsters - typically ROCS (SKILL 10 STAMINA 13, 3 Attacks, Very Large Bite/Claws, Double Damage), though there are rumours of a marine division that utilize Sky Mantas as steeds.

Each Roc will preferably have around six Air Brigands on board, of which one will be the pilot and another the AIR BRIGAND CAPTAIN (SKILL 10 STAMINA 10, otherwise identical), while the rest are rank-and-file fighters. Wandering travellers who prove themselves in combat have sometimes been recruited to fill gaps in the roster owing to the death of a crew member due to various sources of misadventure.

The typical Air Brigand's list of gear includes a sword, a crossbow, a box of 20 quarrels, a leather hauberk, a length of rope, and a cloak and skullcap both dyed the same colour to denote which clan they belong to. Roll on the below table to find the colour allegiance of a particular crew; they will attack crews of other colours on sight!

Roll Colour

1 Black

2 Yellow

3 Red

4 Silver

5 Green

6 Purple

Each Roc will also bear a flag of the same colour as their commanding crew-clan.

Air Brigands operate in a broad swathe of territory across central Khul, from the flanks of the Mountains of the Giants, through the cooler margins of the Scythera Desert and the Deadlands, to both the Northern Wastes near Peleus and the southern lands of the Inland Sea (where they have been known to hire out as mercenaries to that region's many warring city-states).

As to their provenance, some scholars claim Air Brigands are the final remnants of the Kabeshian Empire's legendary Sky Corps, now reduced to semi-hereditary bands committing various acts of aerial thuggery. Certainly, some Air Brigand Captains carry ancient maps, telescopes and other hoary heirlooms, leading their crews with varying degrees of conviction on doomed quests for the Cloud Islands of Pangaria, the Lost Valley of the Diamonds, or the Forgotten City of Faleha, but none ever return so no-one knows if they were successful or not!

(See also: Bandit, Highwayman, Outlaw)