Introduction

The first Khaasta mercenary company encountered by the party (specifically Van Kellias), the “Company of the Black Sky which Haunts the Men of Daltigoth Under the Blood Moon of Sekhmet” – typically shortened simply to “Company of the Black Sky” – originally actually had Van as a prisoner. Also imprisoned were many of Van’s present followers; most importantly a disgraced Khaasta officer, Khryseth, whom Van freed. In the subsequent escape from captivity, the fleeing ex-prisoners managed to make quite an impression – not to mention a sizable dent in the company’s available manpower – and left the newly redeemed-by-combat Khryseth as the highest ranking officer surviving. He has since stepped down in this role, preferring to function as an administrator for Van’s informal business operations.

The Important Stuff

The Company of the Black Sky
Leader	Zhirun
Center of Operations	Sigil – minor outpost on the Outlands
Strength	< 50, generally hired out in squads of six
Average Level	2-4

The Black Sky has, as yet, failed to recover completely from Van’s rampage through their compound on the Outlands. Casualties weren’t all that heavy, but virtually the entire command staff was eliminated in the space of ten minutes. The current leader was a career sergeant prior to his appointment by Khryseth to lead the company, and what he lacked in rank he made up for in front line experience. As it stands, the Black Sky is just coming out of a phase of minor infighting as a few naysayers were quietly dealt with – usually without fatal results, but a few casualties did occur. The Khaasta remaining in the company are either loyal to Zhirun, personally indebted to Van or Khryseth, or at the very least have the good sense to be quiet about their misgivings.

Business

At the current time, the Company can usually manage to commit five to eight squads at a time, though they will not generally commit fewer than four for a combat job, which limits the number of operations they can involve themselves with at any given time. Zhirun is generally a cautious leader, and he would rather commit to a few “sure-thing” bets than expose his rather vulnerable operation to being wiped out piecemeal. They’ve been staying away from combat-heavy jobs while they try to bring their numbers up, and are primarily taking on work as security and bodyguards when possible.

At the moment, most of the gold from any given job is being kept in the company treasury, being re-invested into equipment and perishable magical items. They lack spell casters except for a small handful of bards and clerics, and consequently any sort of healing item is particularly valuable to them. Morale is mixed thanks to fairly low pay – many of them understand the reasoning behind it and see it as a necessary evil while the company regains its strength, but a few of the (primarily) younger members are chafing under the current conditions.