The Judge, The Jury, The Executioner

The Judge
Once, he was but a simple farmer by the name of Ioseph Kibblin, but his life was transformed when he stumbled across one of the lost and buried Law-Forges of the Old Dwarven Empire. There, he made a terrible mistake. He took up one of the Forge-Mauls, and the Garb of the Fundament-Smiths, and when he emerged, Ioseph was dashed to pieces, and from the remains, the Judge was born.

Now, he travels from place to place with his posse of zealot-thugs in close tow. Where-ever he goes, he doles out strokes of Justice to those he considers criminals. He is certain that his rights of life and death are his to give and take, as he sees fit. In his eyes, his judgement is perfect, and infallible.

The villages he visits live in perpetual fear of him, but crime evaporates almost completely after the first two or three examples; assuming news doesn't reach the town ahead of him. He is cruel and callous. He bears no notions of reform, or recompense. His sentences are always harsh in the extreme. But, he does issue out judgement on those who are generally agreeably bad people. No-one has ever disagreed that those he sentences are not as guilty as he says, nor have any been later found to be innocent of the charges the Judge has levelled against them. It does truly seem that he is a Judge without peer.

Just try not to get on his bad side.

The Jury

- The Sheriff: A sour man who only really speaks in grunts. He earnestly believes that what he is doing is good and right, regardless of the brutality of the punishment. He tries to reign in some of the excesses of his companions when the Judge isn't around, but he never really tries hard enough. He delivers and enforces the Judge's decrees in his absence, and takes great pride in his 'work'.

- Lady Justice: A robed women, wearing a blindfold over empty sockets and wielding a sword and scales. She is entirely passive, and never speaks, and often needs to be lead about by Mother Mercy. The Judge says that he knows who she was before she became Lady Justice, but he never tells anyone. He almost seems guilty about this. Her role in the jury is to be an 'unbiased' witness at the Judge's trials, for justice is blind. 

- Hooks-Man: A hulking yet simple man, he had no purpose before he met the Judge. Now he does, and he also now has hooks for hands. He can't quite remember how that came to be. But he likes it like this. He can hook the bad men. At least when the Judge-man says he can. He likes doing that.

- Knife-Child: Technically not a child, just a really short halfling. He doesn't care as much for justice as he lets on, especially to the boss, but he does appreciate the chance to inflict pain on others and get told that he can feel good about it. At least, for those times that he actually gets permission to. Many times, he doesn't wait, and is very careful about hiding the body and cleaning his many, many knives. 

- Bearer of the Wheel: He has taken on a mighty burden; he will inflict pain and suffering on those who deserve such that others can avoid the stains on their souls. He is told that he must do this to absolve his own sins. He also chooses to do it. For the others. He knows that what he does must be done one way or the other, and he would rather it were him than anyone else. He knows that as long as he follows the Judge's instructions, he will only have to do it as much as is necessary.

- Mother Mercy: She is ultimately a kind soul, hidden behind her thick black robes and healer's vestments. She stitches, heals, and mends, and there are many who require that which she gives. She works when the Judge tells her she must, and she works when she can be spared. There are many who require her skills, and she wishes she could tend to them all, but the work demands that they never stay in one place too long. She wishes that the others would inflict less pain, but she never speaks out.

- Lord-Sir Needles: He is be-decked all in needles; in his clothes, in his skin, in his flesh. It is a therapy, he tells people. He was wicked, and now he is not. The needles help him, you see. Beyond his fearsome appearance, he is something of a bodyguard. Not for the Judge, he is quite capable of looking after himself; Lord-Sir Needles protects the other members of the Jury who cannot fight. He wields a long thin blade (naturally), and is trained is a defensive fighting style. He merely occupies the enemy while the beefier members of the jury close in...

- Crowned-With-Thorns: This one may well be an angel, with his perfectly androgynous face, his iron wings, and the purging flames he wields in the name of the Judge's justice. Though, no cleric recognises the nails driven into his head, and he will not say which God he serves...

- Aquarius: This is the one who bears water. The water cleanses the Judge's hands of the sins he must commit. This water is not for the others. Those ones would make it unclean. Even this one would dirty it. This one doesn't mind. This one is blessed to have been given a sacred duty.

- The Hound Master: The Hound Master never travelled alone even before his calling. A premier huntsman, now his skills are turned towards ensuring that none can escape the Judge's justice. Like the Knife-Child, his is somewhat ambivalent to it all, but he does enjoy the rush of hunting people quite a bit indeed.

- The Confessor: Not everyone will immediately confess to their crimes. Most do before the piercing gaze of the Judge, but those rare few who defy the law must be made to speak. The Confessor has all kinds of implements and instruments to ensure this happens. He never speaks about it, but the joy in his crooked eyes while he works is evident.

- Father Obadiah: Even for the filthy criminals and distasteful wrong-doers, proper rights must be observed. Punishment in this world need not be extended to the next, that step is already provided for. Father Obadiah would prefer that he didn't have to preside over quite so many last words and funerary rites, but who is he to question justice.

The Executioner 
It follows the Judge like a rain cloud, broad and dark. The first time the Judge his Jury came to a village, it came up behind them, congealing out of the dark, and knelt by the Judge. Huge, beaked, and cloaked in a pall of dark fog, and wielding a colossal axe. It is the sentence of the most vile and wicked, by the Judge's standards at least, and men go mad and slay themselves rather than face the gaze of the beast, black on black.

When it lifts up its great axe with the intent to use it, the very edge begins to glow a soft and pale blue like lightning, gently steaming. When it is like this, it can slay with a mere touch. No defence can aid you against it, your only chance is that the beast is slow, slow but implacable. You might outrun it, but only for a time.

It is a spirit of death, drawn to the Judge and his power. It will serve as long as he believes earnestly that he has the right to demand a man's life for his misdeeds. It was bound long ago by the Dwarven Law-Smiths, but the long march of time and the battering of the elements on its chains has twisted its purpose. Perhaps they are brittle enough to break...