Brutes

Brutes are the ruined bodies of villagers, wholly ruled by Sha-Chi. The Maskwalkers destroyed their village; the Transcension they hoped would save them destroyed everything that remained, mind and vitality going with the failure, leaving only an unchecked bloodlust that turns them on anything alive.

Some wanted strength, some only to protect themselves, some to hold the village gate, and each gave up more than the one before. The corrupted were failures thrown into a ravine, until villagers obtained red thread and bound it around their bodies and masks — and the rotting dead began to move again.

• Brute: Wild, tireless swordwork with no form to it, swinging until something stops him.
• Throwing Brute: Flings broken stones from behind others, knowing he cannot win head-on; poor aim, but a hit from behind still stings.
• Spear Brute: Prowls the fires with a crude barbed spear, and when the charge fails, sets the head alight and comes on with a burning blade.
• Shield Brute: Slams and charges behind a shield too broad for his frame; heavy weapons such as great axes break it quickly.
• Shielded Brute: Short blade and round shield, slow to begin and too quick to recover, legs bare whenever the shield lifts — yet light enough on his feet to punish brute force.
• Yellow-Robed Brute: The ragged yellow was once a village laborer's uniform; now only the deepening red on the mask remains. He swings an iron-studded club, leaping to smash or whirling it in succession.
• Thorn Brute: Spiked shield and studded club worked in alternation; rush in and the barbs catch you before the club follows. He took Transcension to guard his village at night.
• Twin-Axe Brute: Sha-Chi flooding his limbs, always first into the fight; when hunger takes him mid-battle he draws the blood around him, companions included.
• Corrupted Brute: Blue-black flesh with a crimson patch at the heart, hacking with twin axes, and in frenzy slashing his own wrist to spray poisonous blood.
• Corrupted Arsonist: His charred flesh no longer fears the flames of Chaos; he hurls bottles of burning oil with all his strength and worships that wicked fire.

Their forms are wild and full of openings; what wears you down is their numbers and their disregard for their own bodies.

A great axe is the quick answer to a shield. Do not stay close to a twin-axe brute in a long fight, or he will drain the blood around him. The corrupted are best kept at a distance, for their poison and their fire.