The Warriors

The Warriors

The Warriors are a fierce street gang in Paragon City. They operate primarily out of the Talos Island and Striga Isle zones.

Their membership is wide and varied, and they don’t seem to discriminate based on ethnicity, race, or religion. The one common trait that all members share is the ability to fight and to fight well.

The Warriors take their inspiration and colors from ancient Greek soldiers, emblazing their jackets with the image of a crested hoplite helm. They also wear ornate bracers, and many sport detailed tattoos depicting ancient battles.

However, their camouflage pants, torn vests, and combat boots are all trappings of modern urban warfare. As a final touch, perhaps symbolizing the glorious crests of their heroes, they all wear red headbands.

The rank-and-file street soldiers of the Warriors consist of Bruisers, Slicers, Slammers, and Choppers.

The Warriors train exhaustively in the use of archaic weapons, such as one-handed crossbows, broad swords, and battle axes. This intensive training regime has made them tougher than most street gangs, and they dominate any encounter with the Hellions or Skulls.

Lieutenants tend to carry longbows to target high-flying blasters and teleporting defenders, but their real mastery is in their up-close work. Crushers carry heavy maces, which they use to bash their enemies to a pulp.

Swordsmen, called “Slashers” by everyone on the street, are experts with the blade, able to demonstrate both finesse and ferocity.

Chopper lieutenants, called “Hewers” among themselves, wield brutal axes and are capable of dealing out gruesome damage.

The Warriors’ martial skills are also seemingly enhanced by some exposure to magical energies.

Nowhere is this enhancement clearer than among the bosses, although some suspect that the lieutenants and even some of the street soldiers have also benefited from a magical blessing.

The Smasher Elite, Slasher Elite, and Hewer Elite are not only expert fighters, but are magically tough and resilient. Inexperienced heroes may be surprised the first time they land a powerful blow to see the Warrior laugh it off and strike back just as hard.

The Elite rule the roost and run the day-to-day activities of the gang. Although they commonly engage in many base gang activities, like extortion, robberies, and protection rackets, their focus is primarily on the buying and selling of mystical artifacts — running the magical black market, as it were.

This often puts the Warriors in conflict with the Circle of Thorns. The Warriors seem to have neutral or even positive connections to the Outcasts and Hellions, however, two other gangs focused on the trade of magical artifacts.

The Warriors have had a long-standing rivalry with the Trolls and the Freakshow, but their greatest enemies are the Tsoo, who constantly threaten to usurp their territory and drive them out of Talos Island.

While a number of the Warriors’ bosses have been captured by heroes and served time in the Zig – bosses like Heracles, Alexander, Aeneas, and Patrochus – reports are sketchy on who truly leads the gang.

Rumors suggest a man named Odysseus founded the Warriors after he stole a magical artifact from a defeated hero, or possibly did a favor for the Circle of Thorns, or even sold his soul to an Arachnos mystic. To date he has remained hidden, directing his soldiers from the highest levels.