Malifaux JargonBuster: Outcasts

Hello again, I must go through the health and safety features of reading this - This is intended for people who know nothing about the game or have just started playing and want to know more about what each master is/does and gain a better understanding of the world of Malifaux.

If you haven't seen my other JargonBusters they are here (links will open in a new window...hopefully... if I've set it up right...):
Background
Gremlins
Arcanists
Guild
Ten Thunders
Resurrectionists


The Outcasts are an unusual faction in the world of Malifaux. The Guild are after power, the Arcanists run the Union and the Resurrectionists and Neverborn are after anything they can get; mainly blood and bodies! But to think that these broad titles cover all the players in Malifaux would be naive. There are men and women who, for some reason, have shunned (or been shunned by) other affiliations for a more rougish lifestyle.
Many convicts have their roots within the Guild; convicts, desperates and even exiled practitioners who find themselves on the fringes of Malifaux city itself. These people often create their own safe haven without the fear of persecution. There are those who have escaped sentences of work or death and live as fugitives. For them, the only safe place is where the Guild fear to tread.
Those who have been outcast my still choose to operate within the confines of the city and act a mercenaries. With the threat still high in the city it is always a viable business option to make yourself a gun-for-hire.
While there are lone mercenaries operating within the city, there are those who have formed stable fighting forces available to offer a small army if the price is right.
Others who have been branded as outcasts merely may not play well with others and therefore cannot conform to society's expectations, leaving them out in the cold.
No matter what the reason, all Outcasts have the same thing in common: They are masters of their own fate... good or bad!

With that in mind, let's take a look at some masters in the faction.

Tara

The Herald of Obliteration.

Orphaned at a young age, Tara learnt how to survive on her own. She found skills that she had learnt could be useful. Killing came to her as easily as breathing. It was a small step to take her skills to Malifaux, where the dangerous country promised only profits for the young woman.
After briefly considering the Freikorps, Tara decided to go it alone and gained an uncanny ability to tell when the Neverborn were around. Then she met Obliteration.
Obliteration invited her inside his prison and she claimed a piece of him, bringing him into the world. At the crest of her power, with all standing before her, a sniper took aim and left her for dead. It was only through Karina's quick thinking (a woman who Tara brought out of the prison) that she was able to recover. It wasn't exactly the result that Karina had hoped for as Tara raised from the dead instead of healing. She maintains complete autonomy and is able to act in death as she had in life.

Tara's box includes: Tara, Karina, The Nothing Beast and 3 Void Wretches

Misaki

The Assassin. As a child, Misaki lives in her father's shadow. It wasn't until he decided that she would be part of their first wave of infiltration that she was able to come in to her own. She came to the city under the guise of a Guild Lifer, now she is leader of operations within the city. She is torn between decisions which will best suit the faction but more importantly, she is torn between doing it her way or honoring her father and family.

Misaki's crew box comes with Misaki, Shang (Totem) - quite literally a magical fox, 3 Torekage (Ninjas!) and Ototo. Her crew works on the premise that you hit hard and work as a team. The Torekage best work when around other models as they get defense benefits.

Von Schill

 In 1902, a crack commando unit was sent into Malifaux by the Guild for the extermination of the Neverborn. These men promptly pissed off the Governor-General and went underground. Today, wanted by the Guild, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire The Freikorps.
(I'm really proud of this by the way! Sad I know! And although it's not strictly true, I'm going to bend the truth because it fits nicely!)
Von Schill single handedly exterminated many Neverborn when the Breach reopened and he was destined for leadership within the Guild. Complication came when he made an enemy of the one person you can't make an enemy of in Malifaux: the Governor-General.
Eventually, he established himself with a base just outside the Guild's control and began building a team called the Freikorps. The first members were those who also disagreed with the Governor-General's leadership but now extends to soldiers and specialists alike.


In Von Schill's box you get: Von Schill, Steamtrunk, Freikorps Specialist, Freikorps Trapper, 2 Freikorpsmen and a Freikorps Librarian.

The Viktoria's

 There is a lure within Malifaux which inevitably draws certain people to the city. Some go because of the power that can be gleaned from Soulstones. Others go because of information or to find lost ones. Viktoria went due to information received from a contact which promised a greater treasure than she has ever found. A seasoned treasure hunter and adventurer, it was an offer too good to refuse.
In the city Viktoria quickly found herself in the middle of plots and plays from many of the great names in Malifaux. Part of a Neverborn scheme left her with a perfect double: a doppelganger. They may dress differently but many cannot tell the two apart. They bonded as sisters and have been inseparable ever since.
While they are willing to hire themselves out, their real goal is to find artifacts they can sell Earthside or within the city for profit. The thing that stops most treasure hunters are the natives, but due to the doppelganger's insight they can avoid or fight them as the humour strikes them.
The mystery of the sisters continues to grow within the community!

In the Viktoria's box you get: Viktoria of Ashes, Viktoria of Blood, 2 Ronin and a Student of Conflict.

Hamelin


Many years ago, Plague was a preeminent alchemist in Malifaux, well respected in his field of study. He developed a fascination with decay and aging. A tragic accident during an experiment nearly killed him. Drowning in his own blood, his eyes closed only to reopen the next day.
Few records remain from the time of the Tyrants of Malifaux, the only thing for certain is that they were locked away, trapped because they could not be killed. Plague slept for a milenia in the necropolis below the city until he was awoken by Hamelin the Rat Catcher on the run from the Guild. Hamelin's death was horrific but it gave Plague a rebirth.
Plague is the most aggressive of all the Tyrants that walk (or used to walk) Malifaux. He holds a strange view that all of the Tyrants are playing a great game, one which is only worth playing because existence itself is the gamble.
While his first attempt at ascension failed, he is discovering new methods to try again. He refuses to admit defeat.



Currently, Hamelin's crew isn't out yet but I would think you will get: Hamelin, Nix (his dog), Stolen Children, Rats (lots of rats) and possibly Rat Catchers or a Rat King.

Leveticus

 Leveticus is the proprietor of Captivating Salvage and Logistics, a small shop in Malifaux City that offers a range of services. He and his young companion Alyce have been staples of city since the opening of the Breach. Whatever you need, Levi is your man!
What few know is that Leveticus is a man of magical talent. His designs can even rival the work of Victor Ramos!
Leveticus has discovered he is able to cheat death by combining necromantic texts with modern theories and has made links between his soul and dead husks he calls Hollow Waifs. Levi can come back to life.
According to Zoraida, Leveticus is positioned at the centre of fate's design. While the exact details are uncertain, he is one of the lynchpins that Malifaux leans on. If there was to be a war with the Tyrants who awaken in the city, Leveticus is in a position to lead the charge!

In Levi's box you get: Leveticus, 4 Abominations, 3 Hollow Waifs and Rusty Alyce. 

Jack Daw

 No one forgets their first sight of the Hanging Tree. Everyone can see it when they cross Breachside, where hanged men drift in the wind, right in view of the train station. At the top of the Tree hung Jack Daw, beyond the reach of any man. There are legends o this mysterious corpse, which had been present since the reopening of the Breach itself.
The only thing that is certain is that Jack was not present during humanity's first time in the city. The first legends of Daw dealt with his origins but now they have taken a darker turn.
One night, Jack went missing from the tree. This immediately prompted rumors and stories and it didn't take long for these to subject panic on the parents of Malifaux, creating a haunting rhyme that became extremely popular warning of Jack Daw.
From the Wastelands, Jack had been seen just outside the city. At first, the stories told of him standing, watching the city but then progressed to him leading a horde of dead, tearing apart towns in fury.
Whatever drives Daw into rage, he takes it out on everything nearby. He seems drawn to acts of betrayal, present at nearly every mutiny or insurrection of recent months. Towns have disappeared overnight, leaving behind only blood on the ground and burned buildings.

 Currently, Jack Daw's box isn't out but the artwork suggests you get: Jack Daw, Lady Ligeia, Montressor and 3 Tormented.

This wraps up the Outcast section of Malifaux!

Thanks for reading!
I'll see you soon!