The Army of the Damned are a vaguely organized Mercenary Company. Reletively young, they have only one stated objective and only one true leader: take what they want, and do as Lazlo Harkon commands. The Army of the Damned were formed shortly after Lazlo Harkon resurfaced from his exile. Composed of both the living dead and the remains of his family clan, Lazlo Harkon directs the Army of the Damned to take any mission, no matter how unsavoury, so long as it advances a nebulous ambition to accrue magical artifacts and wealth with which to equip and provision the mercenary company.

Calling upon the nomadic traditions of the peoples whom ranged between the Spine and the Allir Reach, the Zykonii caravans have been converted into war-wagons. Some are now grim meat-wagons, carting replacement skeletons for when a member of the living dead is felled and is beyond saving. They are a perversion of everything that is the Anirian Guard and the Zykoni, a twisted band of lost souls. It is no wonder then that they attract all manner of savage and vile folk, from bandits and slavers to raiders and marauders.

To join the Army of the Damned, one need only meet two requirements: follow orders, and know how to change a wagon wheel. Their recruitment is lax not for lack of regard for the quality of their membership, but for lack of care at all on Lazlo Harkons part. While veteran soldiers are provided a commission of leading any unproven new-blood in deadly assaults almost engineered to slaughter the weak, the common bandit or farmer's son is simply handed a looted weapon and set of basic armor and told to train and act as told.

Very few sign up with the Army of the Damned out of eagerness, and those that do are almost always some of the most nefarious and outright-villainous scoundrels on Arethil. Those who prove their skill and capability are brought into the inner circle of the organizations command, riding besides or in Lazlo's own wagon. There, the trusted inner circle learn the true ambitions of the Army of the Damned:

Revenge.

All its resources, all its missions and contracts, must further advance its ambition of wounding and revenging the slights against the soldiers of the world. The abandoned by their country, the forsaken by their people, those washed away by the nobility despite their honor and service. The Army of the Damned is comprised of the wronged and the embittered at its highest echelons, and its actions convey this to any astute enough to grasp it. It runs like a well-oiled machine, it commits crimes and enforces laws, it pillages and sacks yet will donate freely to the war veterans lost to the gutters.

The only act that can expel you from the Army of the Damned is treachery. Acting against another soldier of damnation is a swift way to having either your head lopped off or worse. Those who merely trespass or slight another can be expected to get a reprimand at best, and discharged at worst. The Army of the Damned honor their word and will often times take contracts against those whom have short-changed or cheated them, taking a disproportionate revenge against their enemies. While the Army of the Damned may offer no quarter to most, those that show discipline, honor, and conviction may be offered to go free if they survive.

Finally, the Army of the Damned provides what it can to its soldiers. Rarely will it kit an individual out completely, though it provides choice loot to those whose service demands it. Forlorn Hope, Captains and Sergeants, and the inner circle are all provided a baseline of full armor and quality weapons. Those whose service has attracted Lazlo's personal attention are often given the offer to wield haunted weapons, impliments possessed by a skilled warrior that guide the fighter as if it were a mundane magic item.