CODEX / LORE / Iconic Pilots

Iconic Pilots: Legends of Iron and Blood

"Every pilot is a tragedy in motion. The only question is: how long until they break?" - Bonelord Karath, The Ledger of Souls

These are the living legends of Year 437. Each has paid a terrible price for their power. Each carries scars that tell stories of compromise, sacrifice, and the slow erosion of humanity in pursuit of strength.

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Featured Iconic Pilots

(Top 3 featured. Complete roster in dropdown below.)

Church of Absolution

Sister Vex

"The Hollow Penitent"

Casket: Heavy - "The Confessional" (1,600 lbs)

Taint: 7 (Advanced Corruption)

Martyrdom Protocol - Cannot die, sacrifices permanent injuries to survive

Once the Inquisition's most feared prosecutor, Vex attempted to save her Taint-corrupted daughter through a forbidden blood ritual. The child died. The Taint took root in Vex's soul instead. Now she collects the dying, the corrupt, the broken. Her crew of permanently indebted souls pilot her support systems, forever bound to a woman who cannot feel pain because she cannot feel anything.

"Pain is proof of devotion. I will bear your sins."

Dwarven Forge-Guilds

Forgemaster Durr

"The Calculator"

Casket: Support - "The Abacus" (1,100 lbs)

Taint: 3 (Controlled/Measured)

Probability Matrix - Knows exact card counts, manipulates deck order

Lead engineer on the catastrophic Echo Project, a failed attempt to replicate the Theslar Engine. A rounding error in the 47th decimal place killed 200 dwarves. Durr survived buried under rubble for 3 days, performing complex calculations on the cave walls in his own blood until rescuers found him. He has never apologized. He has never regretted. To him, it was data. Acceptable losses for optimal outcome.

"Randomness is just insufficient data. Acceptable losses for optimal outcome."

The Ossuarium

Bonelord Karath

"The Debt Collector"

Casket: Assault - "The Creditor" (2,200 lbs) - Maintains combat readiness but rarely deployed; primarily focuses on soul-binding and archival work in Year 437

Taint: N/A (Undead - immune via technicality)

Predatory Pacts - Forces enemies to accept cursed bargains

The inventor of soul-binding technology and founder of the Ossuarium. Dr. Marcus Karathis was a neuroscientist who made the first successful binding on Day 6, Year 0, using his dying wife Elena's soul to power the first Casket. After 437 years, he spends most of his time maintaining The Ledger, a comprehensive archive documenting every soul he's personally bound (182,000+). He is celebrated as humanity's savior and condemned as its greatest slaver. He considers both assessments correct.

"I saved humanity. I damned it, too. Every soul I bind is a life extended and a death denied."

Inquisitor Grayle - "The Absolver"
Church of Absolution
Assault - "The Pyre" (1,800 lbs). Taint: 0 (Obsessively purified). Has personally executed 412 heretics in his 20-year career. Believes suffering purifies the soul, and fire is the ultimate sacrament. His Casket sets itself ablaze to deal bonus damage.
Ironwright Karsa - "Rust-Eater"
Dwarven Forge-Guilds
Heavy - "The Crucible" (2,000 lbs). Taint: 5 (Metal Corruption). Survived the Ashveil Collapse by eating rust scraped from mine walls. Her body has taken on a metallic sheen. Specializes in repairs and salvage mid-combat.
Mortis the Silencer - "The Quiet Reaper"
The Ossuarium
Scout - "The Mausoleum" (700 lbs). Taint: 8 (Sustained Death State). Botched a soul-binding ritual and became trapped between life and death. Cannot speak, cannot sleep, cannot feel warmth. His field dampens all sound, preventing enemy communication.
Rootwarden Kess - "The Pruner"
Elven Verdant Covenant
Scout - "The Briar-Thorn" (650 lbs). Taint: 0 (Immune). Lower body fused with her Casket. Grafted herself to a World-Tree sapling to filter Taint when a Void rift threatened her grove. Now she cannot leave her Casket, but she walks where the world heals.
Thornwalker Sylris - "Blood-Bloom"
Elven Verdant Covenant
Assault - "The Bleeding Garden" (1,300 lbs). Taint: 6 (Nature Corruption). Performed the Crimson Rite and bonded with a Void-touched Blood Vine. Converts damage taken into area-of-effect thorn attacks. The forest drinks deep.
Mockingbird - "The Many-Masked Bargainer"
The Wyrd Conclave (Fae)
Aberrant - "The Mirror-Dance" (800 lbs - variable). Taint: ??? (Unmeasurable). Doesn't have a face. Wears constantly shifting porcelain masks, each representing a stolen identity. Copies enemy abilities mid-combat. Ancient beyond reckoning.
The Veil-Walker - "Sorrow's Echo"
The Wyrd Conclave (Fae)
Scout - "The Folded Path" (500 lbs - unstable). Taint: N/A (Exists partially outside reality). Became obsessed with human grief and began collecting it like jewelry. Can phase through solid matter. Immune to physical damage.
"Three-Card" Morrow - "The Drifter King"
Nomad Collective
Scout - "The Tumbledown" (720 lbs). Taint: 4 (Fluctuating). Lost an entire convoy to an unmarked Void rift. Became a drifter who gambles with death. Lucky Draw mechanic: flip coin to negate damage or take double.
Wraith-Caller Yenna - "The Dust Prophet"
Nomad Collective
Support - "The Augury" (900 lbs). Taint: 7 (Void-Touched Clairvoyance). Survived a Void storm by allowing it to rewrite her eyes. Can now see 3 turns into the future and warn allies. This gift drives her slowly insane.
Proctor Ilyara Voss - "The Actuary of Ash"
The Exchange
Heavy - "The Ledger" (1,400 lbs). Taint: 2 (Controlled via quarterly cleansing fees). Wears a pristine business suit under her pilot harness. Created the Ashen Credit System. Bribes enemies to stand down mid-combat. Everyone has a price.
Broker Tannis - "The Coin-Counter"
The Exchange
Scout - "The Coffer" (800 lbs). Taint: 1 (Minimal). Field broker and frontline negotiator who purchases salvage and souls directly from battlefields. His Casket is a mobile vault. Spends Soulstones to negate damage.
"Woundwright" Tallis - "The Stitcher"
Vestige Bloodlines
Assault - "The Abattoir" (1,200 lbs). Taint: 12 (Permanent Mutation). Patchwork of grafted animal parts. Was a Church field medic when a Void rift exposed his garrison to mutation. Realized he could control the process. Grafts mutations mid-combat.
Apex-Strain Vor - "The Devourer"
Vestige Bloodlines
Heavy - "The Maw" (1,900 lbs). Taint: 15 (Beyond Standard Scale). Hulking mass of predatory mutations standing 7'4" tall. Barely humanoid. Consumes destroyed enemies to regenerate HP. Evolution through consumption taken to its logical extreme.
Hive-Node Zephyr - "The Chrysalis"
Emergent Syndicate
Scout - "The Metamorph" (600 lbs). Taint: N/A (Hive-mind). Mid-metamorphosis. Half-human, half-insectoid. Four arms (two human-like, two chitinous). Changes forms mid-combat (flight, tunneling, combat).
Swarm-Singer Krix - "The Thousand Voice"
Emergent Syndicate
Support - "The Symbiosis" (1,000 lbs). Taint: N/A (Collective entity). Their body is a hive in miniature with thousands of symbiotic insects visible through translucent chitin. Deploys insect swarms for reconnaissance and attack.
Ember-Boss Skragg - "Ash-Tongue"
Crucible Packs (Goblinoid)
Assault - "The Cinder-Beast" (1,400 lbs). Taint: 6 (Fire-Touched). War chief of his Crucible Pack. Earned leadership through surviving more explosions than any other goblin. Can overcharge explosives for massive damage.
Boom-Shaman Grikka - "Cinder-Eyes"
Crucible Packs (Goblinoid)
Support - "The Ash-Prophet" (900 lbs). Taint: 8 (Volcanic Corruption). Ancient goblin (50+ years). Ritually blinded herself by staring into a volcanic vent. Spiritual leader who buffs allies with explosive damage and fire immunity.
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Using Iconic Pilots in Play

As Antagonists

Each pilot can serve as a Raid Boss with their own AI behavior deck, or as recurring campaign villains with shifting motivations. Their unique abilities make them memorable opponents.

As Allies

Players might temporarily ally with these pilots during crisis events (Abomination raids, faction wars), creating uncomfortable partnerships with deeply flawed individuals.

As Faction Representatives

Use these pilots during Faction Negotiation scenes. They embody their faction's philosophy in twisted, extreme ways, showing what happens when ideology is taken to its logical end.

As Cautionary Tales

These pilots demonstrate what happens when you lean too hard into Casket piloting: martyrdom becomes addiction, optimization erases humanity, exploitation hollows you out, nature consumes identity, reality dissolves, prophecy drives madness, empathy dies, evolution becomes horror, individuality vanishes, and destruction becomes worship.

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