Jory Ruhl

Jory Ruhl
Personal Information
Lifespan	Unknown - 669 C.E.
Cause of Death	Burned to death
Nationality	Araluen
Aliases	The Stealer in the Night Jefe (by Benito, the Iberian Captain, Enrico and Anselmo) Jory (by his lieutenant) Master Ruhl (by Donald)
Occupation(s)	Bandit Leader Slave Trader
Physical Information
Gender	Male
Height	Tall
Hair	Gray
Eyes	Dull grey and yellow
Kith and Kin
Pets	Unknown horse

The fire Jory started that killed Alyss

Jory Ruhl was a bandit, ex-mercenary and slave leader in Araluen. He ordered an inn to be burned as a distraction to the law when he was being pursued, which resulted in Alyss Mainwaring's death. This made him the personal foe of Alyss's grief-stricken, widowed husband, Will Treaty.

Description

Jory Ruhl was a tall well built man much like Deparnieux, but slightly shorter. He would have had a handsome face but his hair spoiled it because it was grey and not washed often. His eyes were a dull grey and they had yellow in them. He was very unnerving to have around and was unpredictable, as well as criminal unhinged, to say the best. He was very cold to most of his henchmen except for Enrico and Anselmo, and only because they were clever and especially useful to his plans. Despite this, he considered his lieutenant the only thing close to a friend he had and showed sadness over his death. He also nods in understanding after Will reveals he's campaign to destroy Jory's operation is out of vengeance for his role is his beloved's death, showing he understands the desire for vengeance.

History

'A New Beginning'

The first time we hear of Jory Ruhl, Will almost catches him, but Ruhl escapes across a river, leaving Will helpless behind him.

Later, Ruhl takes command of a slaving operation that operates through Araluen and kidnaps mistreated child who he ships to Socorro, where his ally, Eligio, sells them in the Socorro slave market. After the ranger of Trelleth Fief, Liam where Ruhl was operating, began investigating disappearances, Jory designed a trap for Liam.  The trap kills Liam, resulting in Will's investigative mission there with Maddie/Madelyn.

Ruhl is later attacked by Will while Maddie saves his captives, but his gang overpowers and takes Will captive, though not before losing Enrico, an unknown member and Jory's second-in-command to Will's arrows.  Will is about to be burned alive when Madelyn sneaks in cuts his bonds.  Ruhl throws a javelin at the girl, wounding Maddie in the leg, and then slips on the logsset up to burn Will, setting them on fire and himself in the process, perishing a painful and hideous death.

Skills and Weapons

Ruhl was an intimidating man, leading his followers through fear rather than leadership skills, but he was a good fighter.

Ruhl had an unnerving liking and skill at torturing people, usually though taunts. He was thought to be insane, but he was extremely clever, coming up with the Stealer in the Night scheme to steal children to sell them as slaves.

Ruhl knew how to use a crossbow, but his preferred weapon was the javelin, which is what he used when he tried to kill Maddie. Ruhl also knew how to effectively use a sword.

Followers and Associates

Victor - Also known as the Storyman, as part of Jory's slaver operation, Victor entered the intended village, gained the trust of the village children and identified a mistreated child for kidnapping. After finding a target, Victor would proceed to terrify the children with tales of the Stealer of the Night to further dismiss any suspicion that the missing child had not simply willingly left their abusers. Jory's Lieutenant - The closest thing Jory had to a friend and his right-hand man, he was dressed his dark-cloaked clothing and served as his loyalist subordinate, accompanying him on the majority of his kidnappings. Iberian Captain - The captain and helmsman of the Iberion slave ship, the La Bruja, that transported captives from Araluen to the Socorro slave market. Eligio - A contact in Socorro with whom Ruhl and his gang had an alliance with regarding the money gained from the children they were capturing for slaves. Sold the captives at the Socorran market and presumably divided the money between himself and two groups of Araluen slavers and Iberion Pirates Thomas - One of the more slow-thinking of Ruhl's thugs, who, alongside Donald, performed most of the menial labour of the slaver camp. Donald - A slow-witted but bad-tempered member of the gang who is often assigned the menial labour required in the camp. Harold - A heavyset, black-haired man who is often assigned to prepare food for the gang when they were on the road, despite being a poor cook. He was one of the lowest-ranking members of the immediate gang Anselmo - A Iberian pirate sent by the Iberian Captain to join the gang as the La Bruja escaped and later aided him during the gang's skirmish with Will Treaty. He was skilled in the art of rope tying and gained a hatred of Will after the Ranger killed his countryman and friend, Enrico. Enrico - A Iberian pirate who aided the gang during the skirmish with Will Treaty after joining the gang with his friend, Anselmo, on his skipper's orders. Before he became a slaver, Enrico served as a skilful tracker in his province. He was killed by Will Treaty during the skirmish. Benito - One of his thugs and an Iberian criminal (possibly a former pirate aboard the La Bruja) who grew bitter after a fight left his voice little more than a whisper, making him a pitiless assassin. He was sent by Ruhl to terrify into silence or kill Madelyn after the Stealer was alerted to the presence of a questioning child. Henry Wheeler - One of his original henchmen who accompanied Jory Ruhl when the brigand set the Wyvern Inn alight and killed Alyss. Henry himself was eventually hunted down and killed by Will Treaty as part of the Ranger's revenge after separating from Ruhl. Anders - A more recent member of Jory Ruhl's slaver gang who fought in and survived the skirmish with Will Treaty, Anders gained a grudging respect for Will's courage while his respect for his leader diminished, disliking how Jory was finding such pleasure in tormenting the Ranger, although he eventually stood down. Brad - The most experienced crossbowman of Ruhl's gang, Brad was the second of Ruhl's henchmen to fall to Will's arrows after attempting to cut the Ranger down with a bolt. Robert - Served as one of 'The Stealer's' scouts, doubling back on villagers where Jory had already spirited away a child to ensure that no large searchings were being undertaken by villages in search of their missing members. Reported to Ruhl the presence of the disguised Will and Maddie in Esseldon and lead Benito to the village. Jory's Crossbowman - The second most skilled crossbowman of Ruhl's followers, being the one the ex-mercenary entrusted the fallen Brad's crossbow bolt too. He was killed by Madelyn while returning to Hawkshead Bay after failing to locate the kidnapped children. Criminal Ferry Master - A possible associate located in Cordom Fief, he forced his passengers to try their luck in the swiftly-running Gadmun River after striping them of any valuables they carried.

Relationships

His gang

Jory Ruhl became leader of a militant gang of criminals at an unknown point in time, though it is unknown if he simply assumed leadership from another or founded the group completely himself. Despite being their leader, the loyalty Ruhl commanded among the gangsters ranged from individual, as he was not above venting out his senseless rage on them and the majority of the criminals did their best to keep away from him when in this mood. Ruhl lead the gang in a crime spree across Anselm Fief and its neighbours, kidnapping children for ransoms. Though the gang was apparently scattered to some extent after a failed raid on a bandit meeting in Wyvern Inn, it can be assumed that Ruhl's slaver gang consisted of the those of his original followers who had not been imprisoned or killed.

Among the members of the original gang was Henry Wheeler. While the extent of their relationship, Wheeler accompanied Ruhl when he set the Wyvern Inn aflame, then fled with him, although the pair separated sometime after this, leading to Henry's demise, although it is unknown how Jory reacted to Henry's demise, if he even heard word of it.

Another presumed member of the originals is Ruhl's unnamed lieutenant, who had served under the bandit chief for two years prior to his death, during which the two formed a bond which Jory describes as the closest thing he had to friendship, although he did not hesitate to lash out at his darkly-dressed follower when angered and the lieutenant, though loyal, also believed their was something seriously wrong with his commander's mental health. During many of his kidnappings, Ruhl apparently often selected his second-in-command to accompany him and, upon witnessing his demise, was saddened deeply.

Along with his dark-cloaked henchman, Jory had another lieutenant named Victor, who had apparently been part of the slave ring since the beginning of its operations, playing an important role in the kidnapping of the victims, entering a town under the alias of a storyteller and identifying a mistreated child, which Jory proceeded to spirit away. The idea of the Storyman and the tactic employed was all concocted by Ruhl, and, when he commented on the Storyman's skill, his lieutenant states that Victor was simply following instructions. Despite his willingness to complement his subordinate's skill, Jory and Victor did not appear to have possessed the near-friendship his other highest-ranking follower shared with him, calling him a lazy, incompetent swine.

Ruhl's slaving operation also possessed two other major individuals: the Captain of the La Bruja, who transported captives to Socorro for auction, and Eligio, a contact in the slave market with whom 'The Stealer' and his cronies had a contract with detailing ten young captives for each transport. Though Jory's relationship with Eligio is unknown, he seems to treat the Iberian Captain as an equal and declines from flying into the rage he typically displayed to his people, no doubt because he knew that the Captain's good will was vital to the gang receiving gold.

As the La Bruja made it escaped, the Captain dispatched two of his rowers, Anselmo and Enrico to join them. Though the sailor pair both acted as associates of the slaver, whether Ruhl and either of them were personally acquainted is unknown. Ruhl was originally not above venting out his rage at the pair, calling Enrico an 'ignorant Iberian peasant' before the pirate revealed his tracker skills to him, after which Jory began to treat him and his comrades as near-equals, promising Enrico a bag of gold if he succeeded in tracking their enemy (although it is unknown if it was a offer he intended to deliver), though he did not appear to react with the same rage Anselmo felt after Enrico was struck down by a arrow. Later on, Ruhl briefly gives praise to Anselmo after he lassoed Will and trusted his rope tying skills. Anselmo, however, was presumably one of the three gang members who fled the scene after Madelyn Altman incapacitated to others, showing he likely had no qualms about abandoning his ally to save his own life.

Other individuals who served him as members of his gang were Brad, Thomas, Donald, Harold, Benito, Anders and Robert, most of which served as rank-and-file bandits in the hierarchy of the gang.

Benito was an Iberian who, unlike Enrico and Anselmo, seemed to be a permanent member of the band. Jory seemed to know Benito's backstory regarding his damaged voice and trusted Benito's ability to ruthlessly terrify and even kill a young child in cold blood. Benito, in return, seems to respect Ruhl, referring to him as Jefe, a title of respect. Despite this, Jory did not seem overly concerned by Benito's disappearance and saw this in the end to be a chance to gain a slightly large share of the gold.

Jory seems to trust Robert to perform personal missions, sending him back to observe the scenarios left in the outlaws wake, likely meaning that he knew Robert to be a man of good observing skills. He also believed and took into account of the possible threat that Robert reported back to him.

Next to nothing is known of his relationship with Brad, other than the fact that he seems to regard him as his best Crossbowman. Jory did not appear to, however, be overly saddened by Brad's death and quickly returned to his pursuit of Will after retrieving his crossbow.

Anders appears to be a more recent addition to the group, having served Ruhl only for several months prior to the gang's destruction, in which he discovered that to show fear was a bad move when confronted by his leader, having seemingly argued with Jory at least once. Though he served Ruhl loyally during the Skirmish Against Will Treaty, Anders's respect for his leader began to diminish after seeing how he was willing to make sport of killing a man who refused to show fear or lose his pride, telling his leader to simply kill Will and make done with it instead of taunting the 'poor man'. Aggravated, Jory turns of Anders, calling him a third-rate cut purse (Anders possible former profession) and threatening to torture and kill him as well, leading to Anders, though he disbelieves the rest of the remaining gang would carry out such an order. Though Anders's fate is undisclosed, he might have been one of the three followers who abandoned Jory after seeing two of their cohorts incapacitated by Maddie's lead projectiles.

Harold is a low-ranking member of the group and is thus often a victim to his leader's unpredictable temper and the two thus have a stretched relationship, mumbling what is no doubt insults under his breath after Ruhl discriminates his culinary skills.

Thomas and Donald are some of the most slow-witted of Ruhl’s henchmen, their ability to think independently for themselves being discouraged by their commander. Unlike the rest of the band, who accompanied Jory on his operations, Donald and Thomas remain to care for the criminals' headquarters. It can be safely assumed that, like Harold, Donald and Thomas rank was at the very bottom of the group's hierarchy. Though Donald appears to have a low-levelled feeling of resistance against Ruhl’s treatment of him and his friend, which is similar to the way one would treat a beast of burden, although both seem to fear Ruhl rather than respect him.

The Criminal Ferry Master might have been an associate of Ruhl, but did not appear to be a member of his immediate gang of thugs, bandits and goons, although his operations seem to echo the operations Ruhl partook in.

Trivia

• Some speculate that Jory (being a former mercenary) and his original gang might have been members of either the dissolved Army of Rain and Night or the destroyed bands of Outsiders who eluded justice.