Personnel Info File- THe Ferrish

BA Personnel info file 8x8, subject The Ferrish. BA North America has 32 Ferrish soldiers or one full "set” in their employ. This personnel file is composed of information that was obtained firsthand by 5 BA researchers, all ranking four star and up, over the course of two decades, summarized and organized for clarity.

Ferrish History

The Ferrish history has been gleaned from firsthand accounts of BA researchers much to the detriment of their mental and physical health. We honor their sacrifice and you may support their families here. The Ferrish history has been traced back to Northwest Scotland as far back as the Middle Ages. The Ferrish were originally called something else and were given their current name by neighboring settlements. Back then supernatural phenomena were much more commonplace, and the Ferrish people were being terrorized by monstrous creatures and poltergeists. The leader of the settlement, referred to by devotees as “the First King,” climbed to the highest peak on the coast and prayed to the demigods to bless his village with protection. He remained high in the clouds for 6 days, eating nothing and drinking only the water that collected on the foliage overnight. On the sixth night there was a dazzling meteor shower and the sky ignited in reds, oranges, blues, and purples. A large meteorite touched down in the middle of the square, a kind of whispering rock. The rock was made of an iron totally extraterrestrial in nature and it told the villagers to use its metal to slay all manner of fae, goblin, and spirit. The rock promised to confer secrets upon the people as they righteously protected the world from the preternatural. And so the Ferrish made weapons and armor and hunted their fae enemies, getting the iron drunk off of blood until even the people they were supposed to be protecting feared them, moreso than the monsters. Eventually the Ferrish faded into legend, retreating underground as the supernatural started to disappear. Despite being out of sight, neighboring villages report hearing the rock’s whispers even to this day…

The Meteorite

The meteorite is reported to be perfectly oblong with a silvery gray porous surface. It’s composed of a previously unidentified iron that has a strange self replicating property. The North American set has “reared” a new meteorite from a piece of the origin and currently reside underground in [redacted]. Attempts to procure samples of the rock for study have been met with violence. It is unknown how many rocks can be reared, but we do know that the Queen of a set is in charge of this process and that none of the other Ferrish know how to do it.

Firsthand accounts report the rock speaking in an androgynous, soothing voice. Its whispering is said to be easier to hear the more one is in contact with its surface. Although it’s unclear whether the original Ferrish were trying quiet the meteorite’s demands or to amplify them, they ended up taking pieces of the iron and implanting the pieces inside their bodies. One demand that has never ever fallen on deaf ears is the call for nonhuman blood.

Ferrish society and life cycle.

A Ferrish “Set” is always comprised of 32 creatures, 16 olders and 16 youngers. As Ferrish age their iron turns from an ivory white to an ebony black. The black ones are then promoted to elders, who tend to the meteorite, train youngers, etc. Ferrish are not replaced unless they die, which is common because all they do is fight. It is unknown if they can die of natural causes; the most common cause of death after combat is cannibalism. There are six biological castes in Ferrish society and all Ferrish go through at least two castes over the course of their lifespan. Pawns are the weakest caste, menial laborers and infantry, people who have a constant stream of meteorite iron being pumped into their bodies but are still separate in consciousness and bodily functions. Modern Ferrish Pawns are placed in human shaped cages similar to gibbets. The cages are fashioned and fitted to the person, leaving their hands and feet loose, and connected with leather straps at the knees and elbows. A spike located near the small of the back connects the pawn to the iron, piercing the body and establishing physical connection. Too much metal could kill the prospective pawn. The voice is too loud. Pawns mental states are generally unstable but they follow orders without fail and fight with a tenacious ferocity. Pawns still retain their bodily functions and need to eat, sleep, etc. There are 16 Pawns in a set.

Bishops are the most unorthodox caste. They come from Pawns that react in a neutral way to longterm exposure to the meteorite iron. Bodily functions slow to a half and the Pawn’s body is completely overgrown and encased in iron. While their bodies are inert, a Bishop is able to move vast distances by an unknown means. For whatever reason, their paths are always along the inter-cardinal directions. Some researchers theorize that this has to do with the patterns of Earth’s magnetic fields, but there is no conclusive evidence to support this theory. Reports of mysterious disappearances often coincide with the paths traveling Bishops. There are 4 Bishops in a set.

Knights are the next caste, the result of a Pawn whose body accepts a complete iron implant as opposed to the plug-in that Pawns are used to. A hunk of iron the size of a fist is placed in the Knight’s chest cavity via surgery and Knights wear full suits of armor. Some Knights’ bodies haven’t seen sunlight for years. As a Knight grows older, they form a symbiotic relationship with the iron and their armor becomes completely fused to their bodies. Blood sustains the armor, which nurtures the body and allows growth to occur. Despite a certain dulling of their original personalities, Knights’ minds are sharp and logical, commanding their peers with ease and displaying honor in combat. Some Knights have even been seen joking or quietly singing to themselves in leisure time. Their singing was described as “jaunty,” but also “eerie,” and “off-putting.” Knights do not eat or evacuate, but they do sleep and drink water when they are young. The older they get the less these behaviors manifest, perhaps only being engaged in as forces of habit. Knights often times exhibit strange mutations and warping of their bodies. Many of them appear to be fused to a mount from the thighs down, resembling a person riding a horse, but the rapid growth of the lower body seems to be an adaptation for swift combat. The “mount” is a concentrated mass of the living metal that eventually sprouts two additional legs. It was observed once that a Knight absorbed multiple Pawns and bonded them together to form its mount, but it’s unknown if this is normal phenomena. Weapons also sometimes become part of the Knight’s limbs. There are 4 Knights in a set.

Rooks are terrifying creatures, whose forms defy any analytical reasoning. They vary in size by how often they feed, but as voracious eaters they are usually the size of a single story house. A highly probable theory is that Rooks come from Knights whose appetites have driven them to cannibalism, and the excess of iron in their bodies causes rapid growth. Rooks are generally winged, with birdlike talons and beaks and scaled bodies like lizards. They’ve been described as “dragonlike” and “awe-inspiring.” The first claim is supported by another recorded instance of a Rook petrifying someone with its breath. Unfortunately the operative who captured the footage was petrified shortly thereafter, and cannot give any more information. There are 4 Rooks in a set, but one of the black Rooks in BA North America has been devoured by the other three.

Kings and Queens are the last castes and the most reclusive members of a set. Queens are the only Ferrish creatures that are naturally born. Each Queen in the set chooses a King from one of the other castes and implants a special piece of meteorite in the prospective King’s skull. The King’s body mutates quickly, his brain triples in size, expanding the skull and promoting the growth of crownlike tumors on the head. A King’s body is atrophied and they can only move with great difficulty. However, the King’s mutation has conferred upon him psychic powers that are relatively unexplored but unmistakably vast. The black King leads the set and imparts knowledge to its members, interpreting the meteorite’s whispers. Queens are powerful humanoids physically and mentally. They are conceived in the mating ritual that accompanies the creation of a king, housed in the pregnant body of her mother for as long as it takes to nourish the child with sufficient supernatural blood, and born and taught a number of secrets by the other Queen. While the Queen has less power than the King in Ferrish society, they are more important for the following reasons: 1. The means to create a King is knowledge accessible only to Queens. 2. Queens are responsible for crafting the harnesses that produce pawns and any other manipulation of the meteorite’s iron because only they can touch the whispering rock. Each set has 2 Kings and 2 Queens, and the youngers are reared and protected by the olders. It is unknown what Queens look like as they never leave the chambers that house their meteorite.

Protocol

Ferrish are to be deployed when fighting extreme supernatural threats as the meteorite iron dampens psychic and supernatural energies. They are effective and efficient, but unpredictable. Monitor vitals and mental states carefully to ensure friendly fire is kept to a minimum when dealing with Ferrish allies. Pawns and Knights react well to music.