Monks of Da'harra

The Monks of Da'harra are an ancient order of humans and vampyres, joined together in the worship of the demon Harraddan. Since Harraddan's fall, they act as the only physical influence he has on the world.

Harraddan
Harraddan was a demon who was summoned by a Dark Wizard who intended Harraddan to become a servant of Zamorak. The demon quickly outmatched and liberated itself from the Wizard, absorbing the Wizard's soul in the process. At first, this soul became only a means for more cruelty, for more ingenious slaughter, but demons and souls do not sit well for long. Harraddan began to become less bestial, more... human. "It" became "he", and thoughts began to form. He began to offer people their lives, in return for servitude to him. Most agreed. These were the first of his monks.

Harraddan used his demonic entity to boost the power of his followers, who were made to study scripture created by him. They were taught a new way of fighting without weapons, and more powerful techniques for fighting with them. All-new weapons were created, and the monks became an army. As vampyres flocked in droves to be "under the wing" of the demon, the army grew ever stronger. Harraddan found he could take over cities by doing nothing at all: the human in him languished in this. But all could not remain well. Demons and souls don't mix.

As Harraddan conquered all the world from the luxury of his own thrown, he became more and more human. And his enemies became more and more united. His armies were being depleted faster then he could replenish them, and in the midst of disaster, it struck again, like lightning. It hit him hard, fast, and deeply: compassion. The demon began to feel remorse for his sins. He left his palace for peace, and maybe, had he been left to it, he would have stopped the killing, and he might have built a castle on some mountain and let the nations rebuild themselves, all the more unified for the attack. But he was not left to it.

His enemies struck, millions upon millions of all the soldiers the world could muster, they overcame the thousand or so monks. The millions upon millions of them swarmed over Harraddon, and they slew the demon as he wept. But their blades left one part of him untouched. Even as the castle was burned to the ground, one part of Harraddon remained: his soul. Half demonic, half saintly, this soul sought to tear itself apart. But the two sides found harmony inside the body of a deceased monk, and that is where they now lie. The body has long since rotted, turned to bone and then to ash. But in the ash is Harraddon, recruiting for the Monks of Da'harra, so that he may become an influence upon the world again. For good or bad, he isn't sure.

Fighting Style
The Monks of Da'harra were taught skills and techniques only demons before had used, and so one monk could kill a thousand soldiers before falling in battle. Twelve hours a day they trained in combat, both armed and unarmed. They became the most deadly force in the world, and this title they shall soon reclaim.

Hand-To-Hand Combat
The Monks of Da'harra learned Da'harran, the martial art of Harraddan. It involves incredibly sharp and brutal punches and kicks, with enough force behind each blow to brake bone. This isn't a flashy style; it is the most efficient and most painful style, but it does not care for appearance: each Monk is taught every detail of the human anatomy, so that they may kill with great speed and pain: for example, many of the blows are aimed for the chest (to break ribs), arms (very painful when fractured), groin (for men), neck (spinal damage was their trademark), and head (after the Monks were done with them, many of the soldiers were unrecognizable). They struck with such speed that many soldiers could only make out the blur of orange robes before they were incapacitated. Those monks who fight together over matters of honor will rarely fight again, all the damage that Da'harra Monks deal is permanent.

Short Swords
The Monks are taught to wield two short swords in a style created by Harraddan himself. The blades constantly spun between the fingers to keep the momentum up, so that the Monks can quickly slice a limb off at any time. The style requires constant movement: the Monk must always be attacking or dodging, staying static will get him killed.

Swords
The Monks of Da'Harra are taught to hold their swords differently from the normal fashion: they hold the hilt upside down between their thumb, index finger and ring finger. This style means that the opponent rarely knows which way the Monk is about to strike, which makes it very hard for him to defend himself against the Monk. Defensively, the way the Monk holds the blade means all the pressure goes to the shoulder, so that the Monk can brace himself against the strike and defend properly.

Staff
The Monks hold their staff's normally, but wield the with such speed and crushing force that they can fell trees in a single swipe. It is so fast and so brutal, defending against it is impossible. And defense-wise, the staff is light and sturdy, but weak. The Monk must hold the staff diagonally, so that blades slide of it and leave the opponent open for a good swipe. A kick or crushing weapon will snap the staff in two, so then the Monk will revert to Da'harran.

Spiked Stilts
These stilts were exclusive to the monks. They were around twelve foot high, so that the monk was far above the blades of battle below. However, the stilts were open to assault, so instead of lightweight wooden stilts, heavy metal ones were used. It requires extreme lower-body strength, good reflexes and exceptional eyesight to master these weapons. But once they have been mastered, the master becomes invincible: all attacks from bellow bounce off the stilts harmlessly, and the spike is driven right through the enemy. The only downside is that anyone on the stilts is defenseless against archers.

Hay'aka and Ca'an
The Hay'aka was an extraordinary glove created by Harraddan, it has blades positioned in such a way that it can easily slice through human flesh and rip the heart out (which is exactly what it was used for). The glove would dissect the armor of the enemy and wreak havoc with the organs, but this left the Monk open to attack. So the Ca'an is used with it. The Ca'an is a larger gauntlet with a steel frill around the wrist, which can defend against enemy sword-strokes with ease. It can also be used to bash the enemies head in.