KUM MOTORIZED TROOPS

um Motorized Troops are a truly unique addition to the Sword of Allah. Recruited from the lawless Kyrgyz people of the Gabqar Khanate, they roar into battle on their motorcycles with a bluster that seems completely at odds with the usual Haqqislamite discipline.

The Kum troops still wear their generic patch, the silver fist of Alexander the Great, the wings for freedom and victory, and the blade for the fighter.

Criminal motorcycle gangs, the Kum take advantage of the harsh terrain in the Tien Shan Mountains to skim profits off the Silk trade. They operate illegal drug labs and counterfeiting operations, run guns, brawl and bluster, and race. Theirs is a macho and competitive sub-culture of heightened passions, deep loyalties and rivalries (until they aren’t), and almost superhuman skills in the saddle. The Sword of Allah recruits the best Kum bikers to join their armies, giving them a useful outlet for their aggression. The bikers go partly for bragging rights, partly out of loyalty to Haqqislam, and partly to keep the authorities from digging too deeply into their operations. It’s an uneasy alliance.

The Khan of Gabqar can press the Kum into service in the Sword of Allah by appealing to their history and sense of honour. Service is something embraced by the Kum-bikers, and a majority of the high-ranking gang members have previous military experience. Kums are a strange element in civilized Haqqislamite society, and they can only exist in a frontier area like Gabqar. As long as that region stays wild, the Kyrgyz riders will be king of the hill in the Tien Shan range, no matter what Khanate forces may do. The roads belong to the Kums, and the roar of their bikes may be the last sound you hear!