User blog:LightningS9/History of the Vantulos Band

(Scribbled at the top of this found parchment is the drawing of a smiling lion and a bit of nearly illegible writing saying "Who tha 'ell wrote this?")

The Vantulos Band, the now international business conglomerate, was originally simply the name of a small group of treasure hunters. Formed by the now infamous Baku of Mildegaurde, he and two others made a living exploring the land and gathering rare treasures. For two years they quickly gained a name and impressed many nobles in the Order. With their skill, charisma, wits, and strength they began to receive jobs from the nobility to steal treasures from monster infested locations, and they succeeded repeatedly. One day, however, they received a job from a mysterious stranger. This job leads them to attempt to take the crown from the mighty Queen of Hearts in Wonderland.

Baku was the only one of the original three to return from Wonderland. The large man was stained pink by his new lover, a Cheshire cat by the name of Rita, and with this staining he became like a beacon. The return of Baku marked the birth of the Vantulos Band as it is now know. Using the wealth the Band had accumulated, his boundless charisma and might, Baku was able to purchase a sizable amount of land and build a grand mansion upon it in the country of Nilhasse. While it was under construction, word was spread that the leader of the infamous treasure hunting band was switching professions. These rumors were never concrete as to what the new focus was, but something about them drew some of the brightest, but also oddest, members and couples of multiple practices around the world to Baku.

This is when it was revealed that the Band was, in reality, going to be more like a mercenary band, but not just any one kind. Instead their number would consist of every profession imaginable, from warriors to accountants, royal advisors to farm hands, and even body guards to thieves. The Band even recruited mamono, much to the chagrin of the Order. Even despite this however, they continued to receive work from the Order simply because their members were far above average in their fields. The group received work from many nobles, but while the pay for these jobs was great, it was sparse. The group could not grow to fit their leader’s wishes, and so they began to expand.

After only five years, the Vantulos Band had spread to have a headquarters in most countries. The name of their origin preceded them, and they were hired for many jobs. The Band was now receiving income on an international scale. Somehow through it all Baku remained as the sole leader of this increasingly growing business, and handled it with such a controlled grip no members have quit through a mixture of content and fear rousing the giant of a man’s wrath. Still even with his impressive business sense, he soon realized he had made a nearly fatal mistake. The Band was spread too thin, and while the main HQ boasted some of the brightest minds in the world the other HQ’s weren’t so lucky.

In an insane move, rather than spend time and coin training and recruiting better members to the off branches of the Band, Baku had all available resources diverted to his R&D on a secret project. This hurt business in the short term. Branches of the Band that didn’t lose work now had to compete with other firms, and most in Order land were outright closed since their tolerance of mamono did not outweigh their usefulness to them. It looked as if the Band was destined to return to only serving elite clientele, which would lead to the group into stagnation.

This is when something amazing happened.

The birth of the first Magic Weapons and Magic Tools, collectively know as Magic Items. These Synthetic Mamono gave their members a new edge, now most members were able to perform like seasoned practitioners of their craft, and as these mamono bonded with their wielders they became on par with legends. This gave their combat oriented members the edge they needed to outperform their competition.

With this The Vantulos Band became as it is today, more like a country of mercenaries rather than a simple business. Bases for the Band can be found in most major cities now and their HQs are more like small cities with tourism that is second only to Ryugujo. Their magical R&D is the best and most tenacious in the world, even surpassing the Sabbath. With their newfound wealth, members are well taken care of, and while there is no retirement their skill is said never to wane, only grow stronger.

Baku and some of the elder members are said to be so strong that, despite their lack of work because of their extraordinary fees, if they ever picked a side in the conflict between the Demon Lord and the Chief God the tide could be shifted entirely. Because of this they receive work from both sides of the conflict, and neither side directly opposes them.