Hank
Hank, also called the Hangman, is an Outsider who leads a tribe called the Hangman’s Horde.
Hank is a man in his thirties - past his youth but not yet showing the signs of age. He is muscular and fit as one who is well-fed and regularly active. His thick facial hair and long braided mohawk are a solid black. On his left shoulder, he wears a pauldron created from the skull of a felled beast. His nicked and scarred skin tells us that he is as accustomed to combat as he is unaccustomed to defeat. His dark facepaint mimics the hollow features of a skull, serving as a reminder of his dominion over the fates of those who cross his path.
Hank is a known entity in this world. He expects to have been heard of, and Ricky has indeed heard of him. Subject and Gruff also discuss the Hangman and how he is known and expected to operate. Subject asks whether the Horde “may start trading again,” shedding some light on their past. It is also revealed that the Hangman’s Horde is known to offer a simple choice to those they meet: “convert or die.”
Hank’s first appearance is in Ricky’s slum on the night he is fired. Hank speaks to the slummers who have been corralled before him and describes what he believes their purpose to be. Though the details are somewhat obscured by the grandiose tone of his speech, a few points are clear:
The city will be destroyed
A “buried truth” will be revealed
With this revelation, “forever will dawn” and mankind will be liberated
Sid brings Ricky to Hank to attempt his negotiation, and Ricky, believing Hank to be Abarth, says he might have the money owed to Marcus. Hank tells Tim, “You’re right. Marcus’ money,” as if there had been some discussion of which slumlord controlled this neighborhood. Hank clarifies who he is and why they are there, and takes Ricky’s offer of city currency as evidence that they are as much a part of the problem as any citizen within the walls.
Ricky balks at Hank’s assertion that the slummers, having decided to live on the city side of the frontier, support and are obedient to “the Black Pyramid.” He shows Hank the undistributed pamphlet he’d printed earlier, insinuating there is widespread revolutionary sentiment within the city to back up his claim that they and the Hangman’s Horde share a common enemy.
Hank decides to spare Ricky’s life for having “lightened the burden” and allows the other slummers (“slaves,” as he calls them) an opportunity to help the cause as well, telling them to go to the leaders of the city (their “masters”) and announce the imminent invasion by the Outsiders who oppose them.
The slummers, true to Ricky’s telling, do not consider themselves slaves to anyone and refuse Hank’s offer. On Hank’s order, all but Ricky are massacred.
Hank thanks Ricky for giving him the names (presumably of Abarth and Marcus) and departs with his horde, saying to Ricky, “Look for us,” and leaving him alone among the corpses of his neighbors.