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#Post#: 768--------------------------------------------------
The Buards of Bardertown
DIR By: Duncan Seastove
Date: April 22, 2015, 1:34 am
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The Buards are the keepers of the peace in Bardertown and its
surrounding properties. They can be divided into two categories:
Buards and Palace Buards.
The regular Buards are what one might think of as a city watch—
they patrol the streets and roads, and stand guard at the
entrances to the city. Their number are primarily levied: each
family residing in the greater Bardertown area is required to
provide one able-bodied male per year for a period of 3-6
months, depending on the needs of the Buards at that time. This
levy can be avoided by instead paying a tax, which is used to
purchase equipment for Buards. Thus, much of the regular Buard
force is made up of members of the lower classes, who cannot
afford such a tax. The regular Buards also have a number of
volunteers, who see service as an opportunity for social
advancement, as well as a source of steady pay. Volunteer Buards
extend their service past the usual 3-6 month period through
contracts, each usually guaranteeing another 6 months of
service.
Regular Buards are provided with three things by the crown: A
sallet
HTML http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sallet,
a bill
HTML http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_(weapon),
and an insignia
patch. These items may be purchased by the Buard through his
stipend, or returned to the crown upon completion of his
service. Additional equipment may be purchased by individual
Buards for discounted rates through their quartermasters. Thus,
it is often easy to distinguish between a levied Buard and a
volunteer Buard: levies will often have little more than what
they were given, while volunteers might wear mail, or cary a
sword or axe.
Palace Buards are veteran soldiers who are responsible for
guarding the royal palace in Bardertown. Their numbers are few,
and recruited only from those regular volunteer Buards who have
shown exceptional initiative, leadership, and prowess in combat,
and have served for at least 5 years. Selection occurs only when
the Commander of the Buards deems it necessary, and so it is not
uncommon for aspiring palace Buards to have to wait longer than
the minimum 5 years. Palace Buards enjoy a much larger stipend
than their regular compatriots, and socially are viewed as only
slightly inferior to the unlanded knights of Grand Halen. Status
as a palace Buard is lifelong, though active duty is obligated
for only 10 years after selection. After this 10 years, a palace
Buard may choose to renew his active status for another 10
years, or become inactive, leaving day-to-day service and only
returning to duty when called upon by the Commander of the
Buards or the King. Active status renewal is subject to the
approval of the Commander of the Buards, who will only approve
if he believes the Buard will be capable of performing active
duty to a high standard for another 10 years.
Palace Buards are required to purchase from the crown a full
suit of chainmail with sallet helm and surcoat, and must own a
one-handed weapon, which they may either purchase from the crown
or provide themselves. Since many palace Buards come from the
old noble families of Grand Halen, they often provide for
themselves additional pieces of armor with minor ornamentation
and heraldic markings. This is acceptable, so long as the
decorations are first approved by the Commander. Additional
equipment is provided through the palace armory.
HTML https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f9/0f/96/f90f9669937a7a0e0bee431456f65982.jpg
Palace Buard Roderick Blackmyre
#Post#: 901--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Buards of Bardertown
DIR By: Duncan Seastove
Date: September 11, 2015, 9:05 pm
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Ranks and Duties
Regular buards may obtain three different ranks: footman,
sergeant, and watch commander.
Footmen make up the bulk of the buards. They perform most of the
duties typically ascribed to buards, such as carrying out
patrols and pursuing common criminals. While the most junior of
ranks, it is not uncommon to find veteran buards still holding
the title of footman. This is because there exist limits on the
number of buards that may hold the titles of sergeant and watch
commander. Thus, footman is the most diverse rank, consisting
not only of raw recruits, but also of career buards who have
been continuously passed over for promotion for one reason or
another.
Sergeants are responsible for assigning footmen to particular
patrols, as well as ensuring that those patrols are carried out
regularly and effectively. They are stationed at small booths
throughout the city, from which they pen reports about the
events of the day's patrols. They are also responsible for
raising an alarm if a footman fails to report back from his
patrol on time. Woe to the footman who fails to report because
he has gotten drunk at a tavern on his route. Sergeants carry
out disciplinary action against unruly footmen, in accordance
with unwritten custom. For example, thieving while a buard
carries a penalty of ten lashes with a bull whip. While not an
official duty, many sergeants will provide some sort of training
to those footmen who work their patrols. The type of training
varies widely between sergeants, since most try to tailor their
training to the particular needs of their patrol, or to those
skills that they themselves are adept in. Because sergeants are
required to file written reports, their ranks are populated
primarily with wealthier volunteer buards, who were lucky enough
to be educated either by private tutor or in one of the various
temples throughout the city when they were younger. There are 37
sergeants active at any one time in Bardertown.
Watch commanders are responsible for overseeing the various
wards of the city: The Kingsward, Hightown, The Eastern Ward,
The Great Wharf, and Dockyard. Watch commanders receive reports
from sergeants in their ward, and are responsible for reacting
accordingly to any problems. They are typically given a large
amount of freedom in how they choose to deal with problems in
their wards, since they report only to the Lord Commander (Jack
Shepard, currently), and even then only seldom. Watch commanders
are also responsible for managing promotions and personnel
transfers, and often work closely with one another in these
duties to ensure optimal performance of each ward. This works to
everyone's advantage, since problems in one ward often effect
the surrounding wards soon enough. Watch commanders have widely
varying approaches to managing their respective wards: Reginald
Miller, watch commander of the Eastern Ward, is known for
frequently walking the streets of his ward to collect his
sergeants' reports personally, and assess the state of the
people. On the other hand, Otto Steinmann, Watch Commander of
Hightown, on the other hand, rarely leaves his office in the
tower at the far end of the garden district, where he
meticulously goes over all reports from his sergeants in an
attempt to optimize routes and personnel assignments. Watch
commanders are selected by the Lord Commander personally, and as
such typically represent the best of the best in terms of
regular buards. It is almost unheard of for a watch commander to
be selected for political reasons, since the position carries
less prestige than that of Palace Buard.
There also exists an unofficial hierarchy amongst regular
buards: footmen typically defer to the seniormost among them,
and certain districts and wards carry more prestige for
sergeants and watch commanders than others, respectively. For
example, the watch commander assigned to the Kingsward is often
seen as the de facto "leader" of the watch commanders, though no
such rank exists officially.
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