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The Glassmaker's Alliance's security forces wear a distinctive yellow tabard, and are referred to by the general populace as the Gold Guards or, derisively, the yellow-bellies. | The Glassmaker's Alliance's security forces wear a distinctive yellow tabard, and are referred to by the general populace as the Gold Guards or, derisively, the yellow-bellies. | ||
− | The eponymous tabards of the Gold Guards are embroidered with a low powered protective spell (obsolesence varies from 1 to 3 – older tabards are retired), and the guards use a particular, and slightly odd, magically enhanced club. The club, which is about three feet long and fairly slim, has two long grooves on opposite sides in which slats can be inserted. These wooden slats hold the actual two spells that the clubs use – one spell designed to stun/put to sleep the victim of a hit from the club, the other designed to kill. The theory of these clubs was that the modular spells would allow the Gold Guards to flexibly respond to threats, while keeping costs down, as if one spell became dangerously obsolete, the other need not be replaced at the same time. In actual fact, the cheaply-made wooden clubs often fail to hold the slats properly, and having one slat fly entirely off the club is a not uncommon result of using the clubs in combat. The spells for the stunning and injuring similarly vary from obsolesence 1 to 3, and they are frequently of different obsolesence ratings from each other. | + | The the eponymous tabards of the Gold Guards are embroidered with a low powered protective spell (obsolesence varies from 1 to 3 – older tabards are retired), and the guards use a particular, and slightly odd, magically enhanced club. The club, which is about three feet long and fairly slim, has two long grooves on opposite sides in which slats can be inserted. These wooden slats hold the actual two spells that the clubs use – one spell designed to stun/put to sleep the victim of a hit from the club, the other designed to kill. The theory of these clubs was that the modular spells would allow the Gold Guards to flexibly respond to threats, while keeping costs down, as if one spell became dangerously obsolete, the other need not be replaced at the same time. In actual fact, the cheaply-made wooden clubs often fail to hold the slats properly, and having one slat fly entirely off the club is a not uncommon result of using the clubs in combat. The spells for the stunning and injuring similarly vary from obsolesence 1 to 3, and they are frequently of different obsolesence ratings from each other. |
The Gold Guards actually constitute the single largest police/military body in Atathorn, a fact of which the paranoid old guard of the Glassmakers' Alliance is painfully aware. As such, supervision of the Gold Guard is fairly tight. The Alliance forbids the Gold Guards from collecting or using their own weaponry or other sorcery on-duty, so a Gold Guard encountered by the PC's is actually likely to use his club and tabard. Gold Guards are issued two power tokens at all times (a testiment to the incredible wealth of the Glassmakers), but accounting for those power tokens is tight – if a Guardsman thinks he can get away with using just his physical abilities in a situation, he probably will, as it's a huge headache to explain the discharge of a power token to the Glassmakers' suspicious accountants. | The Gold Guards actually constitute the single largest police/military body in Atathorn, a fact of which the paranoid old guard of the Glassmakers' Alliance is painfully aware. As such, supervision of the Gold Guard is fairly tight. The Alliance forbids the Gold Guards from collecting or using their own weaponry or other sorcery on-duty, so a Gold Guard encountered by the PC's is actually likely to use his club and tabard. Gold Guards are issued two power tokens at all times (a testiment to the incredible wealth of the Glassmakers), but accounting for those power tokens is tight – if a Guardsman thinks he can get away with using just his physical abilities in a situation, he probably will, as it's a huge headache to explain the discharge of a power token to the Glassmakers' suspicious accountants. | ||
− | Gold Guards are decently paid, but almost universally despised in Atathorn, as the Glassmakers use them to squeeze the city tight. As such, most Gold Guards have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove, being used to the scorn of most of their peers. As such, brutality by the Gold Guard is unfortunately commonplace, particularly "forgetting" to use the lower-power settings on their clubs and going straight to the kill setting. | + | Gold Guards are decently paid, but almost universally despised in Atathorn, as the Glassmakers use them to squeeze the city tight. As such, most Gold Guards have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove, being used to the scorn of most of their peers. As such, brutality by the Gold Guard is unfortunately commonplace, particularly "forgetting" to use the lower-power settings on their clubs and going straight to the kill setting. |
== The Roget Alliance == | == The Roget Alliance == | ||
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The small guard force maintained by the Spinners are mostly used to guard caravans and stores, as the Spinners don't have large factories in Atathorn proper. The Spiders, named for the Spinners insignia, enjoy a reputation of being mildly less brutal than the other Alliance guard forces, but also of being clueless yokels from out in the sticks. This reputation was better-earned a few years back -- recently, the Spiders have been recruiting more heavily from within Atathorn, with the result of becoming more like the Gold Guard or the Eagles. | The small guard force maintained by the Spinners are mostly used to guard caravans and stores, as the Spinners don't have large factories in Atathorn proper. The Spiders, named for the Spinners insignia, enjoy a reputation of being mildly less brutal than the other Alliance guard forces, but also of being clueless yokels from out in the sticks. This reputation was better-earned a few years back -- recently, the Spiders have been recruiting more heavily from within Atathorn, with the result of becoming more like the Gold Guard or the Eagles. | ||
− | The Spiders use a blue tabard enchanted with high-quality (Obsolesence 1 or 2) protective spells and, in the city, clubs with low-quality (Obsolesence 3-4) stun spells. On the road guarding caravans, still a significant part of the Spiders duty, they tend to use un-enchanted crossbows, and those are available for duty in the city which warrants it | + | The Spiders use a blue tabard enchanted with high-quality (Obsolesence 1 or 2) protective spells and, in the city, clubs with low-quality (Obsolesence 3-4) stun spells. On the road guarding caravans, still a significant part of the Spiders duty, they tend to use un-enchanted crossbows, and those are available for duty in the city which warrants it. Spiders carry a single power token each, and are given reasonable leeway for using them. |
== Minor Alliances == | == Minor Alliances == | ||
− | There are several other Alliances, mostly of origin outside Atathorn, that also operate in Atathorn, albeit at a level an order of magnitude smaller than the big three | + | There are several other Alliances, mostly of origin outside Atathorn, that also operate in Atathorn, albeit at a level an order of magnitude smaller than the big three. Eventually, brief descriptions of these secondary Alliances should go here. |
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= The Government = | = The Government = | ||
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== The Royal Family == | == The Royal Family == | ||
− | + | Here we'll put a description of the current king and his extended family. Someday. Not today. | |
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=== The Royal Guard === | === The Royal Guard === | ||
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The Royal Guard are the personal bodyguards of the Royal Family. They guard the Royal Palace and occaisionally do police-work around events that the Royal Family attends. | The Royal Guard are the personal bodyguards of the Royal Family. They guard the Royal Palace and occaisionally do police-work around events that the Royal Family attends. | ||
− | + | (More later.) | |
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== The City Watch == | == The City Watch == | ||
− | The beleagured civil police force of Atathorn finds itself, in the modern day, only the third largest police force in Atathorn -- both the | + | The beleagured civil police force of Atathorn finds itself, in the modern day, only the third largest police force in Atathorn -- both the Gold Guards and the Roget Eagles are larger in manpower, and the Spiders aren't much smaller. Further, all three Alliance guard forces are far better funded than the City Watch. In an era of shrinking government budgets, the Watch has to choose their battles. |
The most important thing to understand about the Watch is their mandate: they <b>keep the peace</b>. That's all. Notably, they do not "solve crimes." Their purpose is not to track down criminals or identify suspects; rather, they are charged with keeping the streets from becoming warrens of crime. If a crime happens in view of a Watchman, they'll tend to give chase. If a crime notably disturbs the public peace (like a brutal murder or a fight in the streets), they'll ask around and post pictures of the suspects. But if your home is burgled, or your child kidnapped, and you go to the Watch, they'll simply tell you that they don't have the budget, expertise, or manpower to track down the culprit and bring him to justice. | The most important thing to understand about the Watch is their mandate: they <b>keep the peace</b>. That's all. Notably, they do not "solve crimes." Their purpose is not to track down criminals or identify suspects; rather, they are charged with keeping the streets from becoming warrens of crime. If a crime happens in view of a Watchman, they'll tend to give chase. If a crime notably disturbs the public peace (like a brutal murder or a fight in the streets), they'll ask around and post pictures of the suspects. But if your home is burgled, or your child kidnapped, and you go to the Watch, they'll simply tell you that they don't have the budget, expertise, or manpower to track down the culprit and bring him to justice. | ||
− | In the modern day, even this moderate goal of keeping the peace is beyond the Watch. They've withdrawn all but the most token patrols from areas that are heavily patrolled by the Alliance guards, and similarly they keep out of the worst areas of the | + | In the modern day, even this moderate goal of keeping the peace is beyond the Watch. They've withdrawn all but the most token patrols from areas that are heavily patrolled by the Alliance guards, and similarly they keep out of the worst areas of the Slums. The Watch restricts itself mainly to Uptown (which is a low-crime area to begin with, and the patrols there are primarily a political manuever), and the more sedate areas of the Slums and the Wharf, where they can make a real difference. |
− | The Watch is not so much corrupt as it is absolutely open about being buyable. The wages earned by officers of the Watch are tiny in comparison to what Alliance | + | The Watch is not so much corrupt as it is absolutely open about being buyable. The wages earned by officers of the Watch are tiny in comparison to what Alliance guards earn, and it's not just expected but frankly necessary for the Watch to earn additional moneys on the side by taking bribes. Ironically, though, for all the corruption that the Watch displays, they're somewhat better liked by the people than the Alliance guards, who are less open to bribery, but more inclined towards random brutality. That's not to say that the members of the Watch are angels, and there have certainly been many cases of the Watch abusing their powers, ranging from bullying to outright attacks, but the very ineffectiveness of the Watch tends to reduce some of the tensions between it and the common people. |
− | Officers of the Watch are technically given spears and tabards, both with magical spells on them, but they're so ridiculously obsolete (Obsolesence 4-6) that most Watchmen don't bother to use them or, in the case of the heavy spears, even carry them. The Watch follows a policy of looking the other way when a Watchman relieves a criminal of any armor or weapons that that criminal may be carrying, so in actual fact, most Watchmen have far more useful equipment in various non-standard configurations. The Watch being poor as it is, the men aren't reliably issued power tokens at all -- they have to individually request them from extremely limited stores, and so most Watchmen are extremely stingy with actually activating their gear | + | Officers of the Watch are technically given spears and tabards, both with magical spells on them, but they're so ridiculously obsolete (Obsolesence 4-6) that most Watchmen don't bother to use them or, in the case of the heavy spears, even carry them. The Watch follows a policy of looking the other way when a Watchman relieves a criminal of any armor or weapons that that criminal may be carrying, so in actual fact, most Watchmen have far more useful equipment in various non-standard configurations. The Watch being poor as it is, the men aren't reliably issued power tokens at all -- they have to individually request them from extremely limited stores, and so most Watchmen are extremely stingy with actually activating their gear. |
= Crime = | = Crime = | ||
− | + | Criminals are the third major powerbase in Atathorn, but that's a topic for another day. | |
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