Mistwatch

The Mistwatch is an elite military order stationed in the Mistmarches of Ensor, tasked chiefly with defending the kingdom against the encroachment of threats from the Misty Reaches that lie along its southwest border. It is the only standing army in Ensor but operates exclusively in the Mistmarches, though it accepts recruits from any part of the kingdom. Besides defending against the supernatural threat from the border, the Mistwatch also guards against more ordinary threats, keeping their skills honed in regular patrols for the bandits and highwaymen who amply inhabit the lonely hills and fens of the marchlands.

The Mistwatch is an organization whose origins have themselves been lost to the mists of history. Most remember simply that there was a time before the Mistwatch, when the people of the Mistmarches lived in terrible dread and fearful danger from the ever-encroaching border of mist; and know that in the time since their inception, the Mistwatch have stood steadfast in the defense of the people's families and livelihoods.

Organization

The Mistwatch officially and ultimately answer to the Lord Protector of the Mistmarches, a member of the nobility appointed to that position by the King. The Lord Protector is a title of some prestige in the kingdom, and the individual named to the post is in a position to exercise a fair amount of power, both at home and at Court, as the King's highest ranking representative in the Mistmarches. The Mistwatch must make regular reports on its activities to the Lord Protector, who is also responsible for seeing that the monies rightfully due to the organization are distributed to it in a timely manner. Some decisions may be submitted to the Lord Protector for his approval, but it is fairly unusual for him to intervene much in the operations of the Mistwatch, being generally more interested in the broader political power which the position allows him in the kingdom. The Lord Protector, officially above the Mistwatch, is considered also apart from it and is not privy to most of its deliberations or to its secrets.

In day-to-day matters, the Mistwatch is led by the Mistwarden, a commoner chosen in some obscure manner by the Mistwatch itself. The Mistwarden is responsible for the organization's overall military strategy and deployment, coordinating the various units of the Mistwatch in their patrols and campaigns across the Mistmarches. Although the Mistwarden can rely on the services of a Quartermaster and Master of Arms and is generally careful not to interfere in the day-to-day workings of his subordinates, he is at the same time expected to be intimately familiar with the logistics of supply and training within the organization. While respected, the Mistwarden is not accorded any special deference, and he is as a rule accessible to any member of the Mistwatch or the general public who wishes to speak with him.

Very nearly the Mistwarden's equal is the Master of Lamps, who serves as the chief artificer and lorekeeper of the organization. The Master of Lamps is the steward of the Mistwatch's lumineering knowledge, and is chiefly responsible for the maintenance of the organization's various lunar collectors and lighting devices. He or she is also expected to create new or replacement devices as needed, and to experiment with improvements and innovations to the existing technology. Besides being the Mistwatch's second in command, the Master of Lamps often acts as an advisor to the Mistwarden and a teacher of advanced recruits.

From the Mistwarden down to the rawest recruit, all those who serve in the Mistwatch are commoners. The exclusion or exemption (depending on one's point of view) of individuals of noble standing is explicitly laid down in the organization's charter.

Recruitment and Advancement

Although chiefly drawn locally from the Mistmarches, recruits are accepted from across the kingdom provided they meet certain criteria -- which, like much else in the organization, are largely a mystery to all but the Mistwatch themselves. Recruitment offices are located in the major city of each archdiocese in the kingdom, and provide some initial screening along with a subsequent letter of recommendation. Beyond that, it is up to the would-be recruit to make their own way to the Mistmarches and present themselves at the organization's headquarters just outside St. Loomis. Fortunately for the recruit, the letter of recommendation also serves as a guarantee of passage in sticky situations, as few are willing to actively contest the business of the Mistmarch.

Recruits are known as Sojourners for their first year in the Mistwatch. At the conclusion of this year they are examined briefly, and then either advanced to the entry rank of Initiate, or released from service. It is a near-perfect mystery to the recruits involved as to just what the Mistwatch is looking for during these examinations, or even whether they're more than a show, as the Sojourners are advanced or dismissed with no explanation. Only about a quarter of Sojourners become Initiates; the rest simply depart to wherever they wish, taking with them the skills they have learned over the past year. Indeed, many young people seek recruitment simply so that they can receive education and skill training to secure themselves a better future elsewhere in the kingdom.

Life in the Mistwatch

Discipline and discretion are the chief virtues among the Mistwatch. A soldier of the Mistwatch must be able to stand fast against even the most dangerous and unearthly foe, and equally they must guard the secrets of the Mistwatch itself. The Mistwatch does not require that its members be pleasant, kind, or even necessarily respectful; only that they are willing to follow orders and to sacrifice themselves in defense of the people of the Mistmarches and the kingdom as a whole.

Most members of the Mistwatch are rotated throughout the marches, being assigned to to different divisions over the course of their service so that they come to regard all parts of the Mistmarch as their own territory to protect, and each member of the Mistwatch a comrade rather than a stranger. This rotation through divisions is in fact required for advancement to the organization's higher ranks. However, once a recruit's Initiate period is over (which varies individually), any member of the Mistwatch who prefers to remain stationed at one post and provide protection for their home community is allowed to do so, at the expense of the opportunity to rise in the ranks.

However closely they may hold their secrets, the Mistwatch does not keep itself aloof from the populace it protects. Its members are a regular sight at local festivals and celebrations, as well as in Church services and processions. The rank and file of the Mistwatch are encouraged to participate in local festivities when not on duty, and even the lowliest peasant may seek a private audience with the organization's leadership. As a result the Mistwatch creates a sense of shared kinship and responsibility for the people it protects, while making themselves a familiar and trusted part of the local community even as they stand outside of it. It is certainly also the case that familiarity with the people and places they are tasked to defend helps the Mistwatch in keeping tabs on any trouble that might be stirring.

Public Perception

Almost without exception, the people of the Mistmarches hold the Mistwatch in high esteem. Living close to the Misty Reaches and with its possible perils ever present in their minds, they are deeply appreciative of the Mistwatch's protection and view the organization as essential to their livelihoods and safety. Its members are admired for their courage and integrity, and many folk ballads of the region involve the exploits of brave and cunning Mistwatch guards. Membership in the Mistwatch is also perceived by commoners in both the Mistmarches and elsewhere as a viable path for advancement for particularly clever and amibitious individuals whose options in life might otherwise be limited, and a good place to offload surplus sons and overly headstrong daughters.

Attitudes towards the Mistwatch are more mixed in the rest of the kingdom. As the only permanent military body in Ensor, their upkeep requires an annual expenditure of tax revenues which is not small enough to go unremarked by the nobility whose lands are required to raise it. Perhaps a relic of more dangerous times, the Mistwatch's charter assigns some burden to every county in the kingdom, regardless of how far distant many of them are from the Misty Reaches. Although the most substantial taxes for their support are drawn from the counties of the Mistmarch and from the wealthier counties surrounding Imbryck, many nobles in other parts of the kingdom still resent having to submit any revenues at all for a problem they see as both distant and exaggerated.

Besides resentment, some within the kingdom also regard the Mistwatch with distrust and suspicion. There are those who question the motives and allegiance of an armed force whose operations and capabilities are shrouded in secrecy, made up solely of commoners and whose ranks include without apparent prejudice Yehani and other habitually conniving undesirables.