The Watchmen

The Watchmen is a private mercenary company with several lucrative governmental contracts with the Empire. Once a small detective company, it grew enormously after its founder, Duke Gustav the Game, foiled an apparent assassination attempt on Emperor Magnar by orcish extremists. Shortly afterward, the organization was gifted contracts to act as private security for imperial prisons, for the imperial mint, and as mail inspectors. This led to a boom in the company, and it soon grew to become the largest mercenary company in the known world.

Aside from their imperial duties, Watchmen are also hired out to other private companies, especially mining concerns and alchemical laboratories, as they are known for their professional demeanor and ruthless adherence to contracts. This has led to some public relations disasters, as Watchmen have slaughtered striking miners, and burned whole tenant villages for landowners. As such, the Watchmen have a reputation amongst the underprivileged in the Empire as bloodthirsty murders, and are treated with scorn when found out.

Command Structure

Like the Grand Imperial Army, the Watchmen have a rigorously structured organization. Duke Gustav the Game is the head of the Watchmen, and below him are his five colonels, who are each in charge of a regiment, which is then broken down into individual bands, each led by a lieutenant. The bands are proprietary, and vary greatly in size and function. The individual Watchman is called an inspector, and Watchmen are called "Black Boots" by their detractors.

Uniform

Watchmen are always dressed in black. Even out of uniform, a Watchman will represent his affiliation by wearing modest black woolen suit. The unarmored uniform is a long-sleeved waistcoat, starched white shirt, black scarf, full baggy breaches in black, and tall black boots. White gloves are worn as well, and a small stamped silver badge of a black knife against a silver tree is pinned above their right breast.

Like band organization, further uniform is proprietarily put together. The typical Watchman will carry a rapier or short sword and wear black studded leather armor, but depending on the contract, their brothers and sisters in arms may wear full plate armor and carry massive war-hammers, or carry long rifles and slink around in leather suits.

Relationships

The Nightwatchmen

There are rumors of an organization that exists deep within the Watchmen, a band directly under the purview of Gustav the Game, and the many lucrative contracts of the Watchmen are taken specifically to fund it. This organization, it is said, is dedicated to discovering and recovering powerful magical artifacts, and to protecting citizens of the Silvertree Empire from the powerful personalities that exist in the fabric of the universe, just outside of our ken. Blending in to the population at large, this organization is made up of soldiers, scholars, and clerics, and spend their days hunting down disturbances in the consensual reality.