Ducath Guard

Ducath is the god of protection, honor, and defense of your people. He is the official patron of and lends his name to the Ducath Guard, the city guard of Torthuíl. Given their long history of keeping an uneasy place between different nations, Torthuíl’s guard has always been extremely important and they take their job very seriously. Members of the Ducath Guard take the Ducath Oath upon completion of higher training to be a captain or higher rank. This is an oath of honor and dedication to the protection of your family, ‘family’ referring in this case to the entire city of Torthuíl. Most enlisted are almost fanatically loyal, and would follow nearly any order unquestioned believing that it was the necessary action to protect their homeland.   The Guard is mostly an outward-facing standing militia, although some of their members are also used to police the city during peacetime. However, their duties are almost exclusively defense of the city from outsiders. The Offices supply some internal law enforcement when needed.

---

The Guard

  Every Guardsman would be trained in the operation of the city’s defense weapons, and assigned a point. During a siege they would be summoned by the great bell and their commanders would direct them to either participate in the weapon firing or support from the ground or walls.   There are a series of towers along Torthuíl’s long walls. Each tower has archery turrets, and periodically along the interior of the wall at the base there is a small armory with reserve ammo and weapons (mostly strong crossbows). Tunnels lead out of the city for emergency egress, starting in several outlets around the city roads and terminating in the landscape around the city. No one knows what the tunnel system was originally for, but it was determined that it was important enough to remain open as possible evacuation given unrest in the land despite the possibilities of enemies using them to Torthuíl’s disadvantage. Indeed, they were used on several occasions to house and evacuate a large portion of the citizenry when the walls were under fire.

---

Thedjoau

Tactics from the Ducath Guard are twofold: One of siege defense, and one of siegebreaking. At the heart of it all, a siege could be devastating. Enemies could dam the river or surround the city with enough troops to make resistance all but impossible, or even surge up through the tunnels below. Some units of the Guard train for what are effectively suicide runs in the event of a longstanding total city siege. The goal of these units would be to sneak and cut their way through enemy forces to their leadership and take them out, understanding that they will almost certainly be killed in the process. There is a certain glorification of death in battle that tends to be quietly promoted in the Guard, mostly in preparation of the day that fanatical devotion will be necessary to protect the city of some 200,000 people.   These ‘suicide run’ units are known as the Loyal, or in the old tongue, Thedjoau. Colloquially the Thej, these are people who train to be extremely hardy and skilled. They’re used for more ordinary missions as well, the desperate run only called into being if absolutely necessary. Thankfully for the city, it has been many years since that was the case, although some with long memories can recall those days well, and painfully.   There are several Thej at any given point in time, with a degree of autonomy. Once accepted into a unit, they report to the General and city directly. Thedjoau find and train their own replacements on their own, without a specific process to advance per say. If one wants to become a Thej, you have to approach one and hope to impress them. Devotion to Torthuíl and your comrades is a hard and fast requirement to join. Thej are always well aware of the need for variety and flexibility in their unit, so they tend to maintain a diverse mix of specialities and abilities both magic and mundane.

---

Specialized Units

-The Thedjoau are 20 or so individuals, with a Master who speaks for them all. They are likely to have several Apprentices as well at any given point in time, each patronized by one particular Thej but taught by all.   -The Engineers are familiarized with the lay of the surrounding land and can direct siege preparations in advance of an approaching army.   -Medics are a branch that are highly affiliated with the Lady of Tears, the primary healing goddess of Torthuíl. They are often, but not always, priests or clerics of her Lady of Tears as well as enlisted.

---