Stained Guard

The Stained Guard are the militant and policing force employed by the Markesian Empire's ruling family. Members of the Guard are distinguishable by their brightly colored and distinctive chestpieces. Guards are ecnouraged to design and stain their own pieces of armor upon completion of their training in the Shards. This training typically consists of a year of labor and discipline in the inhospitable Shards followed by a half-year campaign on tour (often the Western front). After completion of this training, prime candidates are offered retention packages while less-capable individuals are able to choose standard service or retirement. Older and injured Guards often lake up managerial or administrative roles in village governance to continue service. Candidate for the Guard are identified via a fitness test administered biannually to children in the Empire. The Stained Guard and its members are respected and feared throughout Tellucord, despite the reputation of their home. Retired members of the Guard (as well as deserters) are highly valued as bodyguards and mercenaries outside of the Empire and prohibitively expensive within the Empire. Despite the value of their earned title, plenty of former Guards choose to begin a career in journeying, and have formed the second largest journey's guild, called the Faded Guard, with the mission of solving difficult issues affecting village-folk throughout the Markesian countryside. At the highest level of the Stained Guard are the Vibrant Guard, an elite party of individuals with widely varied skillsets who are employed by the ruling family and nobility of the Empire to complete high-skill or high-risk tasks.