The Patrol
Origin and History
Initiation
The Road to Mastery
Politics, Organization, and the Guild at Large
The Patrolhall
Directory and Contacts
Map of the Patrolhall
The Patrol began under the guise of a miut of rejects during the Age of Darkness about fifty years ago, led by Rehanin Arrowcinder. Considered a waste to throw these people away completely, they were placed into the 'remedial evamiut', known as the Dralk Miut. The Dralk Miut was formed of those who had lost favor with Chaos, those who did not have the brute strength and ruthlessness so desired in the Knight's Guild during the Age of Darkness. It was out of those ranks that many scattered people of different talents became united under one ideal, a faith in the hearts of men to do good in the world and to protect those who needed protection.
Instead of being taught tactics and war procedures, the new Patrol delved into the fine arts of breaking and entering, lockpicking, explosives, and espionage. The philosophy that was developed and moved the Patrol was far different than that of the rest of the Chaos-controlled guild, and focused on protecting the common man. It soon began attracting other Knights that were tired of the corruption within the Knight's Guild.
After the end of the Age of Darkness, the Patrol became a full faction in its own right and expanded rapidly, continuing their war on crime in the open. They were also expanded to include dealings with former Chaosians and the remnants of the Chaosian occupation.
Two years ago Rehanin Arrowcinder was murdered by the Dispassionate Man, the Thieves Guildmaster. After a few attempts by other veteran Patrollers to take his place, but largely the Patrol remained leaderless until very recently, when "Twilight" Nikado took the position, eventually forming a triumverate with Yasmin "Blue-Eyes" Rakirth and Sareen "Silver" Darkfalcon.
The most common way by far to gain entry into the Patrol is through a Master Patroller. After that, the most likely route to go Patrol is from within the Knights' Guild itself. The end result is that the Guild has a rather slow growth rate, which has not well to balance its increasing death rate. Typically, Patrollers join the Patrol in their mid to late teens or early twenties, reach mastery in an average of ten to eleven years, and stay with the Patrol until their death; retirement is rare.
Potential apprentices are brought in to visit the Patrolmaster for an interview to determine potential physical and mental skill, and more importantly motive and mindset. Upon completing a successful interview, the new apprentice will be assigned to a master, usually the one that recruited him or her, if they were recruited. Otherwise, the offer will be passed around by word of mouth until someone agrees.
Once assigned to a master, the new apprentice will go on several trial cases with the master, as both further testing and early training. During that time, the apprentice quickly learns to trust and listen to their master. A codename will be picked out for them during this time as well. Once the codename is decided on, the apprentice is first taken to the Patrol smithy, where a personalized pendant with their codename and rank is made for them. After its completion, the apprentice is taken to the Guildhall for formal initiation and swearing in by the formal Knight's Oath.
An apprentice's training first consists of entirely education. They are taught reading and writing if necessary, lockpicking, disguises and identifying them, camouflage, interrogation, deductive reasoning, basic poisons and antidotes, and many other topics before they are ever allowed out of their master's office. Training is nonstop and grueling, but there is a surprisingly low dropout rate. Apprentices with noticeable magical talent will also be taught low-level magic such as magical eavesdropping and simple illusions.
Of course, they are also taught fighting as well--both hand to hand and with a weapon. Unlike the rest of the Guild, longswords and bows are surprisingly rare in the Patrol. Short swords, knives, daggers, darts, various other exotic weapons, and of course the bare fist are the Patroller's weapon of choice.
After a sufficient amount of training, the apprentice will begin working on cases in conjuntion with their master. This is also training of a sort: making the apprentice think on their feet, teach them how to deal with people, and also be introduced to the master's contacts and the Patrol's net at large. Regular training and teaching still continues, but is slowly mixed in with more hands-on experience. Total time from induction to journeyman is usually from three to five years--stunningly short for an apprenticeship, but unsurprising considering the ages of the trainees and the pace of training.
The promotion to journeyman is usually marked by the completion of a successful case by the apprentice. Their pendant is modified to show their new rank, their oaths are reaffirmed, and training is completed and slowly phased out in favor of full-time work. Most of these cases will be done with the master, although if the master has two journeymen, they may work together instead. Journeymen training is slightly longer than apprenticeship, ranging from five to eight years.
The mastery is decided on by the master, or the Patrolmaster in case of a master's death. At this point, the journeyman would have been working many cases by themselves. Even after obtaining a mastery, it does not mean that their training is complete--just the core basics. Patrollers are ever training and studying to improve mind, body and spirit. Some do not consider their training complete until they have passed on their skills to a new master.
Politics, Organization, and the Guild at Large
"Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and the Knights at the end of a ten-foot pole." --Patrol saying
The Patrol is almost as loosely organized as the Guards, only held together by the Patrolmaster, who acts as the center for Patrol leadership, sets policy and conducts group missions, and is the public face for the Patrol on the Council of Knights. In addition to normal Patrol skills, the Patrolmaster must be well-versed in diplomacy and an expert at reading people. Within the ranks themselves, most Patrollers tend to work alone, or possibly with a partner, usually a person they apprenticed with, or an apprentice of their own. In its heyday, the Patrolhall held about two hundred Patrollers, but that number has been slowly degrading.
Outside of Cascadia, Patrollers are few and far between. Rural Patrollers tend to work solo, lacking contact with the Patrolmaster or any other Patrollers at all. There is a small branch of the Patrol located in Oceanica, consisting of about fifteen members.
Patrollers can generally be divided into one of two types: domestic, and Chaotic. Domestic Patrollers deal with local crimes, usually committed by Unitarians--robberies, vandalism, kidnapping, murder, and so on. Most former Guilders become domestic Patrollers. Chaotic Patrollers, on the other hand, deal with what their name suggests: Chaos. Many Chaotic Patrollers have had some experience dealing with Chaos, and are often former Chaosian themselves. They keep tabs on all Chaosians in the city, feed information to Chaosian spies, offer amnesty to former Chaosians, and sometimes have to take care of a loose orc in Cascadia.
Patrollers generally tend to be at odds with the rest of the Guild, Knights in particular. Patrollers dislike the overly structured heiarchy, lack of independance and corruption in the Guild proper, whereas Knights snub Patrollers as being barely-legal scum. On the other hand, the Patrol is probably the faction that is least at odds with the Mages. Many Patrollers establish friendly business relationships with Mages for potions and enchantments. Outside the Patrol itself, the Patrollers keep an extensive list of business contacts, friends, and associates, many walking the legal tightrope. Bandits, pirates, thieves, drugees, bartenders, and bums are all considered fair game in whom the Patrol pays off. The Patrol also keeps up an extensive informant network, referred to as 'the net'; it is said that nothing in Cascadia can be kept secret from the Patrol if they're looking hard enough for it. In addition to the Patrol-wide net, Patrollers will also have their own personal contacts, and may also share contacts with apprentices or partners.
In terms of enemies, the biggest threat is the Thieves' Guild, often referred to as 'the Guild' by Patrollers. During the time when the guild was under Kyle Rimbrand, many domestic Patrollers had running rivalries with Guilders, but after the upset of power by the Dispassionate Man and the murder of the Patrolmaster, any grudging respect has given way to all-out emnity. Thankfully, with the establishment of some friendly relations between the leadership of the two guilds, things have started to cool down again. Chaotic Patrollers also have their own problems to worry about; the Justices of Chaos are to them what the Guild is to a domestic Patroller.
The Patrolhall is buried underneath the Knight Guildhall; a set of stairs just past the Guard faction main office leads downward to its entrance. Originally meant to keep the remedial evamiut out of the way in the bowels of the Guildhall, it soon became the training grounds for the Patrol. At the base of the staircase is a single door, not quite closed, but enough to appear so. Patrollers know to merely push it open; the knob turning signals a stranger.
The main hall is about twenty feet long by ten feet wide, holding little outside a few chairs and a reception desk in front of a few overloaded bookshelves and stacks of books, where Yasmin can almost always be found. Behind the reception desk is the entrance to the soundproofed office of the Patrolmaster. Two meandering hallways lead from the main hall, stretching under the Guildhall itself and lined with the offices of various master Patrollers. There are some training and practice rooms in this underground hall, some large enough for fighting and some specifically for the practice of breaking and entering, lockpicking, and other subversive skills utilized by the Patrol.
Within the Patrol:
Patrol Contacts: