The
Divine Guard is an elite guard force devoted to defending the
Council of Gods and the
Inner City of
Hawong.
History
The Divine Guard was founded in the year 251, shortly after the Darkening, as a replacement for the treacherous Faithful Knights. They initially acted as Nampyeon's army and Hawong's city guard, but in the year 260, the armed forces were officially divided into three: the army, the city guards, and the Divine Guard.
Since then, the Divine Guard has patrolled the Inner City walls, only leaving them in emergency situations in which the elite training of the Guard is needed elsewhere. One such occasion was the Great Flood of 493, which covered most of Hawong.
Training
Divine guards are handpicked from the most promising recruits for the city guard, the only requirements being an unyielding faith towards the Avatars and great physical capabilities. They are then trained in a variety of weapons, including swords, halberds, bows, crossbows, and quarterstaffs, as well as unarmed combat. And while they are not allowed to learn selenurgy, they are trained to resist arcane effects. When ordered to leave the city, the Divine guard uses
moon tigers as their mounts, letting them travel twice as fast as with a horse.
An important difference between Hawong's city guard and the Divine Guard is the methods they're trained to use. The city guard will rarely employ lethal methods, instead opting to give several warnings before stunning and arresting their target. However, the Divine Guard will at most give a single warning before shooting to kill.
Structure
The Divine Guard's commander in chief is the Avatar of Civilization (or the Avatar of Natura in Civilization's absence). However, each Avatar has an additional personal guard comprised of 50 divine guards. These guards wear their Avatar's symbol and answer to their Avatar only.
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