Centurion

A Centurion is a category of military leader within Imperial Legions, who is in charge of leading a formation of approximately 100 soldiers.

Qualifications

Centurions are expected to be xperienced soldiers. They are the definitions of "Old folks in a trade where people die young". Many Centurions are simply those soldiers who lived through 10+ years of battle or campaigning, and came out with the necessary skills, aptitude, or mentality to lead soldiers into battle. A centurions with less than 15 years in the legions will be immediately shunned, and will be unlikely to command the respect of the soldiers they command.

Requirements

Whereas a Legate often commands respect through the power of the appointment given to them by the General of the legion, a Centurion lives and dies by the respect of the soldiers they command. A Legate might be surrounded by a command staff, but a Centurion is often surrounded only by the soldiers of their "century" of 100. As such, an unresected Centurion will swiftly fail and be "accidentally killed" faster than anyone can say "by the emperor". As such, the most important requirement of a Centurion is to command the respect of the soldier they command. As such, Centurions are usually old and experienced soldiers who have already lead their companions to success in the past, who the Legates believes the rank-and-file will follow into battle in the future.

Appointment

Centurions are nominally appointed by Legates, but are frequently more of an institution than an appointment. A Legate will frequently be appointed to a formation with already chosen (or even perhaps unofficially elected) Centurions. The Centurions will usually take it upon themselves to "educate" their new commander in the intricacies and nuance of command with the Imperial Legions within which they serve. As such, most Centurion "appointments" happen haphazardly on the battlefield itself, as a soldier takes command at the time when it is needed most, and the official "appointment" is merely a ceremony that happens later. 
Though many administrators have attempted to centralize and organize this process, all attempts to do so have failed. Over the centuries, it has become clear that this process *usually* yields the best quality of leaders at the lower levels, and has been allowed to remain.

Duties

Centurions are ultimately responsible for organizing all the requirements of their 100 soldiers, including ensuring that they have sufficient food, water, and that they have the materials to maintain their myriad equipment for travel, living, and battle. In addition, they are expected to be the first ones into the fire of battle, and the last ones to leave it, as this provides them the respect required to order the soldiers under their command into harm's way. In a way, this means they are required to maintain a high morale of the soldiers under their command, as they need to be able to command their troops to scale a defended wall or hold the line against a daemon at a moment's notice.

Responsibilities

Centurions can often be found patrolling the camps of their soldiers, ensuring that their equipment is being properly maintained, their campsite is clean and orderly, and maintaining all the standards of discipline. While outsiders may view this as aggressive or mean, soldiers realize this as the truest and most sincere form of love and care. All of these things are essential to make sure that as many troops return from battle safely as possible, and for every harsh word spoken by the Centurion, it is said that one less cut will be made by their enemies in the field. 
While they do little manual labor themselves, they are the glue that keeps a hundred soldiers operating cohesively as a single entity. The removal or assassination of a particularly influential or respected Centurion has been the reason for many a battlefield loss for the The Calradian Empire.

Benefits

Centurions are paid three times the wage of a Legionary in their century, and also receive three times the bounty. This may seems small, but the real benefits of being a Centurion are non-monetary. A Centurion has significantly better living standards that the average Legionary, and also has the ability to make executive decisions on their own duties and hours of work. Finally, a Centurion has their pension amount multiplied by 3 also, meaning that they (if they survive to retirement) can often lead relatively wealthy lives, and create a prosperous future for their families. 
In addition, Long-serving Centurions are also held it considerations for promotions to the rank of Legate. A promotion to Centurion while serving with the Legions is one of the few ways that a person can improve the lives of their family for generations to come, as such a promotion and subsequent promotions can exponentially increase the prospects for their descendants through the respect gained.

Accoutrements & Equipment

Centurions will often wear helmets with wide horizontal plumes of feathers or bristles, easily identifying them as a leader amongst the chaos of battle to all those both in front and behind them. In addition, their helmets are usually adorned with facemasks, hiding all but their eyes behind a metallic mask with a stern face. This provides both a hiding of their words and emotions to their enemies, and provides an aspect of anonymous gravitas to all that they meet. 
In addition, the traditional armour of the Centurion is the "coat of plates", which is a scale or mail armour with a series of circular plates attached to it. Each plate is meant to represent a virtue of the Empire, and themselves make up a significant addition to the effectiveness of the armour itself.

Grounds for Removal/Dismissal

Centurions are rarely dismissed, as it is much more common that they perish in battle than be dismissed. However, all Legates have the nominal authority to dismiss their Centurions. Despite this, such a dismissal rarely happens, as in most cases the Centurions have much more control over the overall success and survivability of their Legate than the Legate has over them. Indeed, the power balance between a Legate and their Centurions is often the most precarious than that which is found anywhere else in the empire.

Type

Civic, Military, Commissioned

Form of Address

Sir or Ma'am

Alternative Naming

Captain

Source of Authority

The Emperor of Calradia, Via the General and Legate

Length of Term

Indefinite

Reports directly to

Legate

Related Organizations

• The Calradian Empire