The Watchers of the Tomb

Composition

Manpower

The Watchers of the Tomb are the smallest organized unit in the Principality of Etoile ground forces, with only five Watchers assigned to the formation at any point in time.

Weaponry

Watchers of the Tomb are equipped in formal armored regalia, heavy plate and bear oversized tower shields and halberds, in symbolism of their role as protectors of the Tomb itself. The weight of the equipment (over 150lb) is intentional, symbolic of the weight of duty in honoring the war dead of the Principality.

Structure

Though ostensibly a combat element under the 1st Combined Arms Division of the Ground Forces, for all purposes the Watchers are an independent squad of soldiers, four Watchers and a Watcher Sergeant, entrusted with the protection of the Tomb of War.

Tactics

The Watchers of the Tomb conduct a ceaseless ritual watch over the remains of the war dead of Unification. At all times, the War Tomb is guarded by a Watcher in their regalia, who stands motionlessly, facing the Tomb from a corners. Every hour, as soon as the chime of the Minister's Tower sounds, the watcher turns, takes precisely six steps to another corner of the square, then turns to face the Tomb again. This watch is rotated every eight hours in a formal morning, afternoon, and midnight ceremony. 
The watch does not cease. Watchers are under explicit instruction to at no time ever leave the Tomb unguarded, not even if the Princeps themselves demands their aid.

Logistics

Recruitment

Candidates for the Watchers of the Tomb are handpicked from the soldiers of the Principality of Etoile for virtue and moral strength. Upon selection, they study and then are subject to a grueling test of protocol and history, compelled to memorize every battle that the Principality has fought and inch-perfect rules of positioning and ritual to serve as tomb guards. Most candidates fail this test, leaving only a hallowed few with the honor of watching the Tomb.

History

After The War of Unification, the First Princeps, in a bid to quickly unify the disparate nations of Saibh, constructed an tomb to honor the dead of the War - not just the dead of the Nasse conquest forces, but the dead of all of the former nations and kingdoms that fought honorably to protect their homelands. To that end, battlefield cemeteries were inspected for graves of unidentified soldiers, and several of those graves were removed and the remains cremated and mixed together, to be entombed within the Etoilean Tomb of War, a major monument nestled in the heart of the Etoile Capital City. The Watchers were originally simply ordinary infantry soldiers assigned a new position to guard, but over time the Watchers were established as a more formal and protocol-bound unit, explicitly tasked with guarding the War Tomb itself.
Since then, the nature of their watch has become a tourist attraction in the Capital, as curious onlookers converge to watch the thrice-daily rotation of the guard.

Founding

630

Overall training Level

Elite

Assumed Veterancy

Experienced