The Golden Guard
The Golden Guard are the best of the best of Orthodox Desmianism. They guard the halls of the Perpetual Conclave, protect the First Speaker, and lead special forces teams for the Conclave across the continent. They symbolize the power and authority of the Conclave more than anything else, and the mere sight of them inspires awe in the commonfolk of Desmia. They are where the ancestors meet the warriors of the present, and many of the more superstitious Desmians whisper that they can perform miracles.
Composition
Manpower
The Golden Guard numbers around 200 warriors.
Equipment
The Golden Guard wears red and gold armor, largely undecorated outside of a prominent crest of the Perpetual Conclave. Each guard is allowed to select their own weaponry and style of armor, though each unique set is carefully crafted to give the illusion of uniformity.
Structure
The Golden Guard is led by the Grandmaster, who is hand-picked by the First Speaker of the Perpetual Conclave from among the officers of the Guard. The current Grandmaster is Hezed of Koviken, a sharp-eyed strategist and warrior with a long history working as an officer on the Golden Crusade. Hezed is rumored to be among the greatest warriors of our time, though he has not been seen in public combat for years. The Grandmaster can be voted out by the rest of the Guard, but otherwise serves until they retire.
Below the Grandmaster is a group of 30 officers who serve as leaders and coordinators within the guard. Most of the Guards are themselves accomplished warriors with experience in leadership, though, meaning that they tend to be fairly self-organizing. Officers are elected from among the guard.
When not working with a larger contingent of guards, Golden guards organize into squads of three for most work.
Tactics
Golden Guards specialize in small-unit infantry combat. While they are experienced and capable in formation, they tend to do their best work in small groups behind enemy lines.
Logistics
Upkeep
The Golden Guard is not a cheap institution: guards are paid well, have their families pampered by the Conclave, and generally live in good conditions. After fears of the Guard becoming a political institution were stirred among the Conclave in the early-mid 1900s, pay has shifted from large direct paychecks to benefits, pensions, and widow's funds. The Guard are now also banned from receiving extra pay, titles, or benefits from non-Conclave actors.
Recruitment
A small priestly council known as the Goldseekers are in charge of scouting out and recruiting the finest of Desmia's warriors into the Golden Guard. The Goldseekers work closely with the Crusading Generals and the Priests of the Count to curate a list of potential candidates (The Priests of the Count are a bureaucratic organ of the Perpetual Conclave that keeps and confirms records of the demonslaying-counts).
Candidates, once scouted, are placed on observation for a period of several years. If they are deemed suitable, they are brought to the Golden Guard for evaluation, retraining, and eventual formal recruitment. If they are deemed potentially suitable, the Goldseekers may place a recommendation with the warrior's respective regional Conclave so that they can have their potential expanded upon.
While combat ability and demon-slaying experience are the first qualifiers, they are not the only ones. Sincere faith, discipline, obedience to Orthodox doctrine, and emotional-mental stability are also taken into account.
History
The idea of the Golden Guard dates back to the Divine Era, when the elite warriors of The Golden Crusade would gather every generation or two to coordinate and lead renewed war efforts against the Mathari. When other Great Crusades, such as the Silver and Amber Crusades, began in the 300s, 'Golden Guard' became a term for any elite vanguard group in a crusade that drew from more than one country. There were no regulations or formal definitions, and over time wealthy glory-hound monarchs or aristocrats began making their own personal "Golden Guard" divisions. These artificial Golden Guards steadily sank in quality, and by the 700s the term had lost much of the associated prestige.
The Council of Avedra of 868 ME, which was devoted to defining heresies and preventing infighting among crusading factions, created a new organization, the Order of the Golden Guard, to regulate and organize 'real' Golden Guard units. The Order brought the Golden Guard back to its original purpose of leading the great crusades, this time as a permanent semi-monastic knightly order. Each crusade's chapter was largely autonomous and only met together to organize new chapters for new crusades. This system was useful when Desmians were on the offensive, but the outside invasions of the 1300s and 1400s overwhelmed the centralized system and put excessive strain on their command. When the Grandmaster and their advisors were captured and killed during the 1450 Sack of Kidon, the Order essentially disintegrated into its component chapters, which were left to fend for themselves. One by one these chapters began to fall. The Chaptermaster of the Golden Crusade was slain in the Mathari offensive of 1455; the chaptermaster of the Silver Crusade was assassinated in 1465 by extremists upset by the ceasefire with Rukray, and the chaptermaster of the Pearl Crusade died when their ship was sunk by Borim druids in 1478.
The Perpetual Conclave of Desmia gathered the remnants of the Order for reorganization in 1480. The Order had failed in its purpose as crusade coordinators, but they had restored the prestige of the Golden Guard as the greatest warriors of the faith. The Conclave, as the great centralizing body of Orthodox Desmia, took on the old role of the Order as crusade managers. The Golden Guard were re-imagined as something entirely new: as the warriors, agents, and emissaries of the Perpetual Conclave, a collection of the finest warriors in all of Orthodoxy. The new Golden Guard became symbols of the Conclave, and, over the years, Orthodoxy itself.
Since 1480, the Golden Guard has largely kept to itself. It has actually shrunken in size, as other organizations (such as the Orthodox Inquisitors) have taken over various responsibilities for the Conclave. As it has focused on martial ability, though, its prestige has actually risen. The Golden Guard have been honed into the special forces and elite bodyguards of the Conclave in the last few centuries, and now include the greatest non-magical warriors the world has to offer.
Type
Special Forces
Founding
868 ME
Overall training Level
Elite
Assumed Veterancy
Decorated/Honored
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