Ramshackle Marines

© RDD Wilkin / Spilled Ale Studios

Even a city as permissive as Ramshackle must have some order to function, and must therefore employ people to protect its peace and enforce its few laws. The marines are a company formed for that purpose. They are often called “coralcoats”, even amongst their own number. The name comes from distinct woolen coats worn only by the marines, which are brightly shaded like coral. The coats are inspired by naval uniforms of the world’s foremost sea power. The rank and file wear red coats with cream facings, while officers of sublieutenant and above wear orange coats with cream facings. A marine’s rank is further indicated by epaulettes at the shoulders.

A squad of City marines may be accompanied by one of Ramshackle’s arcane spellcasters, particularly if it’s on a specific mission. For dangerous missions, they are also sometimes accompanied by a cleric borrowed from one of the local religions.

City and Sea Divisions

Marines are trained to defend the city and its waters from threats within and without, acting as its police force, its naval might, and in the event of an invasion its foot soldiers. Marines are seen keeping order throughout the city, as well as crewing the ships that guard Ramshackle and escort visiting vessels into harbour. These distinct roles are referred to as the City and Sea Divisions. However, the divisions aren’t distinct branches. Instead, all coralcoats are expected to maintain the skills and experience needed to fulfill the duties of either division. In order to keep their skills sharp their assignments rotate between the two. Recruits spend three months learning the responsibilities of the City Division then three months in the Sea Division before their training period is concluded. Thereafter, they continue to rotate between divisions every three months. When a coralcoat gains an officer rank they are initially assigned to whichever division needs them most, but they are still expected to keep their skills sharp and exchange roles once per year.

Marine Hierarchy

Members of the marines have ranks. From lowest to highest, they are:

Recruit

A recruit has been accepted into the marines as a trainee, but is not yet considered a fully-empowered representative of Ramshackle’s law. Recruits are assigned to regular duties as the marines believe in hands-on training, but they are never left unsupervised. There is always at least one marine of hand or higher rank to oversee the recruit.

Rank and File

Hand.

Corporal (City Division) or Leading Hand (Sea Division).

Sergeant (City Division) or Mate (Sea Division).

Warrant Officer. So-called because they’ve received a warrant, the highest promotion the Commodores of Ramshackle are entitled to award without entreaty to Firemane.

This rank is nearly equal to that of lieutenant—it’s understood that anyone granted the rank of warrant officer is a lieutenant in all but name, as the warrant officer’s district captain or perhaps even a commodore has submitted their name to be considered for commission. The result is almost a foregone conclusion, since it’s extremely rare for a commission to be denied. In the meantime, the warrant officer is given equivalent responsibilities to a lieutenant, and can expect equal respect from lower ranked marines.

Officers

To become an officer, an individual needs to receive a commission from the Admiral herself. In practice, such commissions are usually granted at the recommendation of the Commodores, who in turn receive names from the Captains who serve the districts within their wards.

Lieutenant. Officers of this rank are largely responsible for overseeing the orderly running of the marine apparatus, since they form the buffer between command and the rank and file. They oversee the day to day of operations, and while their job is partly administrative they still see a lot of action as the officers in charge of raids and other operations.

Lieutenant-Commander. This is the lowest rank that might be given command of a station or small ship, provided there’s no commander to fill the position.

Commander. An officer of this rank is usually second in command at a district’s marine barracks, or the officer in charge at one of a handful smaller stations interspersed throughout each district. In the Sea Division, commanders are acting captains for one of the fleet’s sloops or schooners.

Captain. In the City Division, a captain manages a district within a ward. In the Sea Division, they command a brigantine of the fleet. Commodore. Ramshackle has six commodores. Two each are assigned to North Ward, West Ward, and East Ward. The East Ward commodores also command the marines of the developing South Ward. Within each Ward, one commodore commands the City Division, and the other the Sea Division. The commodores make most command decisions for the marines in the name of Admiral Firemane, who usually defers direct control to them.

Admiral. The rank of admiral is given to the ruler of Ramshackle, which is and has always been Antana “Firemane” Lecheq. As admiral, Antana has absolute authority over the marines but generally chooses not to exercise it except in times of emergency.