The King's Hand

The King's Hand acts as agents of the King in places where the King's army cannot or will not go. They are skilled, highly competent, and mostly above the common law. They answer only to their Lord-Commander Rodrik Stormblade of the Two Towers, who answers directly to the King. They are tasked with many things, policing and protecting the towns and villages in the hinterlands chief among them. They also recover and handle lost knowledge from before the war and are in charge of putting down or recruiting potent wielders of magic. They also hunt down dangerous beasts and monsters when these foul creatures menace the countryside.
Membership in the King's Hand is voluntary, except for captured magic-users who are put to the sword if they refuse to join.
Among the most notable things about the King's Hand is the presence of magic-users in their ranks. Aloria Sengali, High Witch of the Hand, is the descendant of a defected sorcerer from the wars of old, whose power was instrumental in countering the powerful, primal magic of the native peoples. She founded the school of magic that all magic-users must attend - or die. There, a method of practicing magic is taught that allows its power to be contained as much as possible, protecting both the caster and the land from the wild, often unpredictable currents of magic left behind after the war. Because of this, most ordinary citizens fear the King's Hand and leave them to their tasks unless directly questioned or asked.