The New Guard

"By the declaration of the New Guard, your city shall have order, whatever the cost."

~ General Lance Deephollow

The New Guard is a militaristic organisation that was established by the human Gasten Deephollow in 2963 JR. Deephollow was displeased with knighting orders such as the Order of the Gauntlet, believing that they were too focused on getting paid and preserving their own reputation, and so established the New Guard as a revised way of combatting crime in the North. The group began by offering services of protection to small villages in the Greenfields and later the Dessarin Valley, but this was met with controversy, as rumours quickly spread that the New Guard was using blackmail and violence to maintin their position within the villages.
However, it wasn't for several decades that the New Guard became a well-known organisation within the North. By this time, leadership of the Guard had been passed from Gasten to his son, a veteran named General Lance Deephollow. Lance had a plan to expand the Guard's reach to large cities, starting with the coastal city of Waterdeep, which has a history of crime within its lower wards. Despite several objections made by the city's ruling council, Lance succeeded in his efforts and in 2992 JR, the New Guard officially replaced Waterdeep's City Guard in protecting the wall and policing the lower wards. Soon thereafter, Lance Deephollow was appointed as castellan of Waterdeep.
Many Waterdhavians have since objected to the presence of the New Guard in the city, with rumours of corruption, brutality and unethical procedures being common among the lower and upper wards alike. The greatest adversaries to the group are the Harpers, the Zhentarim and the Order of the Blade, all of which launch operations in an attempt to remove the Guard from the cities walls. No such operations have been successful.
Whilst resigning from one's post is made incredibly difficult for a member of the New Guard, there have been an occasional few who've managed to hand in their sword. The most famous example of this is the accomplished fighter Karlov Mardrake, who now works in Waterdeep as an urban bounty hunter with a great distaste for the Guard, and General Lance in particular.

Founding Date

2963 JR

Type

Military Order

Training Level

Trained

Location

Waterdeep