Commandery

Service

It is traditional for mandatory service to be expected of the people of a commandery. Although it has been long established that a Knight Commander's mastery of his assigned lands is absolute, the exercise of such power is rarely employed to its fullest. However, one of the greatest exercises of a Lord Commander's power is his demand for service. On St. Mandor's Day, all children of eleven years of age are summoned to the village square. The senior serjeant and senior lay brother-militant, along with those of their subordinates they choose, as well as the seneschal and the lord commander himself will descend from the castle and inspect the children. From the children, many are chosen by those present to fill all the various roles required at the commandery and abbey. Although many children are chosen, not all must be chosen, although it is rare for none to be chosen. Families typically do not challenge selections of their children, although they may appeal to the Lord Commander to release the child from a summons to service, or appeal for the child to be appointed to another form of service. In theory, parents or their intercessors may appeal to the Lord Bailiff, and all the way to the Grand Master himself. If they are not chosen on their eleventh year, then children on their twelfth year are required to appear again along with the eleven-year-olds, but if they pass unselected once again, they need never thereafter appear in subsequent years.

The selected children say their goodbyes are taken by the various representatives of the castle or abbey staff to begin their new lives. On occasion, some of these children are also taken to to higher echelons within the Order, although this is rare, for most children will serve for a time at commanderies in order to receive their remedial training and be selected for service at bailiwicks and priories.

The Course of Honors

The primary reason the Order of the Beleaguered Shield developed commandery service is to provide the necessary manning required. However, the underlying intent of the Order is to sift its people for talent. In a slow and steady rise, promising children are tasked and weighed by their superiors, promoted as their skills and judgment of their superiors warrant. Most only see their early youth in service, and are then released before they are adults, or sometimes in their young adulthood. For others, a state of low service defines their lives, and all their days may pass to find them still serving in the role assigned to them. However, for a few, their merit and the favor of their superiors may see them successively rise, with house maids rising to lady's maid, with lay initiates of the Brothers-Militant rising to become prior-brothers, with footmen rising to seneschal, infantry boys to men-at-arms and serjeants, and with pages rising to squires, and squires rising to knights. But it is this last that is the ultimate goal, the highest objective. The Order of the Beleaguered Shield wishes to cultivate paladins most of all, for paladins are the leadership and fighting essence of the Order, and is they who have the power to most effectively combat the evil in the land. Therefore, the highest priority is given to find amongst the youth those children who are the most promising future paladins, and to educate them, train them, and whet their faith, so that the most deserving might become pages and squires, and then, for the very few, paladins themselves. So coveted are paladins that older children in the other professions will be transferred to become pages and squires should they ever show such promise. The vast majority of pages never become squires, and instead become infantrymen, or clerics, or footmen or lower castle servants. Some pages are dismissed from service altogether. But of those who become squires, great effort is made that as many of them who are worthy become senior squires and receive their chance to take vigil and be chosen by the Power of Mandador to become paladins of the Order.

Ultimately, the Order of the Beleaguered Shield has shaped Dwarden society so that the son of even the lowest family might be chosen to become page, who becomes a squire, who becomes a knight, and who in this class rises in the levels of command so that at the height of his career he might be the Grand Master of the Order itself. In Dwarden, such a rise is possible, as long as the Order of the Beleaguered Shield rules the land.

The Service Oath

Few men of Dwarden are given the opportunity to take the Service Oath, which binds them to their Lord Commander and to the Order for a set period of time, usually three, six or nine years, or until his Lord Commander releases him. During this time, the oath taker is considered a Servant of the Order, and afforded maintenance thereby. The Service Oath is usually reserved for men-at-arms, but is also given to the special footmen such as the Master Forester or Master Scout, who enjoy privileged positions at the seneschal's table.

Knights-Palatine

At the apex of the social hierarchy of a Commander are the knights-paladin of the Order of the Beleaguered Shield.

Knight Cadet: Newly created knights that still reside at their native commandery are considered knight cadets, and shall remain so until they receive a promotion, or until they complete their term of residency at the bailiff's court, often called hostelry. This time period varies, but should at least be for three months, and no more than three years.

Knight Bachelor: Originally referring to knights outside the Order of the Beleaguered Shield, in Dwarden the term has evolved to indicate knights of the Order who are unassigned to any commandery or higher echelon of command.

Knight-at-Table:

Knight-Lieutenants: If it is his pleasure, knight-commanders may declare a favored knight his lieutenant. There only may ever be one such lieutenant at a commandery. In a knight commander's absence, a knight-lieutenant may act in his master's stead, save for the ability to create his own lieutenant.

Squires and Pages

Squires

There are three requirements to becoming a squire: 1) the test militant, 2) the test devotional and 3) the knight's test. Each must be done in order, as each test gives potential candidacy for the next test. Pages are the premier source for squires, as they are better educated and generally from better families, but the boys of the youth company, the footmen, lay brothers obedentiary and the sons of karden may pursue becoming squires.

The test militant is a martial test by a man-at-arms of the commandery, or perhaps one of the Master Footmen who have taken the Service Oath. A deserving page or other aspirant must somehow gain approval for the test militant from a man-at-arms in good standing who sits at the commander's table, and even then the man-at-arms in question must have the approval of the serjeant-at-arms. To request the test, the aspirant must challenge the man-at-arms while in formation by smashing his weapon against the senior man's shield. If the man-at-arms declines the test, he might bash the youth down immediately, or perhaps might do so if the serjeant-at-arms does not deem the youth worthy. Once the man-at-arms agrees to conduct the test, the then candidate's shield is given a return blow, and the candidate has a full week until the next Octavion to train and prepare for the test. The test is always with steel, and never training weapons, and is overseen by the serjeant-at-arms. The youth must then demonstrate his martial skill and attempt to subdue the man-at-arms. This is not expected to be possible, by the youth is expected to hold his own. The better he conducts himself, the more likely it is that he will pass the test in the eyes of the men-at-arms. The candidate never knows whether or not he passed the test until he is offered the next test.

The test devotional is given only by the chaplain. Approached by the chaplain, the candidate is asked many questions of faith, and they speak at length so that the chaplain may understand the young man. The chaplain may also employ spell prayers to learn more of the youth's inner faith.

Squire-Lieutenant: Sometimes squires fail to become paladins, but wish to continue service as leaders in the Order, but not as men-at-arms or serjeants. These men are on occasion offered the opportunity to remain squires throughout their lives. They wear the gray tabard embroidered with silver shield.

Squire (senior): Senior squires have been selected to be prospective paladins, and undergo enhanced training at the castle and monastery. They are often given leadership positions to test their suitability, and have increased access to the lord commander. Senior squires are sometimes honored with a seat at the lord commander's table, thereby marking him as a man-at-arms

Squire (junior): Upon selection for training as a squire (16-17 yrs. old), they wear a gray tabard with the black shield. Their hair is closely cropped.

Page (senior): As pages age and they grow in strength, squires are eventually returned to other forms of service or are selected to continue their training as a potential knight of the Order. Upon being selected to continue as pages, they wear a simple plain tabard and belt.

Page (junior): Junior pages (11-13 yrs.) wear the gray robes of the Order.

Serjeants and Men-at-Arms

Serjeant-Commander: With the dearth of paladins in the Order, many commanderies are now commanded by serjeants.

Serjeant-at-Arms: Second in the chain of command after the paladins, the serjeant-at-arms of a commandery is the most senior serjeant in his land. In the name of the knight commander, the serjeant-at-arms may arrest any person, including noblemen and any members or affiliates of the Order who are in their lands, including paladins and senior clerics not within their chain of command. In the absence of a knight commander and succeeding paladin, the serjeant-at-arms assumes the role of acting serjeant-commander, and awaits either a designated new commander or affirmation of his acting command by the Lord Bailiff.

Banner Serjeant: A banner serjeant is typically a senior serjeant who commands an important castle or fortress subordinate to a knight commander. Once affirmed in this rank by a Lord Bailiff or higher, the serjeant's rank is permanent and is recorded by the Order. Confirmed Banner Serjeants are immune to the arrest powers of an acting serjeant-commander. These banner serjeants are often called castellans, in the Thousiersian tradition.

Rook: A serjeant assigned to the command of a small castle, fortress or other fasthold.

Standman: The representative of the Order at a small community. He typically helps organize the militia and taxes of villages, hamlets and other small outposts. Traditionally, a standman must necessarily have taken the Kargal Oath.

Knight's Company

A Knight's Company generally comprises any subordinate knights, his chaplain, serjeant-at-arms, serjeants, men-at-arms, the banners of his youths in service, and all his castle staff capable of bearing arms, such as the seneschal, the squires, pages and footmen.

Banner Youths - The Youth Company

The various age and skill groups or bands of the child-soldiers form the Banner Youths, or the Youth Company. Supplementing and reinforcing the professional warriors of the Knight's Company, the youth company is special in that it is a standing force of young boys being trained for potential to become men-at-arms to the commandery, as it is from this training company that almost all the men-at-arms at the Knight Commander's table are chosen.

The youth company is generally commanded by a trusted man-at-arms, and seconded by a junior man-at-arms. The various columns are mentored either by men-at-arms, militia veterans, and other available warriors. They are divided into age groups identified with particular battlefield specialties, organized by banners.

The Scout Banner

Serving from 11-13 years of age, these lightly armed young boys are trained to run vast distances very quickly, and unseen. They serve as spies and messengers. They are typically paired. A thirteen-year-old captain leads these young boys. He is supported by a second.

Peltests Banner

Boys serving successfully as scouts succeed to the column of peltests upon reaching the age of 14. They typically become experts at slings, but their training in other weapons and tactics increases at this time. They are led by a captain and a second.

Shield-Bearers Banner

From the ages of 16 and 17, the infantry serve as shield-bearers, or the personal servants of men-at-arms and serjeants. Their training increases rapidly at this time. They especially begin to cultivate their personal strength at this time, and are trained to fight with war hammers or maces. They are led by a captain and a second.

The Infantry Banner

All boys of the youth company aspire to achieve standing under the infantry banner, as it is from their bands that the men-at-arms of a castle are chosen. At the age of 21, on St. Kaldor's Day, senior infantrymen are reviewed by the Knight-Commander and Serjeant-at-Arms. Those who are chosen are given a new copper coin minted that year and embossed with the face of the Grand Master of the Order, which serves as the token of invitation to request martial service at his commander's castle.

The Militia Company

Almost all men in a commandery who are not in the Knight's Company, infantry company, monastic company or cavalry squadron, are members of the militia. The militia is traditionally the largest company in a knight-commander's battle. Amongst its numbers are any infantry un-selected for service at the castle company or the monastic company.

The Militia Company has its own captain, and his second, but it is commanded by an assigned serjeant or subordinate paladin

The Castle Servants

The Seneschal

The seneschal is the supervisor of all the castle servants, and generally oversees all lands, assets and works within the commandery. He is answerable directly to the Lord Knight Commander alone. At the commandery level, the seneschal is very often a cleric, necessarily of the Order of St. Karant, although he is not necessarily of the holy orders, and is contrarily most often a Brother Superior, a senior lay brother-militant of the Order. He is conspicuous for his red escutcheon. In some regions, or in some cases, it is more common for a man of serjeantry or even a paladin to become seneschal, but due to the administrative requirements, this often not possible, or at least practical. Despite his high standing, the seneschal is not normally considered to be in the chain of command, and therefore will never succeed to the command, even in the case of the Lord Commander's death or incapacity. Instead, he will serve the next most senior knight or serjeant who assumes the command. On rare occasions, or in certain regions, the seneschal will be considered in the chain of command if they have the proper military background.

Seneschal's oversee the manthane or seneschals of the lands in the jurisdiction of his commandery, and generally control matters of taxation and manpower, working in tandem with his commandery's serjeant-at-arms.

In the military, a seneschal serve as the column leader of the Household Guard, under the Knight's Company.

Stewards

For especially large commanderies, stewards are appointed to administer particular lands or major concerns. For example, the Steward of Ships may be appointed for a commandery near a large lake, or the Stewards of Mines. Stewards are often not necessary however, as the subordinate manthane.

Page

A treasured position, a page is a youth, often but not necessarily the son of a karden or other great family, who serve as the personal attendants of the knights at the castle. Generally of the ages of 11-15, pages are designated as either junior (11-13 yrs. old) or senior (14-15). There are no pages older than 16. Boys from the general population who are conscripted into service as pages are chosen at the age of ten or eleven, but the sons of nobility, on occasion, are sent to the knight commander's castle a year or two earlier.

Junior pages wear the gray robes of the Order, but bear a golden threaded girdle to denominate their status. In the military, junior pages serve in the Knight's Company as camp attendants, and do not directly serve in battle save for in last resort. They are typically armed with daggers and perhaps crossbows.

Pages who serve successfully are promoted to senior pages, at which time they don a gray tabard and receive a black escutcheon, retaining their gold threaded girdle. In military service, senior pages are typically equipped with shields and infantry weapons such as spears, war hammers and battle axes.

Pages selected from the general population generally hope to be selected as squires, so that they may pursue the path to paladinhood. By the age of 16, pages are either selected as squires, or not. For those who are not, they may be transferred to service as monks in the abbey, or as members of the Infantry, typically as shield-bearers. Otherwise, they are released from service and return to their families in the general population.

Pages are typically given a good education, and are taught to read and write, and other various arts and sciences. They also typically learn a musical instrument, or to sing the classic songs and lays of Dwarden.

Pages answer to the knights and squires they serve, and ultimately to the seneschal.

Footmen

Footmen are senior servants of a commandery. Few are chosen for this service, for footmen are generally free from the worst of the menial tasks carried out by the lesser servants. Footmen serve as personal aides to to the seneschal, the serjeants, companions of the table, and other distinguished guests who are not of the knightly class.

Footmen are usually chosen from the sons of serjeants, friars and large land owners who do not wish to see their sons serve in the infantry company or in the church. They are also usually selected for their intelligence over their strength.

Select footmen are chosen to serve the wizard of the castle, with one in particular being chosen as famulus, hoping eventually to become his apprentice.

Footmen may serve at the castle indefinitely. Adult footmen are often secretaries and/or technical specialists, gaining great skill in the secular arts of the castle. Adult footmen are also the senior lead servants, bearing titles such as Master of the Table, Master of the Household, Master of the Cellars or Master of the Dungeon (see below).

Junior footmen are not entitled to tabards or robes.

Certain men within the Order, such as monks whose faith is troubled for harrowing service, or maimed (physically or mentally) men-at-arms, may be offered positions as adult senior footmen, in respect for their service.

In a Commandery's Battle, footmen may serve in various capacities, but generally serve with hammers, leather mail and shields in the Household Guard.

Habit: Senior footmen are entitled to brown robes or tabards, depending on their specialty or situation. They wear black girdles.

Special Footmen

Scout: Occasionally, scouts from the infantry prove exceptionally good at their tasks, and if the Knight-Commander is in need of a spy or scout, he nominates a youth to become a senior scout, who is generally employed to travel vast distances quickly and unseen, and spy, sabotage, steal from or deceive enemies. Senior scouts may also be selected from the men-at-arms who are interested in such matters.

Habit: Save for formal occasions, scouts do not wear specified habit. However, when they do, they typically dress in the normal habit of a senior footman: a brown tabard with a black girdle.

Forester: Foresters

Master Footmen

Large or specialized commanderies may boast Master Footmen, who are granted such status for their specialized skills, recognized accomplishments, and/or the scope and importance of their duties. Some of the Master Footmen may employ seconds, being other footmen who are their assistants and/or who are being trained by them. Master Footmen are appointed in their positions by the Knight Commander, and as such, some, depending on their exact position, are entitled to eat at his table.

First Footman: The overall master of day-to-day duties at a knight's castle is the First Footman. An honored position, the first footman is often an older man, and perhaps a former man-at-arms who was not selected to serjeantry due to wounds or spiritual scars. The first footman heads the table of the castle servants. He may wear either the brown robe or brown tabard with a black escutcheon and girdle, depending on his background.

Master Forester: Although rare in Dwarden, rangers may be trained up and ensure the wilderness is protected and watched. These wear green tabards.

Master of Scouts:

Military Organization

The Order of the Beleaguered Shield has forged almost the whole of the people of Dwarden into a disciplined and hardened fighting force ready to defend their lives and land against the forces of evil. Almost the whole of Dwarden's military is composed of militia, led by a small contingent of professional warriors, and supplemented by the Brothers-Militant of St. Karant, as well as other specialized units.

The Order measures the strength of its fighting forces by the number of battles it can muster. This tactical unit, generally comprising anywhere between 400 and 2,500 men under arms, is generally defined as being comprised of a knights company, at least three columns, a cavalry squadron, a monastic company, and the camp company. A proper battle will also boast its own siege weaponry appropriate to its terrain and enemies, as well as a chaplain, a white necromancer or war wizard, and at least one knight-paladin as commander.

Leader and Commander

The Order retains to itself the right of command, which for the people of Dwarden means the right to execute those who disobey a command. For most in Dwarden, the knight commander embodies this power. Knight commanders may delegate elements of the right of command, but generally this is reserved for his professional soldiers, whether they be men-at-arms, serjeants or other heroes. However, for normal administrative purposes and day-to-day affairs, command authority is devolved to the militia via the chain of leadership. Officially appointed leaders, as opposed to commanders, are generally respected community members and usually proven militia warriors. At the commandery level, the chain of leadership, ranked lowest to highest, is: band leader, banner leader, rank leader, company leader, column leader and vice marshal

Columns

Columns, comprised of anywhere between 244 and 600 or more militia, are the core of a battle's fighting strength. In modern Dwarden, each column is divided into three ranks or lines: first, second and third. Each rank runs at least 81 strong, including the rank leader. In case of mass destruction from magic, siege weapons or monsters, columns typically prefer staggered formation, with wide space around each militiaman, allowing for the swinging of the long Dwarden Hammer, alternate pole arms, or other large weapon. Staggered behind the first rank is the second, and staggered behind them the third. Each rank has a leader distinguished by a dark red sash. These ranked men answer to the column leader, who is distinguished with two crossing red sashes. Columns are typically reinforced with scouts and peltasts from the banner youth, as well as with at least one cleric. Often, the Knight-Commander will send men-at-arms to reinforce and lead columns. Men-at-arms or standmen who reside with the composite bands* (see below) of a column will often stand in front of the column's line, while a serjeant may take command of the entire column from the rear, waiting with a small reserve force to fill gaps in the line as might be necessary. On occasion, column leaders are retired men of serjeantry rank, and are given command outright. Due to increased population at commandery centers, castle columns are typically double the strength of normal columns.

Column