Palantine Guard

The **Palantine Guard** is an elite unit of the Holy Empire of Visimar that served as a fighting unit, agents, and a personal bodyguard to the Emperor of Visimar and Arch Confessor in the city of Midheim and when travelling.

Originally a role awarded to valued fighters and loyal officers within the Imperial Army of Visimar, it has now been delegated as a role for high-ranking officials within the Empire and especially children of the lords and ladies within the Holy Empire as well as highly renowned heroes of both dwarven and elven descent. Their influence in Imperial politics has been extensive given their military might and being a member of the Palantine Guard gives an individual mobile freedom to rise in the political realm of the Holy Empire. The Palantine Guard has influenced politics many times throughout the history of the Holy Empire and have often fought amongst one another during times of civil and political unrest. Although renowned for fighting prowess, the Palantine Guard's power has diminished in recent years in favor of the loyalty of knights and their knightly orders. The Paragon Rebellions have also reduced the numbers of the Palantine Guards early in the 6th century, making their numbers limited and high in the social order of Visimarian politics.

## Under the Kingdom of Visimar, 190-254

Early accounts of the Palantine Guard emerged with the rise of Odovacar The Builder during his declaration of the Empire of Visimar, the last King of Visimar prior to Odovacar established an order of bonded swordsmen. These fighters formed the basis of the Palantine Guard and accompanies King Jorg the Breaker in his conquests along the Iron Gullet in 190. The swordsmen bonded to the King were heroes from across the kingdom personally requested to come to Midheim, many of whom were reluctant at first but soon accepted their offer. After the death of most of the original members of the guard; which at its peak numbered around 120 members including officers and standard bearers with several buglers, the roles were soon filled by lone adventurers as well as local lord's sons and hedge knights of notable status. This trend would form what the Palantine Guard would usually consist of for the rest of its existence.

For the most part of this era, the Palantine Guard was mostly stationed at Midheim as a police force for the upper class neighborhoods and religious districts within the city, this patrolling of the religious districts would form the basis of the relationship between the division of the Palantine between the Arch Confessor and the Emperor during the Holy Empire's existence. Very rarely would the Palantine Guard be used in gathering territory for the Kingdom of Visimar. Aside from personally guarding the King of Visimar on campaign, most of the fighting was delegated to the noble's warbands and what mercenaries they could hire while the guard protected Midheim.

## Under the Empire of Visimar, 254-513

During the rise of Visimar's dominance over the Central Realm, the extent of the Palantine's role in Imperial politics began to grow as more and more Imperial senators and heirless nobles are using the role to interact with courtiers and nobles residing in Midheim. Although many were still handpicked veterans and renowned heroes of Clamund, many nobles cherished the title merely for its political renown. The use of spies have also emerged in the Empire, handpicked for their elusive renown in courtly assassinations and spying attempts, some Palantine Guards were given the title for their ability to practically gather information from anywhere across Clamund and beyond. Many have claimed that an unknown amount of spies were present at any given time during this era, and their numbers remained known only to high-ranking nobles within the Empire and the Emperor himself.

A rise in banditry was documented during the early first decade of the 6th century and the Palantine Guard was regularly dispatched across the fields surrounding Midheim to quell raids and occupations in the villages linked to the city. Many small-scale pitched battles were started by the Palantine Guard and fatalities were often expected due to their numbers being against them depending on the size of outlaw warbands. This was an era of personal combat prowess within the Guard and it resulted in a record lack in crime and raids within the Province of Midheim.

### The Paragon Rebellions, 539-553

The Paragon Rebellions was the first example of division within the Palantine Guard during political unrest. For many within the guard, religion was split between the Old Faith and Paragonism, and when Midheim declared its allegiance to the Holy Empire; making it a key resource in developing its armies, the Palantine Guard fractured at the first declaration. The Betrayal at Odo Garden was the beginning of the fracture as a ceremony declaring the absolute authority of the Arch-Confessor led to over 50 Palantine Guardsmen to turn on their comrades while in formation at the ceremony. The affair was a stain on the start of the rebellion which led to over 30 casualties within the Guard and over 100 in civilian and soldiers.

After an extensive screening process to determine who was loyal within the Palantine Guard after the betrayal was conducted, the remaining guardsmen presently serving the guard remained at 78. The Palantine Guard would experience multiple attacks during its attempts to settle Midheim after the declaration as a majority of the population was attacked by Old Faith zealots that paraded the streets, attacking anyone related to Paragonism. These riots would stretch the guard thin, and kill more guardsmen including many nobles and heroes of Clamund. Their numbers were diminished by the 1st Battle of Midheim as they were quickly gathered to form the core of a largely peasant army against the Armies of Emperor Lazlo. The pyrrhic victory won at Midheim fractured the Palantine Guard further into only a couple dozen guardsmen following the route of the 1st Battle of Midheim in 550, but their sacrifice had granted them great honors and each of the remaining Palantine Guards alive after the Paragon Rebellions would be awarded with royal titles and lands that originally belonged to rebel lords. The Palatine Guards that were given the rewards were split across the Empire and often they inherited troubled lands as many were left for years without a centralized lord to govern over them, resulting in rampant banditry and famine across multiple regions in the Empire. The Palantine Guard that inherited Volkstien in 553 discovered that a bandit republic known as the Territory of Zotteburg had dominated the land as a petty republic due to the death of their lord in 544 during the first war of Visimar.

## Under the Holy Empire, 539-924

Soon after the Paragon Rebellions, The Holy Empire would make extensive reforms to most of its armies following the incorporation of the multiple orders of faith militias that formed across the Empire. This affected the depleted Palantine Guard as well as many of the remaining guardsmen who weren't landed nobles forgone their vows to become lords. Heroes of the faith militia were incorporated into the Palantine Guard. Many of the guards were personally handpicked by the Arch-Confessor for their loyalty and dedication to protection. Despite the numbers of fanatical guardsmen now present in the guard, Emperor Ragnfred the Holy still opted that some guardsmen were drawn from the second-born nobility of Visimar as well as select adventurers and sellswords renowned for their loyalty to Visimar and the Emperor.

### Under Emperor Wulfred IV

It was apparent that two factions had developed within the Palantine Guard at around the end of Ragnfred's reign in 569 following the news of his passing. Upon the election of Wulfred IV, an unsupportive Emperor of the Paragon church, he and a portion of the Palantine Guard would confer with the Arch-Confessor to allow the division of the Palantine Guard into two "camps". This division would lead to solidify the union between the position of Arch-Confessor and Emperor of Visimar and in 571, it was declared that the Palantine Guard would be divided in command between two camps tasked with guarding both figureheads of the empire. This declaration was declared just months before the death of Emperor Wulfred during a skirmish, throwing the Empire into another civil war.

### The Camps

The camps proved to be an innovative solution to the ever-present conflict of religion within the Empire. Although all sworn guardsmen were allegedly known to tolerate Paragonism, there was a divide between those who tolerated, and those who were fanatical to the cause. The camp solution allowed for the division of protection of both Emperor and Arch-Confessor to be distributed to those who were religious and those who served to protect the Emperor.

This division led to competition among guardsmen who often competed in athletic games and sports common among nobles. Many guardsmen have also upheld their political ties as Palantine Guard to their advantage, but this practice was far more common in the Emperor's camp than the Arch-Confessor's. Although during peace and times of political stability the camps are friendly, political strife would often see them fighting against each other as they did during the betrayal at Odo Garden.

### The War For The Crown

Shortly after the establishment of the Camps, the Palantine Guard would divide among themselves again after the death of Wulfred as Jorg gathered support amongst the Emperor's camp, many of whom were vying within the political realm for his ascension to the throne. Upon the discovery of Sigmund the Fat's ascension to the throne rather than Jorg's, the camp was allegedly in uproar as they incited a riot within the city before Jorg's arrival. Shortly after, Jorg entered the Emperor's Camp; a military barracks just outside Midheim, and incited his followers and supporters to raise their arms. Jorg then in the spring of 571 entered the city along with a couple dozen hired sellswords entered the Emperor's Palace and fought with the Arch-Confessor's camp who was stationed to guard the palace at the time.

Fighting between the Palantine Guard was sporadic and the palace soon turned into a battlefield in under 10 minutes as all 100 of the guardsmen fought in matched combat. Once Jorg entered the Emperor's chambers and killed Sigmund after a few Palantine Guardsmen discovered he was attempting to jump off his balcony, the fighting began across the city and those Palantine Guardsmen still loyal to Midheim were dispatched to calm the violent riots which resulted in over 1000 casualties and over 500 slain.

The Palantine Guard would now remain divided for the rest of the civil war as supporters loyal to both sides became bodyguards to each supporter. For Jorg, as many as 22 guardsmen remained of the 56 that pledged their support and continued to support him upon his death in early 574 after Jorg and the last 3 remaining guardsmen loyal to him; many of whom were tattered and armed only with dagger and club, were ambushed by peasants after they thought they were bandits breaking into their storehouse. It was said that the last remaining guardsmen fought for 10 minutes before bleeding out and collapsing in front of a group of serfs armed with pitchforks and knives.

The succession crisis that followed the death of Roderick and Jorg would not fortunately see the Palantine Guard divided as those who remained were loyal to the Arch-Confessor who laid his support on Ealdred II following the death of the lunatic emperor in 571. The guardsmen fought and protected Ealdred in battle during the unstable years of the succession crisis and many had gained a ton martial experience and skill by the end of the crisis in 599. By the end of the war, only 12 guardsmen remained out of the 126 before the war began.

After the civil war, it was agreed upon by Ealdred II and Constantin Manninger that the number of Palantine Guards in service would be reduced from 120 to just 60, giving each leader only 30 guardsmen to protect them.

### High Middle Age

Throughout the High Middle Age, the Palantine Guard would be unremarkable as Ealdred II and Major IV would lead the Empire into a relative state of indirect rule following the civil war. The guard would still be relevant in politics considering that a majority of the guard was now apart of the Emperor's Camp and of noble blood. Extensive efforts were made however to extend the spy networks established by the Palantine Guard, one of whom was allegedly a retainer for a Sultan in the Golden Empire. The network would remain powerful within Clamund, allowing Visimar to attain knowledge of politics and schemes from across the continent.

A unit of Palantine horsemen would also be established at the request of Major IV towards the end of his life during an unnamed peasant rebellion in the Eastern Kingdom in 679 for the simple reason of needing a mounted police force in Midheim. They would prove to be as effective as the knight and would in fact route a formation of robber knights and their retainers during a battle outside the town of Andu in 679. The unit would be heavily armed with a mixture of plate and chainmail. This would soon develop into full plate once it was widespread implemented by the wealthiest nobles beginning in 700.

## Under Hartwig the Immortal, 924-1095

Shortly after the death of Karl II in late 924, Hartwig was elected to be Emperor prior to the discovery that he was a high wizard specialized in necromancy. Using his powers, he established his dominance of the realm using swathes of creatures from under the earth as well as the help of a demon under a blood pact. The assistance of large bands of orcs from the Wildman plains and the mountains of Clonran came into play as well, with tribal champions and unwaveringly loyal orcs filled the ranks of the Palantine Guard. Although oblivious at first due to some magical spell that confused the entire palace, some Palantine Guards were horrified to discover that Woldemar Bodenstein; the Arch-Confessor at the time, was murdered by Hartwig following a dispute of power amongst the Palantine Camps. His death in 928 would result in the disbanding of the Arch-Confessor Camp which some Guardsmen refused to relinquish. After the departure of the Arch-Confessor camp, men of the Emperor's Camp would begin to disappear from service due to unknown causes.

After the inclusion of orc warlords and champions into the Palantine Guard alongside humanoid demons and devoted cultists. Some Half-Orcs have also appeared for the first time as Palantine Guards after the removal of the last human guardsmen as it was soon discovered that Hartwig used the bodies of his Palantine Guard as experiments within the palace's dungeons to splice them into dangerous and threatening creatures. He succeeded, and the Palantine Guard was soon reduced to a band of experiments and savages delegated to be Hartwig's private army of terror. The Palantine Guard would cease to exist until its reintroduction with the Purple Party's reign late into their regency in 1090.

The Palantine Guard at this stage would include a vast array of mercenaries hired by senators of the Purple Party with what remaining funds they collected before their deficit in 1094. The Guard had no loyalties and no established camp until the election of Einhard Kranz later that year yet control over the guards would remain dubious at best as many of the guards abused their position to gain a political position within Visimar.

## Early Medieval Period, 1100-

As of lately, the Palantine Guard has returned control to the nobility and heroes of Clamund after most of the mercenaries hired during the Purple Party's reign were either assassinated or simply killed in battle. Unlike it's position and role it had over 500 years ago, the Palantine Guard has simply been reduced to a ceremonial level of position as a well established city guard system within Midheim allowed for the Guard to have a reduced role outside of ceremony and battle. Armour has mainly become ornamental at this time and has become more fashionable with golden plated armour studded with small jewels and steel. Most members of the guard are still noble's sons and daughters who cannot inherit their father's titles and as a result use the title as a way to interact with the political world.

Spies are still extensively used by the Empire and many of the members of the Palantine Guard are given secret roles of spies. Given the rise in religious dominance over the rest of the kingdoms in Clamund, many of the Palantine Guard are secretly inserted into many kingdoms along with Confessors in order to assassinate and dictate the Emperor's will in unfamiliar territory. As of recently, no spies have ever been caught that serve the Palantine Guard alive as Palantine Guard spies carry a lethal dosage of poison to use when caught.