Kessid City Watch

**General:**

 Kessid, in Irroquin,
 is a diverse and metropolitan city. It is one of the larger ports on
the southern coast of the continent, and profits greatly from this role.
 The city itself is split into many neighborhoods, called quarters (even
 though there are more than four of these neighborhoods.) The City Watch
 is responsible for maintaining peace and order within the city. The
Watch takes this role very seriously, and, accomplishes it using many
different techniques.

**Devices and Uniforms:**

All watchmen wear a deep blue tabard with the Irroquin crest on the
upper left chest. Officers will have a rank insignia below the crest.
The Crown Guard substitutes deep purple tabards instead of the blue.
Choice of weapons and equipment is left each individual guard, though;
they are encouraged to carry a sword, rather than something more exotic.

**Goal:**
The goal of the City Watch is to maintain the peace, order, and
profitability of the capitol city, Kessid. A specialized unit of the
City Watch is the Crown Guard, tasked with the safety and security of
the Prince, and the Palace Keep.

**Territory:**
The Watch is responsible for the city proper, however, often handles
small incidents in the surrounding farmland. Larger problems, outside
the city, are handed off to the regular army. The Crown Guard travel
with the Prince, and, therefore, can be found anywhere in the civilized
lands.

**Genesis:**
As the city of Kessid grew in size, it became only natural that a group
would be needed to help defend it’s land if threatened. For centuries
the Watch was a militia, a gathering of the able-bodied in times if
trouble. As Kessid became a center of trade, and the amount of money
moving through its streets increased, the need for a full-time City
Watch became apparent.

**Past:**
Nothing much worth mentioning has happened throughout the history of the
 City Watch. The government of Irroquin has always been pragmatic (read:
 Wealthy), so, the city and country rarely need to defend its borders.

**Present:**
The City Watch, like most members of the Kessid community, is interested
 in making money. The guards themselves are paid by the city, though,
not enough to compensate for the amount of hassle they put up with.
Therefore, almost to a man, the Watch is extremely good at making some
money on the side. There are large-scale agreements between the
organization itself and other guilds, and individual guards often
supplement their income here and there…

**Alliances:**
The Watch is closely aligned with the Lamplighters’ Guild, without whom patrolling at night would be a lot more complicated. There is rumor of the Watch and the Thieves Guilds having an ‘understanding’.

**Enemies:**
The Watch has no true enemies, over time. Those who are breaking the
rules (the few rules there are in Kessid) are short-term enemies, if you
 will.

**Leadership:**
The City Watch is a military-style organization, with the Commander as
the highest ranking Guard. Down the ranks are Majors, Captains,
Lieutenants, Sergeants, Corporals, and, Guards.

**Divisions:**
The only Division is the Crown Guard, which is simply a highly
specialized group of the City Watch who are responsible for protecting
the Crown and the Palace.

**Code & Prohibitions:**
There is a fine line between maintaining the peace, and, destroying the
system. The guards all know that they live on this line. Make some
money, but, also, get your job done. Maybe once a year you will hear
rumor of a guard crossing the line, and, getting fired, banished, or,
incarcerated.

**Recruitment:**
The City Watch hires new members like any other business. New employees
will have to show some sort of skill that can help the Watch accomplish
its goals.

**Typical Member:**
All races, except Beastmen, are represented within the City Watch. A typical guard will be observant, intelligent, and, sly.

**Generally Known:**
The Watch is known for playing fair, if not always by the rules. The
right amount of squeeze will get you just about anything you need from
the City Watch.

**In-Character Quote:**
“Okay Jonesy, time to move along. I know the Beggars’ arranged this
corner for you, but, the Prince is coming, and, he hates to see the
riff-raff…You can come back later tonight.”

**Out-of-Game Contact:**
Mike A

**Red File:**
There is some juicy red file stuff. Let me know if you need to hear about it for a plot or a character.