Ordinators

The Ordinators are the elite soldiers of the Tiěbàng United Government, who act as both their secret police, and an interventionist military force abroad.

## Composition

Ordinator recruitment most typically occurs from within the city. Patriotic citizens aim to join the Ordinators from birth, training in specialized schools to ease their entry into the force. Beyond the city, among the various remnant Duōzhǒng villages, Ordinators seek to recruit young members of their various tribes and cultures, with the intent of absorbing their identity into that of Tiěbàng.

The order operates by a three-rank system:

* First Class (一等) : The highest-ranking officers of the Ordinators, they direct and lead missions, and answer only to Central Command. Only the best of the best have the honor of being promoted to First Class, a position which holds great prestige and power
* Second Class (二等) : Second class Ordinators work in more clandestine operations, typically engaging in solo missions under the direction of a first class officer. New operatives who display talent have the potential to earn a promotion to second class, though only some have managed to go on from here to a first class ranking.
* Third Class (三等) : The third class is the lowest ranking of the group, members in this category often serve as footsoldiers and ground-level operatives. This is the most common ranking for new operatives, though any who survive for a significant amount of time have potential to reach second class.

## History

The Ordinators were first formed as the military police of Tiěbàng, composed of veterans from the Gnoss Wars, to serve as a mediating party between the then-disunited clans. When founded, the core culture of the group was to encourage unity so that future overlords like the Gnoss Lords could never overcome Tiěbàng again. To this end, the Ordinators led a mass eradication of Gnossi ruins and relics across the central plain, and famously, the burning of Gnossi documents and execution of archmages. This was one of the first points of contention with the Whillin Knights, who preferred to lock away and keep Gnossi knowledge under their own protection, rather than destroy it outright.

As Tiěbàng grew in size and power, so did the Ordinators, and what was initially a police force grew to form the strongest arm of their military, and a silent, but ever-present force in the Unified government. Many council members have previously served as Ordinators, and earning the group's support is a quick path to gaining political appointments in Central Province. With the building of the Great Southern Barrier and "official" cessation of hostilities, the Ordinators have become Tiěbàng's primary method of information-gathering and operations in Ozymandium and beyond, becoming their main face to the world beyond Kazzak.

## Activities

Primarily, Ordinators function as the eyes and ears of the United Government in Tiěbàng and surrounds, with clandestine missions that sometimes take them far beyond their own borders. They operate mostly within the Central Province to police lesser government bureaucrats, though they have a significant military hold in the Jiānyá peninsula and are known to have some presence in northern Ozymandium. Their duties can be as subtle as intel gathering, or as loud as putting down Duōzhǒng rebellions.

The Ordinators serve a secondary function as the public face of Tiěbàng, little is known of them beyond Kazzak, and to many other countries, they present an image of shining white knights who travel the world and bring justice to the wilds. This is the image which they often present in recruitment runs, particularly among Duōzhǒng villages in Jiānyá. As a popular cultural icon of Tiěbàng, they actively try to promote acculturation and assimilation into Tiěbàng proper.