Household Guard

The Household guard serves as a Professional Army for the Holzgethan Dynasty. They are charges with the protection of the family, their estates and the law enforcement in each of Austria's major cities.

### Divisions of the Guard

The Household Guard is split into 3 divisions:

* The Royal Guard
* The City Guard
* The Realms Guard
* The Household Guard

#### Royal Guard

The Royal Guard are comprised entirely of Knights from the Household Guard or other areas of the world. The Royal Guard is charged with the defence of the Archduchess, the Crowned Prince and the Highest religious figure present. Currently there are 18 Men of the Royal Guard.

#### City Guard

The City Guard are the keepers of peace. They are charged with the upholding of peace and order in the cities, the escort of important individuals and merchants between cities and the crackdown of banditry and crime. The are currently 3,800 City Guards throughout the realm.

#### Realms Guard

The Realms Guard is the general purpose soldiers of the Household guard, charged with garrisoning areas of strategic importance while acting as a standing army to fight off invaders. It is also the youngest division of the Household Guard, being formed by Yennefer von Holzgethan in 1396. There are currently 7,250 New Guards in service, many of which are conscripts.

#### Household Guard

The Household Guard is the main force, charged with the defence of royal estates. The Household guard is the oldest division, being formed by Leopold I von Holzgethan. There is currently 500 guards actively serving.

### Organisational Structure

The Household Guard comprises of 500 men. These soldiers are divided up into 10 retinues of 50, which are further divided into Lances of 10. Each retinue has its own station or duty assigned to it. The following is a list of each Retinue::

* First 'Crown' Retinue
* Second 'Shield' Retinue
* Third 'Home' Retinue
* Fourth Retinue
* Fifth Retinue
* Sixth Retinue
* Seventh Retinue
* Eighth Retinue
* Ninth Retinue
* Tenth Retinue

### Positions

The Household Guard consists of many ranks, postings and titles denoting pay grades, prestige and experience.

#### Ranks

##### Low Ranks

* Recruit Guardsman - Guardsman in training.
* Junior Guardsman - Newly inducted guardsman.
* Guardsman - Official Guardsman.
* Senior Guardsman - Seasoned Guardsman.
* Squire - Man-at-Arms in training.

##### Officer Ranks

* Corporal - Leader of a Lance .
* Serjeant-at-Arms - Leader of two Lances.
* Man-at-Arms - A member of the Royal guard or a Guardsman recently annointed.
* Master-at-Arms - Responsible for the training of a Retinue.
* Kapitan - The commander of a Retinue and the First Lance.
* Commander - A Kapitan placed in charge of one or more other Kapitans.
* High Commander - Kapitan of the First Retinue and Leader of the entire Household Guard.

#### Postings

* Wien
* Salzburg
* Holzgethan
* Mercenary
* Prague
* Support

#### Titles

* Sesquip - Named after the Roman "Sesquiplicarius", denoting 1.5x pay
* Duplicara - Named after the Roman "Duplicarius", denoting 2x pay
* Triplicara - Named after the Roman "Triplicarius", denoting 3x pay

### History

#### Early History (1062-1153)

##### Leopold I (1062-1091)

The Household guard was formed in 1067 by Leopold I von Holzgethan after his conquest of Wien. At the time, the Household guard had only one retinue, comprised of 100 men who he had stationed at Holzgethan Castle. Leopold eventually made the decision to form a second Retinue in 1072 after the First Consolidation War (1069-1072), which he charged with the defence of the new capital of Wien. During the First Venetian War (1082-1089), the First Retinue held off a Venetian host 800 strong on its own long enough for an Austrian Army to gather and relieve the siege. For this defence, they were granted a post at Wien while a third 100 man guard force was formed from the defenders who aided the First Retinue fight the Venetian siege.

##### Frederick I (1091-1103)

When Leopold I's died in 1091, his son, Frederick I rose to the Austrian throne. Frederick I spent his reign raising salaries for the household guard and giving bonuses to the organisation. Throughout his reign, the Household guard quickly became a corrupt organisation. The constant pay rises would have crippled the Austrian economy if it wasn't for his son, Prince Frederick 'The Thrift' who was able to stabilise the increasingly dire situation through a series of economic reforms. The First Retinue participated in the First Austro-Salzburgian War (1096-1099) and the First Bohemian War (1102-1103), the latter of which ended in Frederick I's assassination at the order of High Commander Marco 'The Butcher' after Frederick threatened to replace Marco with his son, Giacomo.

##### Frederick II (1103-1121)

When Frederick I died, Frederick II immediately rounded up the co-conspirators and executed them. Giacomo 'the Steadfast' was placed as High Commander of the Guard. Learning of this, the Second Retinue in Wien rose up in rebellion to avenge their late High Commander. Shortly after, the Third Retinue was marching to Wien to meet with the first, and thus, the Austrian Civil War (1103-1109) began. Frederick II eventually came out victorious, initiating reforms to the Household guard. Frederick II decreased the number of men per retinue by half, creating the Fourth Retinue out of the remaining guards and establishing the first Lance of the Royal Guard as a Precaution to avoid more assassination attempts. The rest of Frederick II's reign was spent attempting to connect Austria to his ancestral home of Holzgethan Castle. Although his campaigning's goal was never reached, Frederick II still managed to utilise the four retinues under his command, gaining him the new nickname of 'The Soldier Duke'.

##### Interregnum (1121-1130)

Frederick II died in 1121 without a clear successor to the Austrian throne. This led to a succession crisis as many claimants began plotting to take to throne. The "Lex Interregnum" established by Duke Leopold I that decreed that a new Duke would be elected amongst the immediate court if there were no viable heir, while a regent was placed as temporary Duke. This however did not come to be effective, as the regent selected claimed the throne as his as Frederick's only male cousin. He was dethroned a month later when a siege of Household guards broke the defences of the palace in Wien. The elections were then prevented when Wolfgang 'The Usurper', supposedly being Holzgethan, established the Republic of Austria during a coup. He ruled until 1127 when a second coup destroyed his army and placed the sixty year-old Giacomo 'The Steadfast' as regent. Giacomo brutally destroyed all opposition to his rule before finally reopening elections in late 1129. By the end of a year, a distant relative descended from Leopold I's brother, Otto von Holzgethan ascended to the throne.

##### Albert I (1130-1153)

As soon as Albert I ascended to the title of Duke, he established the Fifth retinue of the Household guard, expanded the First Retinue to 75 of which were entirely veterans from other retinues and established the City Guard under Fritz von Ludenburg. The first retinue of the City Guard which was founded was titled the 'Crownguard', and numbered only 25 and patrolled close to the palace. The 'Crownguard' was soon expanded to 100 and became the First Retinue. The formation of the City Guard caused a rivalry between the two Wien Houseguard retinues and the newly formed organisation sister organisation. This led to several skirmishes, bar fights and other violence across Wien from men both on and off duty. Eventually in 1135, the murder of a City Guard corporal during a confrontation forced the Household guard to relinquish their law enforcement duties at the orders of Duke Albert. The murderer, a man by the name of Ludwig was tortured and hung by the City Guard as punishment. The Houseguard's legal authority was restored soon after, when Albert I, Giacomo 'The Steadfast' and Fritz von Ludenburg agreed to split the city of Wien into two administrative zones, with Greater Wien placed under the authority of Giacomo, and the outer city being under the City Guard and Ludenburg.

Albert I took the Household guard on 3 campaigns, labelled the 'Albertian Wars', which all led to an exponential growth in Austrian wealth and territory. During the campaigns, High Commander Giacomo 'The Steadfast' died from an unknown disease at the age of 71 years old and was replaced by the new High Commander William von Tyrol. According to some stories, William was supposedly appointed to the office in the middle of a battlefield. Upon returning home, William spent one month with each retinue in Austria, and began the petition for a fifth foreigner retinue, although this would not be approved until Albert I was on his deathbed. In 1143, the Fourth Retinue Rebellion began after their captain, Karl 'the Gluttonous' was exposed for embezzlement. However, it was ultimately a failure as the City Guard managed to defeat them along with the Second Retinue in 1144. In 1148, a petition was sent by Albert I to the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III, who granted him the title of "Archduke of Austria" at the time of his death. Albert I would eventually die in 1153 after succumbing to cancer. He was succeeded by his son, Albert II.

#### The Archduchy (1153-Present)

##### Albert II (1153-1168)

The Household guard had a distain for Albert II, who heavily favoured the City Guard. Their distain for him however, was not unshared. Albert was a Pretender in the eyes of many, who viewed his older brother Ferdinand as the rightful ruler of Austria. Others saw Albert II as an all-in-all terrible, cowardly and incompetent ruler. He flayed those who didn't agree with him on even the smallest problems and burnt whoever he believed did not like him, often with little to no evidence. In 1155, Albert II arrested his brother on account of conspiring his assassination, who he kept until 1158.

In 1156, William von Tyrol began plotting with his captains and even Fritz von Ludenburg to free Ferdinand and dethrone Albert II. This plot was finally executed on 4th March 1158. This was later named the Great Austrian War, which lasted 10 years before finally Albert II was executed. During his execution he was given the nickname of 'Albert the Madman' by Willian von Tyrol.

##### Ferdinand I (1168-1189)

Ferdinand I established the Seventh and Eighth Retinues and increased the size of the First Rentinue to 100 and the others to 80. He also established the Second Lance of the Royal Guard and organised the five City Guard regiments of Wien, with one Barracks at each major section of the city to hold one regiment. Ferdinand also officially removed the legal authority of the Household Guard, reassigning them to civil duties and escort. In 1176, Fritz von Ludenburg died during an accident. Ferdinand decided then to place the City Guard under the Authority of the High Commander. These reforms granted Ferdinand I the nickname 'The Reformer' amongst the Household guard. Ferdinand went on three expeditions with intentions to expand Austrian borders into the south, the First, Second, Seventh and Eighth retinues were all taken with him and placed in the reserves Ferdinand died from fever on his third campaign against Croatia in 1189. He was also the man to unify Austria with Holzgethan Castle.

##### Leopold II (1189-1233)

Leopold II inherited the throne in 1189 at the age of 3. He was the grandson of Ferdinand I who's son, also named Ferdinand, died along with his father from fever during the Second Croatian Expedition. In 1296, High Commander William died, being replaced by the Commander of the Royal Guard, Adolf von Excaliburg (Not to be confused with his great grandson, the current Archduke of Austria). He was also placed as the boys regent after due to William's death during his time as regent. Adolf spent a lot of his time campaigning, though it was only to weaken Austria's neighbours. Leopold II's regency ended in 1201, upon his 15th birthday. Much of his time was spent worrying about internal affairs, although war eventually broke out when the rising duchy of Tyrol joined together with the republic of Venice to go to attack Austria in 1204. 2 Armies were formed in order to deal with each of the allied armies, with 4 Retinues of Household guards attached to each one the war would occupy the majority of Leopold II's rule, and would later be named the Roman Civil War, or the Twenty Years' War.

In 1224, the Austrian-led alliance which had formed during the war had emerged victorious and gained several territories in both the north and south of Austria. The territorial negotiations were led by Adolf von Excaliburg. During the war, the young Leopold II had grown to become a great military strategist. Tyrol was made a tributary of Austria after the war and the rulership of the duchy was given to House Excaliburg. The rest of Leopold II's reign was Peaceful, with no wars fought and little to no internal strife. Leopold II died in 1233 at the age of 47 due to lung complications. Tyrol soon broke free from Austrian rule, but under House Excaliburg, Austria and Tyrol had never any severe complications again. On his deathbed, Leopold II was granted the title of 'The Great' from his people and his deeds are remembered by the local clergy now and centuries to come.

##### Maximillian I (1233-1253)

Maximillian I succeeded his father in 1233. During his long reign, he barely interacted with the Household Guard in any significant way outside of being to one to lay the foundations of a professional standing army for Austria, naming it the "New Guard". However, his plans never would come to fruition in his lifetime. Maximillian did not do much to the City Guard except establish them in Salzburg under the new High Commander Johann von Salzburg, in 1247. All records of what happened to Adolf von Excaliburn has gone missing. Maximillian died in 1253, leaving behind no prominent legacy.

##### Maximillian II (1253-1318)

Maximillian II was the son of Maximillian I. He inherited the throne in 1253. He was already 32 when he became Archduke. It is largely debated amongst clergymen whether this figure actually existed, whether he is the name for several Archdukes who are lost to history, a lucky man, or more than a man. What is known however is that there was a Maximillian II though it is uncertain when he lived and just that he died in 1318 and was alive before 1280. There are also little Austrian records for what occured in Austria, but those who remember, know that Austria had become an economic powerhouse in Europe since then, and had abstained from becoming Holy Roman Emperor despite the newly gained power to be elected as such. The Royal guard supposedly possess the lost records, however they remain secretive and deny any such records.

Whoever he may be, Maximillian had created the groundwork for what would soon to become the Realms Guard, repaired the Austrian economy, and expanded the Holzgethan Dynasty tenfold. He appears to have been named the 'Blood Father' throughout his rule, and all oral stories from the time seem to support this.

##### **Frederick III (1318-1350)**

Frederick III came to the title in 1318 following the death of Maximillian II. He was a pious man who forsook the ancestral way of war and tried to stay at peace for as long as possible. During this time, the Household guard participated in 2 minor conflicts fighting off a Hungarian army in the First Hungarian War (1323-1325) and then a Bavarian incursion in the First Bavarian War (1327-1329). He granted the clergy more land than they had previously gotten from any Duke or Archduke of Austria before and strengthened religious laws in Austria. Frederick III also reduced the Household guard retinues to their sizes before Ferdinand I's reforms.

Frederick III died in 1350 due to a heart attack.

##### Frederick IV (1350-1390)

Frederick IV succeeded his father in 1350. Unlike his father, Frederick was an extremely militant person. In 1356 he had finished preparations to form the Realms Guard. He formed 5 regiments of 500 men and split the regiments into retinues, retinues into lances, so on and so on. He also committed to expanding the City guards to 3 new cities by the end of his reign, which he managed to do better, expanding them to 5 new cities, and increasing the numbers per regiment from 100 to 150. On top of this, he also formed the Ninth Household Guard retinue. Despite the strain on the economy these reforms initially caused, his expansion ambitions soon overcame them. In 1361, he marched his newly formed Realms Guard and four Household Guard against Croatia in the Third Croatian War (1361-1364), Capturing many territories for the Archduchy and establishing their position as Europe's newest military power. He later took revenge on the kingdoms of bohemia and tyrol for their defeats of Austria. He subjugated tyrol once again in 1365 in a marriage pact between Adolf von Excaliburg and Yennefer von Holzgethan, and in 1382, marched to Bohemia in the Second Bohemian War (1382-1386), taking the entire Duchy and placing now Crowned Princess Yennefer von Holzgethan as Duchess Yennefer II of Bohemia in 1387. Archduke Frederick IV died in 1390 peacefully.

##### Yennefer I (1391-Present)

Yennefer I succeeded her father in 1391 following a short, year-long succession crisis. She has reigned 9 years now, and will continue to do so for many years to come. Under her, the Realms Guard has become the largest standing army in Europe, with 7,250 soldiers. The tenth Household guard retinue has recently been formed by Fritz von Holzgethan, its nature secretive and obscured in lies, myth and rumour and the economy is prospering. With Tyrol coming into the Austrian fold and the Holy Roman Empire at their heels, the Archduchy of Austria has a bright future ahead.

### Notable Members

Here are some notable members of the Household guard:

* Marco 'The Butcher'
* Giacomo 'The Steadfast'
* William von Tyrol
* Karl 'The Gluttonous'
* Adolf von Excaliburg
* Johann von Salzburg
* Andros Belissar