Chapter 33: Guarding the Kingdom

Next up is my scheduled interviews for the castle guards. I hope that there is also a guild for this which would speed up the entire process. Wait, why hope. HELP.

"Yes"

“Is there a registered guild for guards or mercenaries and are they on my list of interviews for the afternoon?”

"Yes"

“Please tell me the name of the guild in question and schedule them first.”

“The Guardsman Guild is already scheduled first.”

It seems that my good karma is finally kicking in. I won’t cancel the others until I make sure of what the Guardsman Guild can provide, but if they are as well organized and as large as the Domestics Guild than I should have an easier time filling the positions I need. I feel a little better prepared for this round of negotiations now that I know the basics of guilds and have had a few questions answered by Alfonso.

Exactly at 1 p.m. the area in front of my throne shimmered and what I can only describe as a grizzled gray bearded dwarf with tattoos and scars enough to make a biker blush teleported in. Hmm, quick mental note, find something to block teleportation except by authorized people in government buildings or I may never get a moments peace. The gentleman in front of me was somewhere around 4 ½ feet to 5 feet tall and other than the tattoos looked like what I imagined every stereotypical dwarf to be like since I started reading fantasy books when I was a kid. He was extremely well muscled and extremely wide and seemed rather menacing while looking wise at the same time.

Identify.

Name: Stefan Rockfist Race: Dvari Level 62 - 76% Affinities: Earth - 92%

Oh my goodness, this guy could give me a run for my money. He is the highest level I have ever identified, besides myself, and he is only the negotiator. As I was processing my new arrival and his abilities he spoke.

“Greetings your majesty, my name is Stefan Rockfist and I represent the Guardsman Guild.”

“Welcome to my kingdom Stefan, as I am rather new at this please excuse any social miscues I might have as my planet has only recently joined the Great Game.”

“Understood sire, thank you for your courtesy.”

“Stefan, I am just going to let you know what I need. Please inform me if your guild can meet the requirements and what you in turn would need to fulfill this contract.”

“That sounds wonderful sire, I personally dislike long negotiations.”

I explain to Stefan that I have just created a new kingdom and immediately need a loyal guard force of sufficient level to secure and maintain the local area and would also like to negotiate for guard forces in the other cities of my kingdom. I tell him of my idea of a group of 100-250 guards of at least level 20 that can hold their own for at least a year against all threats as the planet is assimilated into the Great Game. I would want them to be able to continue to train and increase their skills and levels during the contract. A robust and sturdy chain of command should already be in place. The palace guards would need to be a notch above the rest of the guards hired just as a precaution. Although the guard force in the cities would be larger the palace guard should be elite.

Stefan let me know that this should not be a problem. The Guardsman Guild was more of an administration unit for mercenary forces both small and large. It helped regulate prices and kept both employers and employees honest in their contracts. He mentioned that just like the Domestics Guild a discount is given for kingdoms who allow the guild to set up a branch office within the kingdom.

“Your majesty I see three primary methods to fulfill what I believe is your wants and needs.”

You could hire a large army for your kingdom and have the units or divisions split between the various cities and palace. You could hire individual units from either disbanded armies or surviving units from armies that did not fare well in their last campaign You can hire 3-4 smaller armies and then assign them specific areas of responsibility.

Stefan tried to highlight the positives and negatives of each choice to allow me to make a more informed decision.

Option 1 would be the fastest, but perhaps the least loyal. He said that this did not mean that they would actively try to overthrow their employer, but rather that they would look out for their group first and often would only follow the exact letter of a contract and not the spirit of a contract.

Option 2 allowed for more diversity and specialties in a kingdoms army, but had major issues with who was in charge and who could boss around who. This option would save me money but also take much longer to implement.

Option 3 was more flexible and could be tailored more to specific situations, but rivalry could still rear its head and cause problems.

“Stefan, does your guild have rankings and specialists?” I asked this as an idea started to form inside my brain.

“Yes Sire we do, the rankings of individual soldiers are a matter for each unit or army but certain milestones must be met to be considered for a rank up as a group in the guild. We have five levels of units for hire.”

WarTribe: This group is led by a competent leader but overall numbers do not exceed more than 150 people. WarBand: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 100 but less than 500 people. WarCore: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 500 but less than 5,000 people. WarForce: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 5,000 but less than 25,000 people. WarHost: This group is led by a trained and verified leader tested by the guild and has numbers greater than 25,000 but less than 100,000 people.

“What about just a leadership group?” Stefan looked at me with a questioning look in his eye.

“I mean a group of tried and true professionals, possibly recently retired that could be put together as a leadership core for a nation’s army made from several WarCores or WarForces. This would be a group that is well respected in the guild that the leaders of the individual Warcores or Warforces would recognize and defer to so I could have a more cohesive army and a centralized command structure.”

Stefan’s eyes got big as he considered the implications.

“This could allow for a much easier time deploying disparate forces sire.”

“That was my intention Stefan.”

He told me that he would have to contact his superiors and get their take on this newer concept. He asked if he could use a space and converse with his guild immediately. I showed him to one of the empty rooms in the castle and asked him to contact me immediately once he had a decision from the guild.

I then proceeded back to the throne room and decided to keep interviewing until I found out if the guild could do what I wanted. The next two interviews went well and I added the question of why they were not part of the Guardsmen Guild. Both leaders were upfront and honest in replying that their units were relatively new and did not have enough of a history or time together to be considered for membership in the guild, but were hoping to join after fulfilling my contract. I thanked them both and told them I would contact them with my decision soon.

I heard Stefan politely knock on the throne room doors as my most recent interviewee left by teleportation.

“Sire I have talked with my guild and we are intrigued by your idea. If you are willing to be a test case for this new concept we would give an additional 10% discount for the first year of the contract so that we might evaluate it for the future. This would be on top of the discount you would receive if you allow a branch of the Guardsmen Guild to be established in your kingdom.”

“Stefan, does this mean that the guild currently has a group that they would consider to be able to fulfill my requirements?”

“Yes sire we do, several armies have disbanded in the last 2-3 years and a few of the more notable officers have not taken as well to retirement as they thought they would. After being contacted by the guild they would be willing to be the core leadership group of this test case.”

“Here is my offer than, Stefan. I wish to hire 4 WarForces and 1 WarBand along with the leadership group. The WarBand needs to be elite specialists that will be directly reporting to the leadership group and will provide palace security. Each of the WarForces will be given a section of the kingdom to defend including all the cities and villages located within the borders of their assigned area. How they do that I will leave up to the individual WarForce commanders. However, each WarForce must provide an officer and small token force of 5-10 individuals to stay in the capital and communicate with the new leadership group that will be based here. In the event of large scale war or needed maneuvers the new leadership team will be in overall command of all forces in my kingdom with my approval. I will pay 5 million gold pieces per year along with reasonable upkeep, housing, and food for each WarForce, and 2.5 million gold pieces per year for the Elite WarBand and new leadership team with the same upkeep, housing and food provisions.”

Stefan agreed that the Guardsman Guild could readily find 4 Warforces and an Elite WarBand that would fit my criteria and payment offer. He would have the guild send the leadership team to the kingdom tomorrow and the officers of the 4 WarForces and 1 WarBand would arrive the next day. The complete transfer of forces would occur within three days upon receipt of the first year’s salary.