Stewards of the Swords

The Stewards of the Swords are an order of anti-eldritch bodyguards dedicated to protecting and policing the royal family of Malgrave and its most important branches. The family members of the king are known as his Swords—it is the job of the Stewards to ensure that the king's Swords are not turned on him.

Structure

The Steward organization includes trainees, Stewards on active field duty, record keepers, and cleanup officers. Assignments and schedules are made by the King's Executors, government officials that oversee many military matters and serve as a check to the power of the Stewards.

Steward Adjunct

Adjuncts undergo a year of intense military and anti-eldritch training, then serve beneath Diurne Stewards for five additional years to earn the title of Steward. Adjuncts earn a generous amount of money upon enrollment and upon earning the title of Steward. Most adjuncts drop out or die before achieving full Steward status. Those who drop out are often referred to as "sellswords" by the general public. Within the ranks of the Stewards, the term is more often used to accuse actively serving Stewards of having loyalty to someone or something apart from the Crown. In such a context the term is deeply offensive.

Steward

Each Sword is assigned one Steward on a Diurne (day) shift and a Nocturne (night) shift. Schedules and family assignments change often, sometimes on a weekly basis, according to the orders of the king's Executors.
Diurne Steward
Due to the high turnover of the organization, most Stewards on the day shift spend their time training an adjunct in addition to filling their normal responsibilities.
Nocturne Steward
Nocturne Stewards generally have the most encounters with eldritch anomalies; because of this, those assigned to the shift tend to be newly appointed (and therefore less corruptible) Stewards, or veteran or High Stewards who are assigned to a Sword after an encounter to ensure the continued safety of the royal family member. The shift is not an enviable one, but those who take it command respect.

High Steward

If a Steward survives six additional years after adjunct training, they earn the title of High Steward. High Stewards are the only Stewards assigned to the immediate family members of the king; two High Stewards are assigned to a Sword per shift. High Stewards earn higher pay and have greater influence and autonomy.
Foreman
The most senior High Steward in any given county assumes the role of Foreman of the Diurne or Nocturne shift for the duration of their stay. The two Foremen Stewards are responsible for overseeing any collaboration between local Stewards, including during an emergency.

Strategos

The Strategos do not serve in a military capacity; they are ex-Stewards who have retired from the field to curate, update, and organize the extensive records of the organization. While Stewards in the field are responsible for writing and reading the shift records relevant to their current assignments, Strategos sift through daily and weekly shift records and emergency reports to send relevant information to Executors, Foremen, Refiners, and other concerned parties.

Refiners

Refiners are responsible for sorting through the fallout of eldritch events involving Swords. They are often composed of adjunct-dropouts or ex-Stewards, and are colloquially referred to as "Vultures."

Titles and Ordinal Numbers

Any given Steward or adjunct has a full title that includes their shift, rank, and family assignment. For example, the full title of the actively serving Steward Michael Evans is Diurne High Steward Michael Evans of the Montgomery Sword.
In addition, Stewards often use ordinal numerals indicating years of service as nouns to reference themselves, starting with the year they earned the title of Steward. For example, High Steward Michael Evans, having served as a full Steward for seven years, is a Septenary.

Culture

Stewards tend to maintain a certain level of detachment from each other, given the devastating mortality rate of the organization. Nevertheless, when an individual is under threat from an outside source, the Stewards band together and show intense loyalty. The notable exception to this behavior is when a Steward chooses to directly accuse the Sword they are guarding of participating in eldritch activity; despite the fact that this falls under the technical authority of the organization, it is viewed as a crude and even reprehensible approach. Pitting Steward against Sword almost inevitably turns into a political event, and has had severe consequences in the past.
Some Stewards align themselves with the political agendas of a Sword family. This is a fairly common practice, though it is discouraged and looked down on, and can be a Steward's main source of power and influence.
High Stewards are held in good esteem; Stewards who shift sideways in the organization to Strategos rank are respected, while those who end up as Refiners are often looked down on. Retired Stewards are practically unheard of, as a Steward cannot retire until reaching eighteen years of service (twenty-four years total in the organization) unless specially relieved of duty by the king, and therefore hold great respect both within and often without the organization. Samuel Whitley is among the few Stewards to be retired from active duty within living memory, having been retired by the king in his sixteenth year.

True and sure.

Type

Military, Knightly Order

Training Level

Elite

Demonym

Stewards

Leader

King Edmond O'Brien

Parent Organization

Malgrave