Red Guard of Oluz

The Red Guard of Oluz is a corps of elite bodyguards who have, for some three hundred years, been maintained by the Jawenyod family, long the de facto rulers of the city of Oluz. Though demonstrably capable of handling their duties protecting the family, they are only ever occasionally called upon to do so, and serve a primarily ceremonial and propagandistic role, renowned for their flamboyant panache and espirit de corps as much as their combative prowess.

Formation and history

The city of Oluz was hard-pressed in the latter stages of The Great Northern War of the second century AWR. Delegated control of the city's navy, the Jawenyod family rapidly gained prominence and power in the war, a move that appears to have irked some of the other families who constituted the Venerable Oligarchics of Oluz. Rather than have Oluz saved by the Jawenyods, the official line runs, these other families would see it destroyed by their policies, and stirred up political unrest against the family.
The oligarchs of Oluz had long employed bodyguards to escort them to and fro in the city. Such guards were typically employed on a short-term basis and were paid in part to be discrete. in 146 AWR, however, when opposition escalated to the point that an attempt was made on the life of the head of the family, the Jawenyods opted for a new strategy. They would form a permanent personal guard, equip, train an house them at their own expense and, rather than hiding them furtively in their entourage as if they were an embarrassment, turn them into a theatrical accompaniment to the family's public dealings. The key to having people accept the presence of permanent armed guards, it was said, was to make those guards entertaining. A total of 16 local mercenaries (none, it was carefully observed, were drawn from the navy) passed the resulting rigorous training and screening program the following year. Though that headcount has no particular significance, it has been adopted as the canonical strength of the Guard.
The Red Guard have since served as both the public minders of the Jawenyod family and the guards of their family estate in the richest section of Oluz. They have been called into public action on only a handful of occasions, since their mere presence has seemingly been enough to deter attacks on their charges. This has led to a widespread perception that the Guard is simply for show, though this idea abides in part because the family do not publicise the far more frequent encroachment on their estates by burglars and other interlopers, many of them armed. The Guards interdict these intruders very efficiently.

Institutional culture

The Red Guard of Oluz are renowned for their espirit de corps as much as their combative prowess. They have, over three hundred years, built up a body of traditions and practices which are widely publicised and have proved entertaining enough to have earned them the enduring affection of the broader community.

Facial hair

At the insistence of their employers, the Red Guard of Oluz grow long handlebar mustaches, which as the individual guardsman's service continues typically grows into long, flowing side-whiskers. The members of the unit often devote considerable energy to complementing each other's facial hair, and to do so with reference to a Guardsman who is not present is the accepted method of commenting on his overall calibre as a member of the unit.
The accepted method of discussing female members of the guard - who, although never more than a minority, usually exist - is to be especially complementary of her mustache, regardless of whether one intends to speak highly of her overall performance or not.

Livery

The livery of the Guard was designed to be eye-catching and outlandish and has only become more so as it has remained unchanged in defiance of fashion and practicality. The uniform consists of a bright red knee-length thawb fastened with ostentatious brass buttons, a half-cape in a slightly darker crimson colour, heavy white leather webbing, knee-high black boots, and a white sallet secured with an elaborately braided gold chinstrap, equipped with two tall red plumes. This uniform is widely regarded as ridiculous, a point that the Guard themselves straight-facedly own up to without expressing any shame whatsoever.
The Guard carry ornate scimitars on their left hips and slim straight daggers on their webbing. They spar frequently with the former and employ the latter as throwing weapons, often conducting elaborate trick shots with them.

Songs

The Guard are celebrated for their rolling singing voices and large stock of comic songs, which typically consist of long catalogs of hyperbole about their devotion to their employers and the city of Oluz in general. Corps rules strictly forbid the recording of any of these lyrics in writing, or explanation of them to non-members (including their employers), though loud public performances, as when escorting a member of the Jawenyods from place to place in the city, mean that snatches of verses have become known to the general public. At a first hearing most of these songs appear quite serious, and very sincere in their use of epic similes and involved, tortured lyrical metaphors. It is only on repeat hearings that a listener will fully appreciate how self-deprecating lyrics such as "The Ducks of Old Oluz" and "She Was Only an Oligarch's Daughter" really are. As with most other things about the corps, the idea is to be impressive without being intimidating.

Messes

When off-duty the Guard are entitled to live and conduct themselves as they will. Periodically, however, they will be summoned to the corps's headquarters, a small hall built on the Jawenyod family estate, to spend an evening at a mess. This is a ceremonial meal, usually involving a roast goat and excessive quantities of the desserts for which Oluz is famed, consumed in full uniform amid much merriment and the recitation of various songs, sayings and jokes. Comic set pieces based around the units elaborate protocol are frequent and may run for hours. The guest list is absolutely, strictly restricted to full members, their spouses, ladies to whom a Guardsman has expressed tender sentiment, servants, diplomatic guests, the head of the Jawenyod family, maiden aunts of Guardsmen, clerics of Ajqyod, geese, tortoiseshell kittens and the attractive daughters of Andymalonian senators vouched for by members of the guard (to be valid such vouching should be conducted in fluent antique Oluzpik with the young lady in question's undergarment worn on the voucher's head).
Messes are considered among the most solemn and important of the Guard's traditions and are not to be mocked on any account.

Type

Infantry