The Authority
I guess it depends on how you look at them, doesn't it? How they affect you personally, y'know?
I mean, if some raiders hit your farm, stealing what little you have, and the Authority comes along to show you the heads of those raiders, you'd be a mite grateful, sure. The raiders won't feel the same, but we can all agree that no one really cares about their thoughts on the matter. But when they then charge you for the service, do you still feel as grateful? When you've already lost everything you have, and are just trying to figure out how you're going to survive the winter, do you really want to trade whatever you can scrounge for the knowledge that someone else took care of the people that hurt you? It's not like you're ever getting the fruits of your labor back - you'd think they could survive just by looting the looters.
Take the guy ahead of me. He was a tinker out of Wolfstone, before he got hit by a group of bandits. Took his wagon, took his cash, took his tools - surprised they left him his life, but they did. He made it to the next town, and through the help of some people there that knew him, he was able to get some food and enough money to make it back home. Good people there, and they knew he was, too. He was getting ready to head out for home, when three of those bloody great warhorses came in, with two Knights and a Captain. The Captain rode up, looked at a paper, and at the guy, and asked his name. He gave his name - by this point, we all know there's no point in lying to the Authority about something like that.
When he told them, the Knights opened their bags and pulled out a head and a number of thumbs. The man recognized the head as the leader of the robbers, and had no doubt who the thumbs came from. The Captain held out his hand, as the Knights circled him. No real choice - he took out what little he had. The Captain counted it, pocketed it, then handed him back his pouch and a single copper.
As they were leaving, the man caught a glimpse of his tools in one of the Knight's saddlebags. The leather pouch his wife had made him was distinctive. He snapped. The Authority is no better than the bandits who robbed him in the first place, he told me, and probably worse. With nothing to lose, he followed them, looking for an opportunity to get his tools back. The way he tells it, he hadn't even attempted to do anything when they spotted him and brought him here.
Well, looks like I'm next. Good luck to you, friend, and keep an eye out for bandits and raiders, but keep the other eye on the Authority.
Structure
The Knight Commander rules the Authority with an iron fist - the highest law is unquestioned obedience to Vicien and the Knight Commander. The rigid hierarchy is well defined:
- The Knight Commander
- High Marshall (Nine in order)
- Under-Marshall
- Captain
- Knight
- Sergeant
- Squires
Any member is expected to obey anyone of a higher rank.
Culture
The Authority are the law enforcing arm of the Vicien Order, and reflect the pure distillation of his laws. They consider themselves judge, jury, and sometimes executioner, and are willing to impose this on others. They do seek out and punish lawbreakers, which makes them beloved by some, but feared and loathed by others.
Public Agenda
The Authority seeks to enforce the divine will of Vicien across the Terrene. They will go to any lengths necessary to bring order to the world, and those that have not broken laws have nothing to fear from them.
Assets
History
When Vicien gained a foothold in eastern Halion, they faced resistance from the population, and from the large number of outlaws that were spawned in the wake of the civil war. Seeing an opportunity, the Authority was formed.
In the beginning, the authority brutally punished any outlaws, or people they deemed outlaws, wherever they could find them. But they did not attempt to enforce their will on the civilian population. This allowed them to gain a modicum of goodwill, and soon they were part of a number of treaties, tasked with protecting small towns from attack. As they became more powerful, the contracts began to specify that they could assess reasonable fees for services in those towns.
This soon spiraled out of control, but by this time, the Authority was too big and the Order too entrenched to stop.
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