Noble Guard

There is a unique subdivision of the Blakfort Royal Army, which is the Noble Guard. It is a relatively small segment of the army, but its members serve an important role. They are tasked with protecting the most important nobles of the kingdom as well as the Blakfort King. They are outfitted with plate armor, but mostly serve as ceremonial guards for most of the time.
Members of the Noble Guard often come from nobility and as such learn dueling from a young age. Their primary role during an attack is to quickly engage any assassin or saboteur that might threaten their master, where their dueling capabilities often come in handy.

Equipment

Armor

Every Noble Guard is outfitted with standardized armor that is produced throughout the realm at various locations. As Noble Guards are much less likely to be attacked than a Patron, they are not required to wear as much protection.

• Similarly to Patrons, Noble Guards wear a gambeson. However, their padded armor is much less extensive as it doesn't cover their legs nearly as much. This layer is mostly used as padding under their other layers.
• On top of their padded armor, Noble Guards are outfitted with steel plate armor that covers their vitals as well as their extremities. As they often ride horses besides the noble they are protecting, their leg armor is limited to allow for a more comfortable riding experience.
• They wear no helmet as it would impede their awareness, which is crucial when trying to disable would be attackers before they can do harm.
• Noble Guards also wear a cloak with one of their pauldrons on top of it, which makes it quite a chore to doff. These cloaks serve as protection from the weather as well as symbols of their status.

Weapons

All Noble Guards are armed with a longsword, which they are masters of. Even though this weapon is not the best suited against armored opponents, Noble Guards rarely face battle-ready soldiers.

Miscellaneous

While their ceremonial look can be deceiving, Noble Guards have quite a few additional gear that are required of them to carry constantly.

• Similarly to Patrons, Noble Guards also carry a small flask of healing elixir. However, where a Patron is merely stabilized by theirs, a Noble Guards healing potion can put them back into the fight, or the protected noble can be quickly rejuvenated to allow their escape.
• An often overlooked capability of the Noble Guard is to counter magic users with their ring of counterspell. Each guard wears one of these and each can be used once daily. If a magic user is unaware of this, they can find themselves quickly disarmed of all of their magical abilities.

Duties

Whilst a Noble Guard is required to be on alert all the time, they do have some additional tasks that need to be done regularly outside of just watching out for would be assassins.

• Tasting the food of the protected noble in case its poisoned
• Maintaining equipment
• Sparring

Qualifications

Unlike the ranks of the regular Blakfort Royal Army, Noble Guards are not required to first become a Patron. Instead, its members are often members of nobility or are exceptional duelists. Every candidate must prove themselves in a series of tests and trials and if they pass each of them, they immediately become a Noble Guard. When a new Noble Guard joins a Tent, they are then taught by their comrades.

Skirmish Tactics

Out of all the different ranks of the Blakfort Royal Army, Noble Guards are the most versed in small scale engagements. As they most often travel with their whole group, they have numbers to win most skirmishes. In case of a combat encounter, they split into two groups.

• One half of their group, including the Noble Guard Capitan stays with the protected person and ensures their safety by surrounding them.
• The other half starts to seek out and eliminate all attackers, focusing one assailant at a time. They attempt to surround and kill them as long as the threat remains imminent. If the attackers flee, Noble Guards rarely give chase in case its a diversion to lure them away.

Type

Civic, Military, Generic

Reports directly to

Noble Guard Capitan

Related Locations

• Blakfort Kingdom

Related Organizations

• Blakfort Royal Army