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[color=gray][i]Omnia si perdas, famam servare memento[/i][/color][/center][hr][hr]

[color=gray]The Servants are the elite, religious fighting force of Broacien, made up of men who have sacrificed themselves and their lives to the King and nobody else but the King. Because the King of Broacien takes upon himself a religious function as God himself, the Servants are the most pious among pious, and have trained their entire life for the chance to serve among them. Servants are recognizable among others due to the fact that they are marked with a set of red circles on their forehead, which is also indicative of rank.

One circle is simply a Servant, a holy knight in service to the King. Two circles indicates an officer of rank, most likely of noble blood but not necessarily. Three circles are reserved for the Grandmaster of the Servant Order, his left and right hand men, and any Servants that are ordained by the King himself. As such, the importance of the three-circled Servants can differ from king to king. During the reign of Gregar I, the Stag King, only the most renowned and capable knights were ordained, and so the three circles were a rank to be respected and feared. During the reign of Harold, this has diminished, as he has ordained (incapable) noblemen into the rank of three-circled Servants for political and financial reasons as well.

His brother, Gregar II, has also begun ordaining three-circled Servants, although his three-circled Servants are marked with [url=https://colourlex.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Red_ochre_French_painted_swatch_Lipscher-225-opt.jpg]red ochre[/url] instead of pure red. This is done in order to differentiate them from the Servants that are still loyal to his brother, however few they may be. 

These markings are permanent, and therefore can be a great boon but also a great detriment to any Servant. For example, traveling through Broacien, a Servant that is marked is bound to get offers of free bed and breakfast at inns. Traveling through Sawarim territory, a Servant mark is a quick way to be shot at by their expert desert dune-scouts.

Entry into the Servants is a high bar to reach, but they will take anyone who can prove that he is, first and foremost, a staunch Monarchist believer who truly wishes to serve the king, and secondarily, is fit to hold a sword and shows promise in using it. For many religious peasants, entering the Servant Order is a way to both serve God and King, and to ensure a better life for themselves. Servant vows of abstinence, however, are taken most serious, and prevent Servants from passing on the benefits of their Servanthood to the rest of their family.

Otherwise, noblemen that are staunch religious believers enter the Servant Order to ensure prestige for the family, as in Broacien there is no greater sacrifice than becoming a Servant. The closer one is to being an heir, the more prestige a family can claim -- those who are first-in-line to inherit a title who become Servants give up their inheritance in order to serve God and King, and as such, their family can claim a great amount of prestige from this sacrifice. 

A notable bearer of the Servant mark is Ketill the Hrafn, the Raven King who later disavowed the Monarchist faith and returned to his pagan religion.[/color]

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[color=gray][i]Ducit Amor Patriae[/i][/color][/center][hr][hr]

[color=gray]The Robed Swords are called such because they wear their swords not in a sheath, but in a roll of expensive velvet. This tradition has come forth from a tradition set by the first Robed Sword, Inquisitor Dumand from Arlon, who converted to the Monarchist faith and vowed to convert or execute all heathens within the borders of Broacien. Under his command, the Robed Sword order was found with the express purpose of investigating claims of heresy.

Nobody is immune to the investigations of the Robed Swords, not even the King themselves, so great are their investigative powers in a legal and practical sense. Much like the Servants, Robed Swords are marked with a large cross on their forehead in black pigment. The Robed Swords take every aspect of Servanthood, and multiply it -- they must be incorruptible forces of the wrath of the Monarch, and therefore must be able to resist all earthly impulses.

Where Servanthood is marred by a vow of abstinence, they are still allowed to maintain contact with family after becoming a Servant, and if they had fathered children before becoming a Servant, this is tolerated. Marriages are not absolved, but simply declared to be in a permanent state of limbo.

For Robed Servants, this is not true -- in stead, they must break contact with all family. Those who have children prior to enlisting with the Robed Swords must find a way to 'get rid' of the children, and the same goes for partners. Often times, the ways in which this is done are not investigated, so long as it is done. 

They may not drink, they may not be merry with friends, they may not laugh. The application of Monarchist faith is the most strict and puritan amongst the Robed Swords, and it is impossible to find more pious and zealous men elsewhere throughout the kingdom or, indeed, the known world.

Unlike the Servants, too, they are not tolerated or celebrated. Due to their role in investigating heresy, they are feared by everyone, and it is uncommon for them to receive shelter even if they pay. For this reason, these puritans prefer to travel unnoticed, and often masquerade themselves as lepers with masks to prevent being noticed while searching for heresiarchs. Seeing a Robed Sword is rare, and if you do see them, know that bad news is afoot, and you had best make yourself scarce.[/color]

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[color=gray]Ber er hver að baki nema sér bróður eigi.[/color][/center][hr][hr]

[color=gray]The Haris Alkhalyfa, or more commonly known in the Khalyfate as 'the Djinn,' are a mercenary order of elite Northern troops that served Khalyf Ahmad during his short reign as his personal retinue of guards. They served nobody but the Khalyf, and only followed orders that came from him directly, or from those he had appointed to give orders.

The Haris Alkhalyfa was in its entirety an almost-completely Northern force, although the officers were all Sawarim. This did nothing to maintain control over the Northern mercenaries, as the majority of the Northern warriors maintained their own unofficial Northern officers to make the giving of orders in their native tongue easier. An unofficial and uneasy cooperation between the Northern and the Sawarim officers was formed to mediate the tensions that existed therein.

The Haris Alkhalyfa was a dual sided blade. On the one hand, their large stature, larger weapons and their unusual features (blue eyes, beards) made them feared both for how they looked and how they fought. While this made them a useful tool in suppressing the masses and fighting enemies, it also meant that there was talk among some of the religious leaders as well as the nobility that the Khalyf had sold the empire over to Northern barbarians for a few axes. 

The Djinn themselves, however, were both loved and hated by the locals. The Djinn proved themselves to be curious about the Sawarim ways and there were a large amount of converts among them (however, how serious they were about converting was another question entirely) both to the Sawarimic faith as well as the sects, such as the Ahl al-Hariq. At the same time, they were viewed with distrust because a great many of them did not speak the local language, and despite an official ban from the Khalyf on practicing their faith, many of them ignored this and continued to wear symbolry of the Northern gods. 

Their axes were, evidently, worth more than their zeal.[/color]

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[color=gray]Lidet er om den mans vrede, som ingen vurder.[/color][/center][hr][hr]

[color=gray]While not a warrior order on the organized level of the Servants or the Haris Alkhalyfa, the Berserkirs are a loosely organized group of warrior-shamans that possess an uncanny ability to enter a battletrance that allows them to feel no pain, utilize a greater level of strength, and forge on through the battlefield while suffering wounds that would kill others. This comes at the cost of a lessened state of awareness, in which they cannot discern friend from foe. 

The way in which to enter such a trance is different for every berserkir - some drink a concoction made of hallucinogenics, or eat mushrooms with a similar effect, others are sick with rabies (and, typically, do not live long for this reason), and others yet can enter it naturally without any outside stimuli.

The berserkirs lack in number, however, because for a lot of people it is simply not possible to enter such a trance. Whether there is a physical barrier or something else is unknown, but the ability to enter a battletrance (bersirk) is considered a gift of the gods and marks a particularly brave, valiant and capable man (or, rare cases, woman). 

Just like the Servants, one notable example of a berserkir is Ketill the Hrafn, Konungr of the Thousand Tribes.[/color]

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[color=gray]Man må hyle med de ulve man er i blandt.[/color][/center][hr][hr]

[color=gray]The Blódverr af Hrafn (lit.: Blooded Men of the Raven) is a group of sworn men (þegn's) of Ketill the Raven that form his inner circle. They swear an oath to the Raven, both the Alfadir and Ketill himself, and bind it with a ritual that includes bloodletting, hence they are blooded men. This order of warriors is respected in the entire Northern region, as they are renowned for their skill in combat and the ferocity with which they protect the tribes.

The fact that these men are þegns (thanes) of the Konungr means they already enjoy a particularly trusted position at his court, being part of the hird and privy to certain aspects of rulership that others would have no voice in. The addition of being blooded heightens their importance and influence, at the cost of being bound to the king no matter what. While such a vow is easily broken in other cultures, doing so among the Northern tribes would make even your allies shun you.

The Blóðverr also fulfill a function as executioners, and are put in charge of performing execution orders that the Raven king gives out, should the need arise. 

Blóðverr come from all manner of lives, and there is even a Blóðverr from the Ye'inyani Mereti that was previously a thrall. While this means that membership of the blooded men is not limited to a specific type of people, it does not mean [i]all[/i] who wish to be a part of the blooded men will be a member. In order to be a blooded man, one would need to earn the favor and trust of Ketill the Raven, a feat that is not as easy as one might think.[/color]