This is part of my ongoing series on the Shattered World setting, which contains pieces you can drop into your own game.
This post introduces the Confederacy Corps, which is the military arm of the independent coalition of nations that calls itself the Charter Confederacy. I’ve also got an NPC for you.
The Confederacy Corps
When the Confederacy formed about a decade ago to ally its many smaller nations against their larger enemies, its charter laid out plans for the Confederacy Corps, an official, trained military of the Confederacy. The Corps is supposed to serve the Confederacy’s Cabinet and carry out their mandates both with a well-trained (though currently tiny) military, and with teams of hired adventurers assembled to handle missions as needed.
In reality, the Corps is a rag-tag band of playboys, ex-bounty hunters, and former Silver Shields, loosely divided into half a dozen Companies named by color. Fortunately, its captains do not yet seek power, and instead let their soldiers patrol the lands for monsters or incursions from the Silver Shields. They spend most of their time in taverns.
Neither the Cabinet nor the Corps have much practical power. However, members of both groups can travel through every member nation with impunity and demand impromptu audiences with local leaders. Both groups were born recently, and their members continue to explore the boundaries of their responsibilities and powers. While Cabinet members jockey for political position and favor, one should be more worried about the large recruiting drive that the Corps launched several years ago.
Lucas, Captain of the Red Company of the Confederacy Corps
Lucas, drawn by Theo Evans
Archetype: Patient planner
Behaviors: Move minimally, stare, use code names and oblique references
Need for Adventurers: Investigate military-grade threats to the Charter Confederacy, especially the Silver Shields
Agenda: Strengthen the Confederacy Corps into a world-class military
Relationships: Lucas was once an adventurer, and spent a few months adventuring with Macario, one of the Wolves of Shadow. Lucas once saved Macario’s life, and Macario still owes him the favor.
History: Lucas is an ex-adventurer who’s seen the world’s dangers—monstrous and humanoid. He knows the importance of military defense.
Secrets: Lucas wants to make the Corps the strongest defensive force the world has ever known, with the Confederacy able to repulse any threat. He even plans to wipe out the major monstrous races. To do this, he’ll need a navy, and he’s negotiating with the Trefada (the largest sea-trading organization; think the East India Company) to buy some of their older ships, which he’ll retrofit into destroyers.