Military & Security of Breland
FROM THE DESK OF KNIGHT-MARSHAL BANARAK TITHON, KING'S CITADEL — SHARN OPERATIONS
Standing Orders, Revised Aryth 997 YK: All agents are reminded that jurisdiction of the King's Citadel supersedes that of the Sharn Watch, the Redcloak Battalion, Deneith security forces, and all local constabularies. Any Brelish citizen who refuses to assist the Citadel when commanded is committing an act of treason. This authority is not negotiable, is not subject to appeal through civil channels, and applies in all wards including Skyway.
The Pragmatist's Military
Breland emerged from the Last War with its military institutions intact, its industrial base still operational, and the particular advantage that comes from having fought a century-long war without becoming dependent on any single weapon, strategy, or supernatural bargain. The Brelish armed forces were not the most disciplined (that was Karrnath), nor the most divinely empowered (that was Thrane), nor the most arcane (that was Aundair). What they were was flexible, well-supplied, and backed by an industrial capacity no other nation could match. Where Karrnath raised the dead and Thrane sent templars, Breland built machines and hired adventurers — and at the end of a hundred years, its government was the only one among the Five Nations that survived without fundamentally changing its structure.
The bards in Menthis still sing of Khandan the Hammer and Meira the Huntress, legends of the Redcloak Battalion. That the heroes of those songs now patrol city streets rather than charge across battlefields says everything about the peculiar tension of the postwar period: Breland won the peace and is now trying to figure out what to do with the army that won it.
The Royal Brelish Army
Breland's armed forces were scaled back following the Treaty of Thronehold but never dismantled. Garrisons are maintained across the nation, and the same Cogs foundries that produce civilian metalwork can shift to military production on short notice — a capacity the crown has been careful to preserve. Brelish soldiers are equipped through mass production rather than individual craftsmanship; gear is nearly standardized, with personal touches leaning toward comfort and functionality over flair. The emphasis is Brelish to the core: good enough for everyone, rather than excellent for a few.
Argonth — the floating fortress — is the nation's most dramatic military asset: the largest engine of war ever built, a moving city housing thousands of soldiers, the product of House Cannith ingenuity and Brelish industrial might. It currently patrols the edge of the Mournland in response to horrors slipping westward near Vathirond, but it can redeploy to any threatened border. That dual-use capability is deliberate: Boranel has active or potentially active frontiers on multiple sides, and Argonth represents the ability to respond without committing to a fixed defensive line. If tensions rise with Droaam or Darguun, the fortress moves.
"Argonth is not a fortress. Argonth is a threat that floats. The point of a floating fortress is that you never have to use it, because everyone can see that you could." — Brelish strategic planning memorandum, Citadel archives, 997 YK
The King's Citadel
The Citadel is the crown's primary security and intelligence apparatus, headquartered in Wroat under Lord Kor ir'Wynarn — the king's brother. It outranks all local law enforcement. Its members can take control of any investigation and command the service of any guard or sentinel. The Citadel is not required to provide compensation for services it demands, though adventurers who earn its respect can benefit enormously from the relationship. When the Citadel intervenes, it does not ask. It demands.
The King's Dark Lanterns — intelligence and covert operations — operate with an unwritten license to eliminate threats to the nation and its sovereign. Over five hundred agents work within Breland, roughly a hundred abroad, from branch offices in Sharn, Starilaskur, Xandrar, and a smaller outpost in Stormreach. Temporary field offices double as safe houses and are designed to be wiped clean if discovered. The changeling Captain Vron leads the Lanterns overall. The Sharn office in Andith Tower falls under Talleon Haliar Tonan — a gnome devoted to Breland, utterly ruthless, willing to authorize torture, theft, and assassination when the mission requires it. The Korranberg Chronicle has dubbed the ongoing clandestine struggle between the Lanterns and other nations' intelligence services the Shadow War — a conflict that has continued unabated since the treaty, just outside the public eye.
The King's Swords are elite combat forces deployed where conventional units cannot reach. The King's Shields protect the royal family. The King's Wands provide arcane support — wizards and sorcerers serving the crown in all magical matters.
The Citadel is tolerated because it is effective, but it is not loved. Those who question the monarchy regard it with open hostility, and according to rumor, some of those people hold high positions in the Brelish government. Foreign nations track Dark Lantern agents carefully, treating captured agents with diplomatic delicacy but arresting those caught in the act. The Citadel leaves daily law enforcement to local forces, intervening only when threats rise to kingdom level — foreign espionage, fiendish incursion, treason. But when it does intervene, the chain of authority is absolute, and the rights of the citizen end where the security of the kingdom begins.
The Sharn Watch
Civil law enforcement in Breland is decentralized — there is no standardized national police force. In Sharn, the Sharn Watch operates under the City Council, its central administration housed in the Citadel fortress in Ambassador Towers alongside the Sharn Prison and the King's Citadel headquarters. The Watch is divided among four garrison districts: Daggerwatch (Upper Dura), Warden Towers (Middle Menthis), Sword Point (Middle Central), and Black Arch (Lower Tavick's Landing). Each garrison commander has considerable leeway in interpreting policy — and considerable variation in how honestly they do so.
The Watch is riddled with corruption. There is no polite way to say this, and the article will not try. Bribery is rampant — there is a seventy-five percent chance that any given Watch officer is taking money from the Boromar Clan or another wealthy patron. Guards frequently vanish during Boromar operations. Commanders focus resources on protecting the wealthy and powerful; the upper and middle wards are well-patrolled, while the lower towers see few guards and the Cogs see almost none. Lord Commander Iyan ir'Talan, the Watch's nominal head, is an administrator who maintains the status quo and does not seek to change it. Commander Lian Halamar of Daggerwatch owes his position to Boromar connections and ensures the Watch is absent during major Clan operations. Commander Belew Yorgan of Sword Point serves whoever pays the most but keeps the Central Plateau safe as a consequence. Commander Silaena Cazal of Warden Towers has spent over a century spreading a net of graft and extortion across Menthis — her people are well-protected, provided they make their payments.
Most Watch members are pragmatists rather than villains. An adventurer who runs into trouble below Middle Dura should not expect help. A few dedicated guards genuinely risk their lives for the innocent, but they are the exception that proves the system.
Specialized divisions include the Blackened Book — elite abjurers and diviners investigating magical threats, dedicated and generally incorruptible, though their higher-ups decide which cases they pursue and cases that nobles want buried tend to stay buried. The Guardians of the Gate monitor foreign nationals and refugees, particularly in the district of High Walls — capable soldiers chosen from the Watch's best, but their devotion to the city's safety sometimes manifests as unnecessary violence against the displaced populations they are supposed to protect. The Goldwings — a hippogriff-mounted air cavalry unit — scout for trouble and respond to mid-air incidents from above.
"The Watch exists to keep the peace. The peace exists to keep the wealthy comfortable. The wealthy are kept comfortable by paying the Watch to look the other way. If you diagram it on paper, it's a circle. If you live inside it, it's a cage." — anonymous, scratched into a wall in the Callestan district of Lower Dura
The Redcloak Battalion
The Redcloaks are the weapon of last resort — among the deadliest warriors in Breland, an elite unit that fought at the forefront of the Last War. Their standard-issue uniform is a hooded crimson cloak of protection bearing two badges: the seal of the Brelish crown on the left shoulder and a snarling displacer beast surrounded by their motto — "First in battle, last to fall" — on the right. At the end of the war, the battalion was split up and its units assigned to cities and strongholds across Breland. The Sharn unit is headquartered at Talain Garrison in Daggerwatch.
The Redcloaks are absolutely faithful to Breland and utterly incorruptible — trying to bribe one is a good way to lose a hand. But many bitterly resent their postwar assignment to law enforcement and maintain a fierce rivalry with the King's Swords, who enjoy greater authority and prestige despite less combat experience. As veterans and heroes of the war, many Redcloaks are unfriendly toward travelers from other nations and openly hostile toward warforged. Tensions run especially hot against Darguun — the Redcloaks skirmished with hobgoblins leading Thrane civilians in chains after the Battle of Cairn Hill, and the bitterness runs both ways — and against Thrane, where heavy losses on both sides at Cairn Hill left scars that the treaty has not healed. As far as the Redcloaks are concerned, the Treaty of Thronehold is merely an intermission.
When a problem exceeds the Watch's capabilities, most commanders prefer to quietly hire adventurers from the Clifftop Adventurers' Guild or the Deathsgate Explorers' Club rather than call in the Redcloaks or the Citadel — bringing in either elite force means admitting the situation is beyond the commander's control, and that admission has career consequences. The Redcloaks are called when the situation is genuinely dire. The Citadel is called when it decides to call itself.
"The Redcloaks don't think the war is over. They think Boranel just called a very long smoke break." — overheard at the Talain Garrison, Upper Dura
The Western Frontier
Breland's most persistent security concern is the Droaam frontier. Droaam is not recognized under the Treaty and remains legally part of Breland, but in practice it functions as a hostile independent nation pressing against the Graywall border. The fortress of Orcbone marks the contested line — reclaimed and fortified by Boranel after the destruction of Faldren's colony. The informal border follows the Orien trade route between Ardev and Sylbaran, patrolled by Brelish forces on one side and Znir gnolls serving the Daughters on the other. The region around the road is contested territory where human settlements and Droaamite patrols coexist in uneasy proximity.
Droaam's military strength is unconventional — monstrous units under warlords answerable to the Daughters, with the Tharashk brokering relationship complicating any simple military response by giving Droaam economic leverage and a degree of legal protection for its people inside Breland. Daask's operations in Sharn represent an urban extension of this strategic interest — not merely a criminal organization but a force building a foothold in Khorvaire's largest city. The Watch has generally left Daask alone. Most guards are terrified of fighting a medusa or a troll, and those who aren't are smart enough to pretend otherwise.
House Deneith and the Mercenary Ecosystem
House Deneith sells military protection through the Blademarks Guild and deploys Sentinel Marshals — the only law enforcement authorized to pursue fugitives across all Treaty nations. Where the Watch, the Blackened Book, and the Citadel cannot pursue a fugitive into Aundair or Thrane, the Marshals can — though they are not authorized to break the law in pursuit of justice. There are nine Sentinel Marshals in Sharn, all also serving in the Defenders Guild. They can be extremely useful allies and extremely inconvenient enemies.
Breland's permissive legal structure has made it one of Khorvaire's most active centers for registered adventuring parties. The Clifftop Adventurers' Guild has a reputation for relative respectability — professionals who take contracts and maintain standards. The Deathsgate Explorers' Club is rougher and more mercenary, staffed largely by Last War veterans who demand prompt payment and don't take jobs for altruistic reasons. The Wayfinder Foundation, headquartered in Fairhaven under the patronage of Lord Bornman ir'Dayne — a renowned explorer suffering from a wasting curse — sponsors great expeditions across Khorvaire and into Xen'drik. Through agreements with Deneith and licensed guilds, Brelish officials can deploy trained units to manage incidents without formal military mobilization — speed and reduced political cost, at the risk that contract forces operate on gold rather than loyalty.
Active Threats
Four concerns dominate postwar security planning.
Droaam and Daask. Skirmishes continue along the frontier, and Daask's Sharn operations represent the urban arm of Droaam's strategic expansion. The organization runs dreamlily distribution, protection rackets, and violence-for-hire services, building a power base that the Boromar Clan — Sharn's traditional criminal syndicate — has been unable to contain. The Watch leaves Daask alone. The Citadel watches from a distance. The question of whether Daask is a criminal enterprise or a forward element of a hostile foreign power is the question that determines which response is appropriate, and no one in authority has committed to an answer.
The Mournland. Nameless horrors slip into eastern Breland with increasing frequency — living spells, mutated beasts, and things that no sage has catalogued. Vathirond serves as the first line of defense. Argonth patrols the perimeter. The threat is persistent, unpredictable, and not subject to negotiation.
Darguun. The southern border holds through the alliance Boranel negotiated with Haruuc, but the Ghaal'dar confederation is held together by one chieftain's force of will. If Haruuc dies without a clear successor, the alliance fractures — and a Darguun in chaos would destabilize Breland's southeast in ways the current treaty was not designed to address. The Redcloaks, who remember the hobgoblins in chains at Cairn Hill, would not mourn the alliance's end. The Dark Lanterns, who understand what replaces it, would.
Domestic instability. The Citadel treats displaced populations, warforged unrest, the Swords of Liberty, and the Droaamite criminal presence as security concerns equal to external threats. The Swords grow more violent with each passing year. The warforged, granted legal personhood by the Treaty but facing prejudice from veterans and labor competition from civilians, represent a population whose loyalty to the Brelish state has been assumed rather than earned. New Cyre's population continues to grow. And as one Watch commander put it off the record: the next war won't start at the border. It will start in a Sharn basement.
"We won the peace. Now we just have to survive it." — King Boranel ir'Wynarn, attributed, unconfirmed