30 Guards

1.) The Snitch
This guard is all too ready to tell tales about his fellow guards, whenever they break the rules even in a small way. As a result, he is deeply unpopular with them, to the point where one or two sometimes wish they could murder him.  The rest would not be quick to hurry to his aid if there really was trouble, and wish that he were sent down to guard the oubliette.  His superiors despise him, but know that his type may be useful to them.  No one knows how he would fare in a large battle.

2.) The Adventurer
A frustrated former adventurer who joined the King's Guard, he finds it very hard to stick to his post.  He has secretly explored the entire palace from top to bottom and has investigated many places where he shouldn't have been.  If found by other guards or nobles, his excuse is that he is on patrol; so far, the excuse has worked.  Despite his wanderlust, he is an honest man who would never let his friends down in battle.

3.) The Eavesdropper
A spy for a hostile power, this guard tends to have his ear pressed up against the door that he is supposed to be guarding.  He has discovered several juicy secrets, but hasn't been able to get them out without arousing suspicion.  On more then one occasion, he has filched secret plans without anybody finding out.  The Eavesdropper is a more dangerous warrior then the average guard but hides his true abilities until he really needs them.  If the King goes to war, he will try to give battle plans to the other side.

4.) The Braggart
Like many of the Royal Guard, he was a former soldier in the Legions and has survived several major battles.  He has many tales to tell, which he does continually and incessantly, until his fellows can take no more and order him to shut up. He has a very high opinion of himself, even though it was merely luck that made the crossbow bolts miss him and saved him from being skewered.  Despite that, he is a capable fighter and is good at his job.

5.) The Bored
This guard finds being a guard deeply boring, to the point that he wishes that assassins or rebellious subjects would attack the palace so he would have something exciting to do. He has dozens of books that he likes to read when off duty (and when he can get away with it, on duty too). He has fallen asleep on duty more then once and was very lucky that his officers did not find out, otherwise he would have been heavily punished. He stays in the job for the pay, but daily prays that he can go out to battle.

6.) The Moonlighter
This guard moonlights as a bodyguard/bouncer when off duty.  He has seen and participated in his share of bar fights and is one of the more capable fighters. He also has loose ties to the criminal elements of the city and is willing to overlook certain things for a price, as long as there is no danger that the royal children would be killed, kidnapped, or otherwise harmed.  He has been known to filch small items like the odd pair of silver candlesticks to boost his salary.

7.) The Drugged
This guard would be sacked or imprisoned if his superiors knew what he has been doing. He has a severe addiction to potent Silverspider venom and most of his pay goes to obtaining it. When off duty he has shoplifted, mugged people and burgled houses. When on duty he manages to pretend to be a dutiful Royal Guard, but his days are numbered. Sooner or later he will either die from his habit, get arrested or otherwise mess up.

8.) The Revolutionary
This guard is a secret revolutionary.  He has a deep hatred for members of the aristocracy, and has made getting this job his life's work, with the sole intention of assassinating members of the royal family when he gets the chance. So far he has been unsuccessful, first because he needed to gain their trust and then because he has never had the chance-other guards have always been in the right place at the right time. He did once use poison, but the result was not fatal for the target, who put it down to badly cooked food and sacked two of the royal cooks.  In battle, he would try and kill as high-ranking a noble as he could:  And if he could get away with it, a noble on his own side.

9.) The Acolyte of Ma-O
This guard is the best friend of the Revolutionary and pretends to him that he shares his ideals, when in fact he just wants to cause trouble and if possible, civil war for it's own sake and for the sake of his evil god, Ma-O. On the surface he is willing, hardworking, and always does what his superiors tell him, but privately, he is wondering if there is some way that he could kill several members of the royal family at once and get away with it. In a war he would stab the King in the back.

10.) The Casanova
Despite living in a largely sexist country, this guard believes in female equality and is always courteous and interested in female company.  He is also good looking and, as a result of his looks and his views, has won the hearts of many of the girls, ranging from those of noble birth to poor servants.  Many noblewomen have risked being disinherited or worse by having secret affairs with him.  He often sneaks away from his sentry box for secret liaisons.

11.) The Jumpy
This guard notices the smallest thing that is out of place, and is nervous and jumpy when on patrol or in his sentry box.  He tends to use his halberd first and ask questions later. In his mind, all kinds of assassins are out there, and only he stands between them and the royal family.  His fellow guards often laugh at him and tease him about this; more than once, they've played jokes on him, just to see the look on his face.  In battle, he would only stay in line if he feared the penalty for cowardice more than the opposing side.

12.) The Crossbowman
He has a large crossbow, a Firebow (that he shouldn't really have, as it has not been issued to the King's Guards) and longs to fire it.  He has poached in the Royal Gardens a few times, bringing down pheasants with it, and he longs to get a chance to fire it at a human.  He keeps the crossbow a secret from all but his most trusted friends.  'Jumpy' feels a lot safer with him around and has become his closest friend and, some would say, his lickspittle.  In a war, that bow would come in very handy.

13.) The Ambitious
His greatest wish is to make it to NCO or, better still, officer rank, and he tries hard to be as good a guard as he can. The Snitch admires him, but most of the other guards find him irritating.  'Sarge' likes him and would promote him if he could, but the Captain distrusts and mildly dislikes him.  He is the one who is always on duty correctly, whose armour and weapons are always clean, who is willing, if need be, to put his life on the line to earn recognition.  He wants a war as it could be a fast track to promotion.

14.) The Sanguine
Nothing scares him, not even when it should. He has never been known to be worried about anything, and so is often sent to guard the parts of the Palace that would be most likely to be attacked if an attack happens.  He despises 'Jumpy' and the Ambitious sees him as a rival, while he is actually perfectly content to stay in his post.  He enjoys his work and feels that he is doing a lot of good.  While he is the Captain's favourite, the Captain has not told anyone this.

15.) The Royalist
This guard is a great supporter of the Royal Family, and joined the King's Guards just to get close to them.  The other guards roll their eyes when he talks about them, except the Revolutionary, who secretly wants to bash his head in.  He has a small portrait of the King by his bed and wears a small locket around his neck with the King displayed in it. Privately he is dissatisfied, as the Captain and 'Sarge' make sure that he only patrols the outer part of the Palace:  They worry that he will try and talk to the King and get himself sacked.  In a war, he would rather die then see the King killed.

16.) The Workaholic
The Workaholic is one of those people who always likes being busy and doing his bit. The Sergeant often holds him up as an example to the other guards, with the result that he has very few friends, as they think he is working so hard to make them look bad compared to him.  The Ambitious sees him as another rival, while the Lazybones tries to stay as far away from him as he possibly can.  His friends are 'Jumpy', who feels safer with him around, and the Royalist who admires his dedication to duty.

17-The Lazybones
An inveterate goldbricker, every guard unit probably has somebody like him. He likes doing as little as he can possibly get away with, falling asleep on duty, lagging behind on patrol, etc.  The Drugged likes him, as he knows that he will never report him and the two have become firm friends.  The other guards are for the most part heartily sick and tired of covering up for him and are starting to wish that he would get caught and sacked, but apart from the 'Snitch', none of them will inform on a fellow guard.

18.) The Homesick
This guard came from hundreds of miles away to join the King's Guards, and ever since then has regretted the choice, as he misses his home dreadfully.  Most of the other guards think of him as a 'Momma's Boy' at best, and a disgrace to his unit at worst.  He has considered deserting often but fears the penalties if he is caught and returned to his unit. He is saving up most of his pay to buy himself out of the army so he can return home.

19.) The Undercover
This guard is secretly one of the Inspectors, sent by the Inspector General to spy on the military units to root out dissension, sloppiness, and incipient mutiny, and find out who is doing well and pulling their weight so that rewards and punishments can be handed out as needed to those who deserve them.  He fears being uncovered before he can get his report out to his superiors, as there are many in the unit who would not like what he has to say.

20.) The Troublemaker
On the surface, this fellow's a likeable person, but underneath he likes to cause trouble. He spreads rumours through the unit, plays practical jokes, tells the Snitch when other guards are being lazy, and does other things of that kind.  Despite this, he is ready to do his job, and would risk his life if needed to keep assassins away from the Royal Family.

21.) The Obese
Grossly fat, this guard would be quickly outrun in any chase, and was very lucky to get hired at all. 'Sarge' likes to make him run on the spot until he drips with sweat, and has cut his rations to try and slim him down a bit. Several of the other guards feel sorry for the Obese, as he has a nice personality within his swollen body, and they know that hey could trust him in a crisis.

22.) The Gruff
A man of mystery and few words, he is one of those 'Who goes there?' sort of guards. He has a scar on his cheek which he keeps silent about.  Some think he is an outlaw who has chosen to make a new life for himself, others think that he got the scar in a drunken bar fight in a tavern and is embarrassed about it.  He has no real friends but no one dislikes him either and he is good at his job.

23.) The Stressed
He was in the same war that the Braggart was involved in and was very lucky not to be killed or maimed.  Whilst the Braggart actually enjoyed being in battle, the Stressed was left a mental wreck.  His officers took pity on him and sent him to this easy post as a Royal Guard, as he had been a good soldier previously.  He hates the Braggart, sympathizes with 'Jumpy' and leaps when anything surprises him.

24.) The Torturer
As well as being a guard he has a second job, the Royal Torturer, and takes great pleasure in his work of breaking fingers, branding with the hot iron, mangling limbs and if need be, killing people. The other guards are privately disgusted with him except for the Royalist, who thinks that the tortured people deserve their fate. The Revolutionary would murder him if he could get away with it. In a war, he would interrogate POWs brutally.

25.) The Chaplain
This guard thinks of himself as a holy warrior and quotes religion at very opportunity. Several people are fed up with him tying to convert them, but the Captain and Sergeant find him useful, as he is honest and can be trusted to guard the Royal Wine Cellar without secretly helping himself, and to keep others away from the wine as well.

26.) The Barracks Lawyer
This guard insists in sticking to the letter of the regulations and refuses to do any overtime or menial jobs that he does not legally have to do.  A barracks lawyer, he knows every quirk and loophole of the rules better than anyone else in the guards, including the Captain. 'Sarge' and the Captain are annoyed with him but are helpless to dismiss him. They have asked the Snitch to see if he can catch him breaking the rules so that he can be thrown out of the Royal Guards, but so far if he has done anything wrong, no one has found out about it.

27.) The Conjurer
This guard likes to learn magic in his spare time. Whilst the larger spells are beyond his ability, he knows a surprisingly large number of cantrips, which provide him with amusement or make his life easier. One lets him know if the Captain, Sergeant, or the Snitch are in the area, so that he never gets caught doing anything wrong.

28.) The Keystone Cop
This guard tries his best but things often go wrong for him. He trips over his halberd or farts in the company of his betters or gets lost in the Palace corridors or slips over. Whilst he has several friends, they think he would be of little use in a chase and are uncertain of how good he would be in a battle situation. The Sergeant dislikes him but the Captain thinks that it's not his fault.

29-The Sergeant
A veteran who joined the army as a private and has been in it for many years before achieving NCO status, 'Sarge' has seen it all, the good times and the hard times, the battles and the long hard marches and the patrols in occupied territory where no one can tell the enemy apart from the civilians. When he grew too old to fight effectively and was given the chance to retire with a small plot of hand, he said that he wanted to stay in the army and his officers were pleased and gave him this job.

30.) The Captain
Another army veteran of many battles, he was identified for promotion to high rank but was instead shunted sideways to command the King's Guards.  He likes the vast majority of those under him and is dedicated to their welfare and proud of the job he holds protecting the Royal Family.  If need be, he would give his life to protect the Monarchy or his own men.  At present, there has been peace for several years, but should the King need to lead his army into battle personally, he knows that it will be up to his men to fight and die for their King.