The Provost's Guard



The Provost’s Guard are the police force of Corus, who uphold the laws of the realm and protect the citizens of the city.

Terms and Terminology

 * Dog: Any member of the Provost's Guard who has finished their first year on duty.
 * Puppy:  A member of the Provost's Guard who has completed training, but has not been on duty for a year or more.
 * Rat: a criminal.
 * Birdie: a source of information, usually a person who will tell their Dog things they hear in hopes of getting rewarded.
 * Kennel: the center of all Dog activities. There is one Kennel per district, and they generally consist of a Commander's office, jail cells, a healing wing, and a lobby, where complaints can be taken to the Dogs.
 * Cages : the jail cells in a Kennel, the Guard also have portable cages to bring criminals to the Kennels.
 * Cage Dogs: Dogs who do not patrol, but instead supervise the cages. These Dogs sometimes torture Rats if needed.
 * Happy Bag: a bag passed around once a week, to which all prominent citizens contribute in hopes of earning themselves the Dogs' protection. The Happy Bag is then split to cover the Dogs and Puppies' salaries and other costs at the Kennel.

Watches
The Guard consists of four watches - Day (9am - 5pm), Evening (5pm - 1am), Night (1am - 9am), Fourth (which covers the other watches shifts when needed). The Night Watch is typically for slackers.

Each watch will have a Watch Sergeant, various Corporals, some Senior Guards, Guards, and Trainees.
 * List of Dog Characters

The Districts
There is a district for every district of the city, which loosely corresponds to how the Court of the Rogue divides the city as well. The districts are

Highfield

Prettybone

Flash

Craftsman

Upmarket

Unicorn

the Lower City.

The Palace and the Temple District each have their own guards. The Lower City and Highfield are the poorest areas of town and also the most crime-infected, while Unicorn is the highest end of the scale, and generally the least work to keep up. The Dogs also receive the most respect and the highest salaries in districts like Unicorn.

Each district has a District Commander, who has his or her choice of watches. They decide which Dogs partner with which, which watch and patrol any pair of Dogs takes, and also which Puppies are assigned to which Dogs. District Commanders answer only to the Lord Provost, both of which positions can be found on The Canon List.

Uniforms and Accessories
A Dog's uniform is completely black, except for Puppies, which have white trim around the sleeves and edges of the tunic. A typical uniform consists of a plain black tunic, with either long or short sleeves depending on the season, black breeches, and a pair of black boots, although Dogs almost always wear extra iron armor in the form of wrist-guards, gibbets, codpieces, leg guards, etc. Such precautions are especially necessary in the more crime-ridden areas like the Lower City. In the event of rain, light overcoats, also standard issue, can be worn.

All Dogs and Puppies are equipped with a baton (the only weapon they are given; they do not use swords or daggers), a few pair of hobbles, and a whistle used to summon other Dogs when needed.

Training
All in all, there are two years of training. The first is the academy, where regular folk are trained in how to use batons and hobbles and the like. After one year, they graduate to Puppyship, and are assigned to a district. Puppies can request which district they would like to work in, although they do not always get their wish, and they may also request which watch they would like, although everything is ultimately the District Commander's decision.

Each Puppy is assigned to one pair of Dogs, to whom they report and patrol with during their entire first year of duty. The assignation is made by the District Commander without consulting either the Puppies or the Dogs, and no requests can be made. Puppies attend an hour of combat training before their watch, in addition to their patrol each night. They receive less pay than Dogs, are not allowed to make arrests, and are generally not supposed to talk or fight unless given permission.

After the first year, any Puppies still alive and breathing graduate to full-blown Dogs. They are assigned a partner, and given their own route to patrol. They have the full salary and privileges of Dogs, such as the bath house reserved for them, but must still attend combat training before their watch for two years after becoming a Dog. Once given a partner, the Dog generally keeps the same partner until one of the two either dies or retires.