Throneswatch
The Throneswatch (Fhasen: Sùilean a na Chathairrih Fhainnin) was a bodyguard unit, political organization, and secret society present in the Kingdom of the Fhainn from some point in the early 16th Century to the end of the Kingdom in 1909. Over its history, its scope and power expanded massively, forming one of the largest closed political societies in Levantia and dominating Royal politics as a state within a state both through absolutism and constitutionalization alike until the collapse of the Royal government, after which it foprmed the core of Royalist efforts to coordinate against Republican forces in the Fhainnin Civil War. As a society, it was marked by an array of obscuritan rituals, numerous levels of membership and non-member association, and infiltrated nearly every aspect of the Royal government from military staffers to ministers to the bureaucracy.
Lit. 'Eyes of the Throne of the Fhainn' | |
Sùilean a na Chathairrih Fhainnin | |
Founder | Cailean Suthar-Màrtainn (disputed) |
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Dissolved | 1909 |
Type | Secret Police |
Origins | Ardceiternn bodyguard formation |
Membership (1906) | est. 27,900 |
Owner | Throne of the Kingdom of the Fhainn |
Master of the Throneswatch (First) | Brandt Macgwyn (disputed) |
Master of the Throneswatch (Last) | General Donaghue Wyddin |
Subsidiaries |
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History
Formation and Early Royal Era
The earliest surviving historic record placed it as already existing by the start of the Second Princes' War, but this claim was contested by later historians in favor of it having been founded by Banrih Cailean Suthar-Màrtainn as a bodyguard unit composed of professional Ardceiternn cavalry, placing it as one of the last large units of armored cavalry in Faneria prior to the Hobelar. Cailean was known to be a master of propaganda and editorialization, however, making the true origins of the unit difficult to discern due to sparse early writings on them.
It became clear that the Throneswatch had taken on a role as royal enforcers and couriers after the Great Dunlann Peasant Revolt a decade later, serving warrants, deeds of title, campaigning orders, and secure correspondence for the royal family as well as functioning as the court guard. This later extended into an intelligence and counterspying role, primarily as an internal security force, and appears to have been a significant factor in the maintenance of the Suthar-Màrtainn dynasty, as the position of Master of the Throneswatch was one of the most carefully selected, with a number of closely related men deemed ineligible for potential succession picked from the extended family line.