LORE | Marked Men

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BARGETOWN’S DISCARDED

"Those of whom become soldiers under punishment suffer the worst shade of the Gold Leaf."

Registrar Antony Douglass, 2163

In a frontier settlement like Bargetown, manpower is a limited resource and competent manpower is like a needle in a haystack. Every soldier must be equipped, trained, and raised loyal, resulting in an unwillingness to deploy valuable fighters on dangerous missions.

Thankfully, the Brigadiers have long since crafted a solution to this problem. Bargetown is no stranger to criminals, murderers, and all kinds of filth of the law—all of them can be of use, should they be forced to fight for the city instead of against it. With this potential came hasty reforms to the lawbook which allowed penal service within the 'prestigious' Marked Men.

THE STRUCTURE

OF THE PROGRAMME

There exists no rank structure within the programme. While the majority of Registrars, certain Sergeants and even some government officials overlook the sentencing of Marked Men, typically done on a whim. Generally, the lack of formal organisation leaves many penals vying for power in an attempt to dominate their respective gangs—many of which have their own localised hierachies. Nonetheless, the Registrar Corps tries its earnest to suppress unrest within the battalion. Unsanctioned ringleaders are often targeted with beatings or blatant executions in order to make an example for the rest. Such measures are a result of those being penalised legally forfeiting their rights and becoming little more than the property of Bargetown.

With the poor reputation of the downtrodden who make up its ranks, the notion of redemption and reform have long since been lost. As a result, the battalion receives the least priority when it comes to funding. Marked Men do not receive payment in Northeastern Dollars and instead are compensated with rations, ration cards, and ammunition. "New Hoodville"—or the "Northern Front", as it's officially documented—is where Marked Men reside in a small tent city of scrap and wood on the furthest reach of Windernola Island, receiving bi-monthly shipments of shoddy and unwanted materials for upkeep.

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THE MISFORTUNE

OF THE MISFORTUNATE

Rooks are dirty people. Their journey within the programme begins with sentencing, where it doesn't matter whether the accused is innocent or guilty. In some cases, the accused doesn't even have to be accused. Regardless of the evidence and regardless of the severity of the crime, the pencil pusher signing off on sentences will most likely give them the choice: a penal colony, or penal service. Should the rook-to-be choose penal service, their sentence may be measured in an unorthodox manner. Most commonly, rooks will serve a set number of battles fought under the leaf, but in some cases unlucky rooks are sentenced for years on end, or even a sentence based on a kill count.

With an official verdict made and their punishment recorded, the newly recruited Marked Man is sent to the quartermaster where they receive a reused, outdated, barely intact uniform likely plucked off of a corpse, and the infamous patch of the Rook piece to be sewn on. Beyond the attire, they are given nothing and instead have to scavenge their materiel from the dead or get crafty.

The penals of the programme are impoverished, starved, cold, and desperate, and always struggle to get by each day without thievery and corruption weighing on their souls. Their desperation shapes them into easy pawns for the upper echelons of Bargetown who live and thrive on taking advantage of others for their own gain, leading to rooks often finding themselves hopelessly roped into underground corruption schemes led by their superiors. The penal battalion is often seen as nothing more than cannon fodder by the commanding ranks ruling over the town and militia, and truly, they are. Cast to battle with the guns of the enemy at their front and the guns of the leaf to their backs, their fate is to die for a town which spits on their name.

Yet, those that persevere are treated as scum and vermin all the same. Most servicemen avoid their company, and even the citizenry watch their pockets and keep their distance like they're the plague. As the saying goes: Befriending a Marked Man is the best way to become one.

The war machine consumes all, whether near or far. Where do you call home?

Origins

THE MUTATED MAN—HOOD RATS

The treatment of mutantkind in Bargetown has been on a steady decline ever since the Attic Betrayal—at least up until the Huron Mandate—but even with the mandate in place, mutants are still the primary target of discrimination: constant insults, heftier tolls and fines, and even longer criminal sentences. Mutants who commit—or are accused of committing—significant felonies are punished by induction into the Marked Men programme as Hood Rats and are forced to serve the Coalition against their will.

Mutants marked as hood rats often fail to leave their sentences alive. They are less equipped, less protected, and lack any of the respect offered to their human counterpart, to the point where the average hood rat's presence will cause even their fellow rooks to cradle their rifles closer. To some, the mutants of the battalion are viewed as curses upon their fellow soldiers, leading many servicemen and rooks to superstitiously keep distance and even go as far as to avoid the place where a hood rat had previously sat, stood or taken cover in fear of the mutant's unlucky spiritual filth.

The rewards for a hood rat are hardly rewards at all. Their most prominent 'award' for good behaviour in the field—awarded especially in the case of a betrayal against a fellow mutant—is the Mutant Service Medal or Traitor's Token: a symbol of their betrayal of their own kind, their betrayal of the Coalition, and their betrayal of humanity which they are forever forced to wear. In the eyes of both their fellow soldiers and the prominent mutant communities around the region, this token is not an award for the hood rat's good deeds or the Coalition's appreciation for their actions, but instead a permanent mark of death and weight on their soul sure to have them brutally executed if they ever try to find refuge in somewhere like the infamous Southpoint State.

As a result of the constant discrimination from nearly all but themselves, a sense of kinship forms among the hood rats—helping each other out in times of trouble, sharing their rations or crafting each other's equipment... with a slightly lesser price, at least.

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THE END OF THE LINE—FREEDOM?

There are few ways to retire from the programme. Most Marked Men die before they can reach the end of their sentence, but the lucky ones who survive do enjoy freedom if they have earned it. Even without the mark of a rook, however, ex-convicts are scrutinised in Bargetown and have a harder time finding employment or trust due to their reputation.

Surviving one's sentence is only the standard way to get out of penal service. In sporadic cases, some do the unthinkable and desert their post, leaving their families behind to be harassed by the government with fines, legal threats, and even penal service as their replacement. In the event of a desertion, Marked Men are often lined up and punished collectively for the sin of the escapee.

Those who find these consequences favourable over the alternative run for the hills, leaving everything behind to live the rest of their days fighting to survive the harsh wasteland. They might get roped into the various bands of vandals and vagrants, join arms with a faction sympathetic to their tale, or get hunted down by patrols and search parties looking to bring them in.

Marked Man desertions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with permission from HR+ and a good reason required.

REDEEMED SERVICEMEN—MUTANTS IN THE MILITIA

There exists a third option to retire out of the programme, and ironically, it's available only to Hood Rats; the option to redeem oneself in the eyes of the Registrar Corps.

Should a hood rat earn their freedom through their actions, typically consisting of betraying their fellow man in the selfish pursuit of freedom, the Corps holds a ceremony of handing out the Traitor's Token to the reformed mutant—a medal they are forced to wear throughout the rest of their service.

During this ceremony, they are awarded the title of a Redeemed Serviceman, allowing them to serve within the militia like a human can. Outside of the title, there is no difference between a redeemed serviceman and a human servicemen beyond limitations in how far they might extend their career. Thanks to their green hues, mutated appearances and reputations, redeemed servicemen always fail to significantly rise up in the ranks. No mutant has ever risen above Corporal in the Gold Leaf Army and may never will, as most become forever stuck at the rank of Master Serviceman.

Beyond the benefits of leaving the programme, redeemed servicemen and their families enjoy legal protection from the Bargetown government as well as more financial opportunities. In spite of these benefits, however, it's not uncommon to see Marked Men brutalising their turncoat ex-kin, with redeemed servicemen almost always being viewed as selfish traitors among criminals.

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CORRUPTION IN THE PROGRAMME

Rooks are amongst the most corrupt people in Bargetown—most are seasoned criminals, but even innocent people who are sentenced into the battalion are forced to commit acts of corruption due to the dire circumstances they find themselves facing.

Even with loosely recurring payments in the form of rations and bi-weekly material shipments, most are prone to starvation and even frostbite during cold seasons. Their home often fails to protect them from the cold as it stands in shambles, consisting primarily of ruined scrapshacks and torn-up tents with little to no protection from the elements. With that, disease is highly amongst the programme.

As the conditions worsen and worsen, many are forced to steal, bribe, or what-have-you to survive the harsh environment, going as far as dealing with other criminal gangs in Bargetown for a better chance at survival.

With such behaviour comes a mighty risk—any Registrar that catches a whiff of corruption within the programme can use it to their advantage, holding freedom hostage to further their own plans with the Marked Men acting as loyal pawns.

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