LORE | Marked Men

LORE

Competent manpower is in short supply in frontier settlements like Bargetown. Every soldier must be equipped, indoctrinated, and (very briefly) trained, making it far too expensive to send men on suicide missions. To solve this problem, Bargetown created a penal battalion which would be filled with fresh-faced, underquipped, completely untrained men who could carry out dirty work without the GLA risking a financial loss.

Marked Men, generally referred to as ‘rooks’, are the fighters unlucky enough to be placed in this penal unit. They range from street crooks to corrupt servicemen and are tasked to carry out tasks too dangerous or arduous for ordinary soldiers. Due to how common crime is in Bargetown, the unit is always stocked with abundant, expendable manpower.

Marked Men are typically some of the most corrupt soldiers in the GLA. They are deprived of adequate equipment and paid half the salary of ordinary servicemen (if they are paid at all), meaning most will resort to less-than-legal methods to make ends meet. They are often the target of Registrars looking for an easy citation, and are treated with disdain by other Coalition members, who see them as unabashed criminal scum.

PENAL SERVICE

Among servicemen of the GLA, Marked Men are simultaneously treated as disposable and undesirable, and held to an extremely high standard of loyalty (to "prove their worth" to the army). Marked Men are forced to live in tents and cramped shacks on Windernola Island, which are often poorly insulated, pest-infested, and overcrowded.

Considering the Marked Men are the lowest priority of the militia, they’re regularly given the most repulsive of rations, whether it be food past its date or barely edible fish ration and bargetack. Most cannot even afford to buy their own meals; Marked Men are paid only $2.50 ND per week, whereas regular servicemen receive double this. Exorbitant or arbitrary pay docks are ubiquitous, meaning that many Marked Men often won't see a cent of their measly pay.

DESERTION

Desertion within the Gold Leaf Army, while already uncommon, is almost unheard of amongst Marked Men. Those who risk fleeing from the Militia not only endanger themselves but their loved ones; the families and friends of deserters are often interrogated, harassed, or even arrested. Pressure from their peers in the unit can often stop would-be deserters, too— every time a Marked Man deserts, every other Marked Man is collectively punished. Afterwards, a bounty is placed on the deserter, their own comrades forced to hunt them down to be publicly executed under the oppressive shadow of Bargetown’s looming crane.

SENTENCING

It is not often without proper reason for one to be condemned to the gruelling life of a Marked Man. After committing one of a variety of offenses ranging anywhere from petty theft to murder, one is given the option of an extremely lengthy sentence in the quarry where they will likely die under the intense physical labor or the equally fatal option of the rook. This practice of sending soldiers to penal service is also not uncommon for severe offenses committed by active service members— some find themselves in the ranks for cowardice or other transgressions on the battlefield, and are stripped of their titles, decorations, and equipment.

An unorthodox way of sentencing for Marked Men is to measure how much time they have left by how many battles they survive, on paper being about ten. However, traditional sentencing, which is usually measured in five years or less, still exists. Most never live to see the end, though, due to a variety of factors. Some die in a suicide charge, while others have their sentences perpetually lengthened by a Registrar for the sake of maintaining manpower.

SUPPLY

Underequipped and poorly supplied, Marked Men find themselves outfitted with only the bare minimum of gear. Their weapons pail in comparison to their Gold Leaf counterparts, never being issued more than a single magazine. Their uniforms, even if they didn’t have a rook sewn onto the sleeve, make it obvious to those around them that they are marked. Commonly sourced from soldiers who fell on the battlefield, Marked Men wear uniforms hastily stitched back together, often fitting too big or too small. With limited supplies, Marked Men who live through their first few battles will find themselves with equipment scrounged from the dead and dying regardless of which side they fell on.

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