Post by Dougal on May 18, 2009 5:33:54 GMT -5
The Special Warfare Corps (SWC) - IC Information
Commanding Officer: Captain Dougal (surname unknown, possibly does not have one)
Size: 130 members, give or take a few as more men are recruited and others die.
Motto: Whatever It Takes
Organisation: The SWC is split up into approximately 13 ten man sections, with a sergeant, or if there are multiple sergeants the most senior of them, commanding the section. Inside the section are two 'fragments', consisting of five men each. These are commanded by either a corporal or, in a few cases, a sergeant.
Fragments, while they do tend to vary greatly due to a high level of weapon customisation, tend to have at least one siege arbalest and at least one longbow/recurve bow. The other three members tend to have anything from an extra siege crossbow to a small pistol crossbow. However, all members of the fragment are capable of fighting in melee combat and are often better at it than they are at archery.
There a several small subgroups, section sized or smaller, such as the Biological Warfare Unit, the artillery group and the acquisition division, but these are specialised positions and very difficult to get into.
Entry Requirements: In order to gain entry to the SWC you must be a member of the Araluen Army and have served for several years with distinction. Moreover, you need to be fitter than average, capable of learning a multitude of weapons quickly and demonstrate a will power greater than or equal to that of a donkey (eg: you don't give up, no matter what). Finally, a potential recruit must be willing to conduct illegal missions, even ones that include deliberately harming civilians in order to safeguard Araluen.
If all these requirements are met, the recruit will undergo a month of exercises designed to break them mentally and physically before they are accepted into the ranks of the SWC.
History: The SWC began its life as a ten man unit of archers lead by the then Corporal Dougal, a man who had been taught the skills of stealth and sabotage by his uncle, a rogue Ranger. After 'killing' various members of the nobility during war games, they came to the attention Lord Northolt, the Supreme Commander of the Araluen Army at that time. Northolt saw that Dougal and his men had much potential and petitioned the King to create a special corps of men who could do what the Rangers could not, or else refused, to do.
A month later, Corporal Dougal was removed from active service and promoted to Captain at the age of 22, something that was unheard of. However, Dougal proved himself by selecting 130 men from an initial 400. This was done by a month of gruelling exercises that took at least two lives and permanently crippled ten other soldiers. However, Dougal was left with 130 men who were loyal to the crown, despite their chequered pasts, and who were also the toughest soldiers anyone had ever seen. They had the willpower to keep on going when others would have given up and the physical strength to do so.
After the initial training, the recruits were given their real training. Retired Rangers taught them about stealth, tracking, gathering intelligence and setting up ambushes, while a Temujin defector was brought in to teach the recruits hand-to-hand combat. Genovesan assassins were hired to teach Dougal's recruits, and Dougal himself, how to infiltrate fortresses and poison the inhabitants, as well as how to use the crossbow. Throughout this, there were extraordinarily cruel exercises that Dougal himself participated in and excelled at. A year later the most deadly fighting force the Hemisphere had ever seen was ready for combat.
No women had been selected in the initial intake because Dougal had not considered them capable of withstanding the training and, after an incident in which Dougal was seduced and then subsequently betrayed, he no longer trusted women full stop. Only one known woman has ever joined the SWC, an Avalea Goldsmith. She was only accepted because she had independently found out about the SWC, defeated Dougal in single combat (her way of telling Dougal that she knew about the SWC and wanted to join) and then passed a harsher training than most men underwent.
Since then, the SWC has been involved in several exercises, although the details of these are somewhat sketchy. There was a major one behind the Scotti border after the Macindaw incident and a couple of intelligence gathering missions on the continent. However, any other major operations are unknown, even to most members of the SWC.
The Special Warfare Corps (SWC) - OOC Information
- It takes a very special kind of person to join the SWC who are, more so than the Rangers, a Special Forces unit similar to the SASR or the Recce (no, they are very different from the Navy Seals, who are rather loud and obvious when they attack). Their primary role is to conduct illegal or highly dangerous missions behind enemy lines, often acting on intelligence gathered by the Rangers. Death is a constant threat but, to many members of the SWC, that's what makes the whole job worthwhile. Others just like the killing that they often do in order to complete their mission.
- Many members of the SWC have a less than savoury past, often being minor criminals or having an atrocious family life. However, they are generally a good sort, valuing humour and comradeship about social norms. As a result they call the few officers in the SWC 'boss' as opposed to 'sir' and tend to call each other by their first name. The SWC also tends to dislike the nobility because the nobility doesn't always care for the common folk.
- Female characters are very rare in the SWC for now because Dougal has been unable to shake off the ghosts of his path. Basically, in order for a woman to join the SWC, she would have to find out about the SWC by herself, confront Dougal and then undergo harsher than normal training. She'd also have to be willing to sleep with the enemy in order to get information. This is set to change, eventually but, for the time being it's the only way for a woman to join the SWC.
- As the creator of the SWC I, Dougal, have a say in whether or not your character is accepted, so if you need any advice just PM me.