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Tellnaught Patrol

by FlowsLikeBits

"If you don't stop that, we'll have to ask you to leave."

- a gang of five

"Well, you can just report it to me, from the sound of it, I should probably head over to headquarters anyway."

- a concerned citizen, to a visitor

A large part of Tellnaught's success in keeping itself seperate from Firewander is due to the Tellnaugh Patrol. The Patrol forms a highly visible presence and acts as both a local police force and a visible symbol of community unity and pride. It was formed by a special charter among the residents soon after the formation of the Tellnaught district. The Council has given it official sanction to exist, but that it all. This charter makes it mostly volunteer run, but allows people to be payed under certian circumstances. A peculiar clause allows patrol members to temporarily draft residents to act as messengers, usually as a way of summoning reinforcements. Given that most able bodied residents have some service with the patrol, this is quite effective. The first sign of trouble tends to draw a large crowd of volunteer, moderatly trained militia out of the neighboring houses. The residents take pride in their ability to deal with things themselves. This is sometimes known as "emergency service".

The Patrol is volunteer run and supported by contributions from residents. All residents are expected to contribute to it somehow or another, either time, money or expertice in some area. While those who do not contribute without reason are not molested by the Patrol(this would violate the prohibition against taxes), they usually are by their neighbors. Also most residents find such a situation embarrassing. Severe problems tend to move to other sections of Nexus. The residents of Tellnaught have almost universally risen up from the poorer masses of the city by a combination of effort and sheer force of will, this has instilled a common sense of pride and certian willingness to tolerate those who contribute, no matter how odd they are. In practice, corruption among the patrol has remained relativly minor.

The symbol of the patrol is a blue,black, green and red pin wheel with a white center. In keeping with this, they always operate in groups of five, thus leading to their local nickname the "gangs of five", an affectionate refrence to the fact that there are no real gangs in Tellnaught. The only uniform is a sash that goes over the head and has the symbol of the patrol on the front and back. The Patrol operates out of it's headquarters on Whistle Street, which also serves a training ground. Serving with the Patrol not only helps one's view within the community, but has been noted to have health benefits. Thus, in some cases, even those who do not ofen go on patrol will make use the training grounds. The patrol has contracts with several mercanary companies, notably the Seven Hills Mercenaries , both for training, and in the event that it requires serious backup. This training takes place on various nights and generally focuses on wrestling and the staff. They are generally taught to fight in units of five and to form up into such units when reacting to trouble. The Patrol has no jails, those they catch are given an chance to explain themselves, if this fails, they are chucked over the wall. Additionally, the training sessions serve as social gatherings, parties after training are common. This has tended to keep the entire region somewhat more socially connected than would be expected.

Each neighborhood elects a local leader who then becomes part of the global Patrol council. This simplistic organization works because of the limited size of Tellnaught and the fact that the Patrol has little real power, they mostly just keep the peace and patrol the walls and streets.

A persistant, if odd facet of the Patrol is their lack of supernatural members, such Exalt's, god-blooded or the like. The Patrol is incredibly proud of their ability to achieve what they have without 'help'. Tellnaught does not have any particular shortage in this area, in fact, most of those that exist are members of the Patrol, they just rarely take part in actual patrols, instead tending to contribute in other ways, such as training(a common one) or financial or other contributions. They tend to make "emergency service" surprisingly effective though.

Bethrel has been a large supporter of the Patrol. While she doesn't actual go on patrols,(she would like to, but "chivalrous" objections from the others arise any time she does, and deep down she knows it would be a bad idea). She has limited her contributions to financial aspects and making the occasional modivational speech. While not really a great speaker, the fact that she believes in what she says, her quiet manner and just very existance tend to make them incredibly effective.

Rumours

• The Patrol has always seemed well informed. It is thought that they have some sort of scrying device borrowed from the Council. It is known as the "secret service" and places messages in a number of small cubbyholes around Tellnaught.
• There are persistant, vague rumors of corruption among the Patrol, these are more common in Firewander .
• His time with the patrol is the only time Cassio Valn isn't drunk. His record with them is actually exemplatory and he is a major contributor. This compensates for the fact that most residents don't especially like his art. A few times he mentiond that he might permenalty volunteer to help organize the Patrol when he retires from art.

Secret

• A number of exalts have tried to join the patrol. The presence of obviously supernatural beings had a bad effected on efficiency of average patrols however, so all restricted their involvement when they realized the deletourus effect they were having on the units moral.
• One of the most ingenious aspects of the Tellnaught patrol is it's "secret service", it consists solely of local children less than 10 years of age. Sworn never to speak of it on pain of things all children rightly fear, most have forgotten it's existance by adulthood. Those that remember are smart enough not to speak of it, and to listen to the occasional news delivered by young children. The children themselves have passed this tradition on, although they are unclear on it's origin.

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