Royal Northian Marines
Her Northian Majesty's Marines or Royal Northian Marines (RNM) are the naval infantry arm of the Royal Northian Navy. The Royal Northian Corps of Engineers were split from the RNM in 1875.
Name
Because the RNM were originally raised under the King's personal authority and expense, they were used in the 1600s through the 1800s for a wide range of functions that have now been superseded by the Federal Army and a number of civic authorities. One was to police the Verge of the Palace, a six-mile circle around the royal residence over which the King had direct authority. Another common use was to erect buildings, on the pretext they were useful for the Navy, for which the Congress of the States refused to pay. This function led to the monicker His Northian Majesty's Bricklayers, referenced in the 1856 novel Birds of Song, where a Royal Northian Marine was told off by a Federal Army officer, "Get thee hence: thy Bricks wait for thee."
Structure
- 2nd Regiment of Marine Guards (HNM Bricks)
Roles
History
Culture
Oaths
Because the RNM were recruited by the King at his personal expense, it was traditional for its members to swear an explicit oath of loyalty to the King. The wording of this oath changed from time to time but was in general similar to the one sworn by enlisted seamen. This is in contrast to the impermanet armies assembled by the Congress, which did not swear oaths, since their remit and behaviour are already set forth by law. In the early modern period, this oath was interpreted by the royal justices to have a legally binding effect and carried the penalty of outlawry and forfeiture if broken. In 1876, the Congress of the States regulated the oaths sworn by the RNM for the first time and defined that the words "the King" shall be interpreted by royal justices to mean "the King-in-Congress", i.e. they shall be loyal to the King's body politic whose actions and commands are entirely within and defined by law.
Guard duty
The RNM have a special guard duty towards the Northian crown owing to the unit's history as a private royal regiment. The royal guard formed in the late Medieval period has three orders within it: the first is the barons-at-arms, the second the gentlemen-at-arms, and the third the yeomen-at-arms. Each order had a separate captain, called the baron-captain, gentleman-captain, and just captain. The third order is nowadays always filled with Royal Northian Marines, and the 2nd Regiment of Foot is named for this duty as the "Regiment of Marine Guards". This role is technically shared by the Royal Northian Navy, but to economize on allowances (seamen were paid 6 pence a day; marines 2 pence), the Admiralty has historically defaulted to the RNM except on particularly notable days.
Until the 1960s, Northian diplomatic missions abroad were also guarded by the RNM. However, this role is now fulfilled by Foreign Office agents wearing the RNM's uniforms.
Historically, the RNM were not well-received in the guard duty. As the most visible members of the royal guard and most likely to interact with the public, they behaviour was most often poor and unreliable. They stole or robbed goods with thinly-veiled pretenses and often caused injuries and disorder. Short of rape and murder, the Chancellor was unlikely to issue a warrant for their arrest, and the civic authorities could not execute an arrest within the verge of the palace, into which Royal Northian Marines fled when suspected of ill-doing. "With a Royal Crest on their Sleeves, they take our Civic Authority, most rightful and cherished, for Nothing," writes the diarist Manius. They also sheltered criminals for income, and crime was no less common in the verge than beyond it. The verge was so dangerous in 1749 that the Mayor of Cleiden offered the King ten patrols, fully paid for by the City, to make sure the city's denizens could travel through the verge with peace of mind: the King accepted the offer but did not remove the RNM.