Category:Mercenary Companies

Standing armies are a powerful source of strength for Creation's states... but they are also a heavy drain on a kingdom's coffers. Mercenaries, hired swords, can be paid for only when an army is needed, more costly than regular soldiers in the short term but paid off the books at war's end.

Creation is home to countless mercenary companies who provide their swords to those willing to pay. The mercenary market of Nexus is renowned for its diversity, and the princelings of the Hundred Kingdoms hire such companies when their squabbles grow out of hand. The Guild is active in the mercenary industry, both hiring them (its security needs, guarding trade factories, escorting caravans, and forcing open markets, are all accomplished through mercenaries) and selling them (the Guild keeps a number of mercenary units on the books, and clandestinely controls several others). Even the vaunted military of Lookshy is seen by some as a mercenary entity, for they provide defense and training to the Confederation of Rivers in exchange for coin and goods.

As mercenaries are motivated by pay not by devotion to a cause, some fear hiring them on lest they will flee rather than fight if the battle turns, or a foe turn their loyalties by presenting a bigger purse. While this does occur, by and large mercenary profits depend on the reputation of their unit, for mercenaries who betray their employers are not likely to be hired by any others once the battle is through.