Silverwick's Defenders
The Winterguard is Silverwick's military force—the guards, soldiers, and defenders who man the walls, patrol the perimeter, and stand between the town and everything that wants to kill it. They are watchmen and warriors, law enforcers and last defenders.
They are not professional soldiers in the traditional sense. Most are farmers, laborers, or craftspeople who also serve rotations on the walls. But a core group—perhaps forty strong—serve full-time, living in the barracks, training constantly, always ready.
Their symbol is a wolf's head—fierce, vigilant, pack-oriented. The wolf represents both what they fight (Frost-Walkers are often corrupted wolves) and what they must become (hunters working as a coordinated pack).
Watch Captain Daren Frost leads them—fifty-one years old, scarred, limping, carrying thirty-five years of service and the weight of every guard who died under his watch. Thirty-seven names. He remembers them all.
Structure and Organization
The Watch Captain: Ultimate authority over the Winterguard. Captain Daren Frost has held this position for twelve years. Reports officially to the Guildmaster but maintains significant autonomy in military matters.
Sergeant: Second-in-command. Currently Sergeant Mila Frostguard—thirty-two years old, scarred, missing two fingers on her left hand (lost to frostbite during a three-day patrol). Handles day-to-day operations, training, and discipline.
Full-Time Guard: The core forty. They live in the barracks at The Iron Gate, train daily, take the dangerous shifts. Most are unmarried—the life is too demanding for families. They serve because they believe in protecting people, because they're good at it, or because they have nowhere else to go.
Militia: Part-time guards—townspeople who serve rotations on the walls, typically one week per month. Perhaps another hundred fifty people serve militia duty. During crises, militia numbers swell as every able-bodied adult contributes.
Recruits: Young people training to potentially join full-time. Typically ages 16-20. Private Jory Thickshield is a recent recruit—twenty years old, baby-faced, nervous, but determined.
Primary Responsibilities
Wall Defense: The Winterguard mans Silverwick's walls constantly. Four main watch posts plus roving patrols. Guards watch for Frost-Walkers, monitor weather, check wall integrity, ensure magical wards are functioning.
Gate Control: The Winterguard controls who enters and leaves. The Iron Gate—facing the dangerous southern approach and forest—receives the most attention. Captain Frost personally oversees its defense.
Law Enforcement: The Winterguard enforces Silverwick's regulations. They stop fights, investigate thefts, apprehend criminals, and maintain order. They work with the Guild of Frost Authority's Master of Justice.
Harvest Protection: During harvest, the Winterguard maintains heavy presence in the White Quilts. Guards patrol field perimeters, watch from elevated positions, escort workers. Every harvest, there are attacks. Every few harvests, someone dies.
Patrols: Small groups venture beyond walls—checking trade routes, monitoring Frost-Walker activity, hunting, escorting traders. Patrols are dangerous. Exposure, Frost-Walkers, getting lost—many ways to die.
Training: Constant training is essential. Weapon drills, wall defense simulations, Frost-Walker encounter practice, formation fighting, survival skills. The Winterguard trains daily because the alternative is dying when real threats appear.
The Winterguard Uniform
The Winterguard uniform is a practical and layered ensemble built for Silverwick's harsh climate.
Foundation: A heavy, coarse wool under-tunic in muted charcoal or brown provides warmth against the elements.
Armor Core: Over the under-tunic, guards wear a dense weave of interlocking steel chainmail—flexible metal protection visible at the sleeves and hem. This is covered by a sturdy cuirass and gambeson crafted from thick, dark brown leather showing signs of wear—scratches, scuffs, the marks of service.
The Cloak: The most prominent feature. Made from deep navy blue wool, voluminous and heavy. Lavishly lined with plush, thick white fur that spills over the collar and edges. The hem and ornate metal clasps are embellished with intricate embroidery woven from shimmering silver thread—indicating rank or regimental detail.
Accessories: Leather gauntlets, belts, and a weathered scabbard complete the attire. The wolf symbol appears on shields and pins worn by all members.
The uniform balances protection, warmth, and mobility. Metal alone would freeze you. Leather alone wouldn't stop Frost-Walker claws. The combination works—insulation, flexibility, defense. The navy and white color scheme mirrors Silverwick's winter landscape while the silver embroidery catches light during night patrols.
The Wolf Symbol
The Winterguard adopted the wolf deliberately. They fight Frost-Walkers—corrupted dire wolves that hunt in intelligent packs. So the Winterguard became wolves themselves: fierce, loyal, pack-oriented, intelligent hunters.
"Fight like what you hunt" is their unofficial motto.
The wolf also represents:
Pack Loyalty: You protect your pack. Your pack protects you.
Vigilance: Wolves never truly rest. Neither does the Winterguard.
Survival: Wolves endure harsh conditions through adaptation and cooperation.
Ferocity: When threatened, wolves are vicious. So is the Winterguard.
Guards refer to themselves as "the pack." New recruits are "pups." Experienced guards are "fangs."
Relationship with Other Factions
Guild of Frost Authority: Official command structure but complicated relationship. Captain Frost reports to Guildmaster Thorne. Thorne sets overall town policy. Frost implements it regarding defense.
Frost maintains significant autonomy. In military emergencies, he makes decisions without consultation. Tension exists when Guild policies conflict with defense needs, but both respect each other professionally. Both are pragmatists carrying impossible burdens.
Craft Guild: The Winterguard's strongest alliance. The Craft Guild provides weapons, armor, equipment, repairs. The Winterguard protects craftspeople, escorts trade caravans, prevents theft, ensures safe working conditions outside walls.
Smith Kaelen and Captain Frost work together constantly. This relationship is Silverwick's most functional cross-faction cooperation—clear mutual benefit, reliable delivery, genuine respect.
Solstice Faithful: Deep spiritual partnership. Father Solace serves as confessor and counselor to Winterguard members. Guards see and do terrible things—watching friends die, killing Frost-Walkers, making life-or-death decisions, living with guilt and trauma.
Father Solace listens, provides counsel, offers spiritual framework for processing violence, performs funeral rites for fallen guards, blesses weapons before dangerous patrols.
Captain Frost and Father Solace have worked together for decades. Their friendship is genuine—two old men carrying different but equally heavy burdens.
Ice-Singers Guild: Functional cooperation. The Winterguard protects the River House. The Ice-Singers provide ice safety assessments, maintain safe crossings, rescue those who fall through ice. Professional relationship without deep connection.
The Cost of Service
Thirty-seven guards have died during Captain Frost's thirty-five years of service. He remembers every name, every death, every circumstance.
Killed by Frost-Walkers: Most common. Wolves, bears, saber-tooths. Fast, brutal, often preventable with better equipment or more caution. Frost replays each death.
Exposure: Second most common. Patrols caught in storms, guards on watch during extreme cold. Freezing to death is slow, painful.
Accidents: Falls from walls, training injuries that turned fatal, equipment failures.
The Frost-Titan: Twenty-three years ago, a Frost-Titan attacked. Eleven guards died during the three-day siege. Frost survived by luck. The memory haunts him.
Each death weighs on him. He's the captain. Their survival is his responsibility. When they die, he failed them—or so he believes.
This is why he looks twenty years older than he is. Why he limps. Why he barely sleeps. Why his daughter Maren barely speaks to him (he chose the Winterguard over family).
Current Challenges
Recruitment: Young people increasingly reluctant to join full-time. The life is hard, pay modest, chances of dying significant.
Aging Veterans: Many experienced guards are aging. The Winterguard needs younger blood but can't attract it.
Increased Threats: Recent months show more Frost-Walker activity. More sightings. More probing attacks. It means longer hours, more patrols, exhausted guards.
Equipment Wear: Armor, weapons, shields—everything wears out. With resource constraints, replacing worn equipment is difficult.
Trauma: Many guards suffer nightmares, jumpiness, inability to relax, drinking too much. Huntmaster Varak exemplifies this—once reliable, now drinking heavily. The Winterguard has no formal way to address this beyond Solace's counseling.
Why They Matter
The Winterguard is Silverwick's last line of defense. When Frost-Walkers attack, they respond. When walls are breached, they hold. When darkness comes, they stand watch so others can sleep.
They are not glamorous. They are cold, tired, scared often, scarred always. They see friends die. They carry guilt. They make impossible choices.
But they stand anyway. On the walls. In the snow. Facing wolves with pale eyes and unnatural intelligence. Protecting people who mostly don't think about them until something goes wrong.
The Winterguard keeps Silverwick alive. Not through grand heroism but through daily vigilance, brutal competence, and willingness to die so others won't have to.
The wolf symbol is perfect. Fierce. Loyal. Enduring. Always watching.
The pack survives together. And the Winterguard is Silverwick's pack.