Torchbearers are the standard human guards of Raverie, trained to maintain order, visibility, and calm within a city defined by ice, machinery, and dense civilian life. They serve as the most common human face of authority, operating alongside automaton guards while retaining judgment, adaptability, and presence.
Unlike specialized units such as Pyronauts or elven rapid-response forces, Torchbearers are generalists. Their role is not escalation, but stabilization — ensuring that crowds remain manageable, streets remain visible, and unrest does not turn into panic.
They are most often encountered during night patrols, festivals, heavy snowfall, and public gatherings, where the line between safety and chaos is thin.
Before the Modus Revolution transformed Raverie into a clockwork city, guards carried torches.
These early patrols relied on open flame to navigate snow-covered streets, deter crime, and signal authority through darkness and fog. Light was not merely practical; it was symbolic. Citizens associated torchlight with safety and oversight.
As mechanization spread, open flame became increasingly impractical. Wind, snow, crowd density, and mechanical infrastructure made torches dangerous liabilities. Yet removing them entirely created an unexpected problem: the city felt colder, darker, and more threatening.
Rather than abandoning the tradition, Raverie mechanized it.
The enclosed Guard Lamp was developed as a controlled evolution of the torch — preserving its visual and psychological function while removing its hazards. Guards trained in its use retained their historical title.
Thus, Torchbearers remained Torchbearers, even as their tools changed.
Torchbearers belong to the City Guard and operate under the broader authority of the Clockguard.
They are not elite specialists, engineers, or scholars. They are trained fighters whose authority is rooted in discipline, repetition, and presence rather than technical mastery.
Their responsibilities include:
Routine patrols
Crowd management
Nighttime security
Public event oversight
Supporting automaton guard units in judgment-sensitive situations
When conditions escalate beyond containment — riots, large-scale mechanical failures, or direct threats to infrastructure — Torchbearers yield ground to Pyronaut units or specialized Clockguard divisions.
Their purpose is to prevent escalation, not to resolve it through force.
Torchbearers are trained in a dedicated training yard within the Clockguard District.
The yard emphasizes practicality over ceremony. Wide open spaces, ice-treated ground, artificial fog, and variable lighting conditions simulate real patrol environments rather than ideal combat scenarios.
Training focuses on:
Bludgeoning combat techniques
Formation movement without shields
Crowd spacing and pressure control
Endurance during prolonged patrols
Light discipline and situational awareness
Recruits train extensively without active light before being issued a Guard Lamp. The philosophy is clear: discipline precedes illumination.
Torchbearers define success by calm outcomes.
They measure effectiveness not by arrests or injuries, but by:
Crowds dispersing peacefully
Streets remaining navigable
Incidents resolving without panic
They do not seek attention. Their presence is meant to be familiar, predictable, and grounding.
Among Torchbearers, light is considered a responsibility rather than a weapon. Used improperly, it can provoke fear or chaos. Used correctly, it reassures and guides.
The Guard Lamp is both tool and weapon.
It consists of a reinforced staff with a weighted head housing an enclosed, mechanically regulated light source. Adjustable internal shutters allow Torchbearers to vary brightness instantly, shifting from soft illumination to intense glare.
In combat, the lamp functions as a bludgeoning weapon. Strikes are designed to stagger, disrupt balance, and control space rather than cause lethal injury.
Torchbearers are trained to combine physical strikes with sudden changes in brightness, briefly disorienting opponents without relying on sustained blindness.
To prevent long-term eye damage, Torchbearers wear specialized protective glasses.
These lenses filter the lamp’s output while preserving situational awareness. The glasses are a standard part of the uniform and are treated as essential equipment rather than optional gear.
Visual discipline is emphasized throughout training. Torchbearers are taught to manage where light falls, who it affects, and how long it remains intense.
In combat situations, Torchbearers function as controllers rather than damage dealers.
They excel at:
Holding chokepoints
Breaking up disorderly groups
Supporting heavier units
Operating in low-visibility environments
They are less effective in:
Open-field battles
High-speed engagements
Situations requiring overwhelming force
Torchbearers are not meant to end conflicts decisively. They are meant to keep them from becoming worse.
To civilians, Torchbearers are reassuring and familiar.
They are recognized not for spectacle, but reliability. Their arrival often calms situations simply by making authority visible and predictable.
Criminal elements view them as persistent obstacles rather than terrifying threats. Other classes regard them as necessary but unremarkable — a perception Torchbearers neither resent nor challenge.
Their role is not to be remembered. It is to be depended upon.
Most Torchbearers choose the path for practical reasons.
Some seek stable work and civic purpose. Others value discipline and routine over ambition. Many simply wish to protect the city without becoming part of its more extreme institutions.
In a city driven by machines, systems, and specialists, Torchbearers remain human constants — carrying light through streets not to dazzle, but to make order visible.