Governance in Caldorne is technically handled by the military. Crown Sheriff Hauptmeyer is the ranking sheriff in the county--has been for nearly 100 years, as a matter of fact. The two current sheriffs in the county (not barony, many more in the whole Barony) are: Crown Sheriff Franz Hauptmeyer--Sheriff of Durin, and Sheriff Horik Tieftunnel--Sheriff of Terath (he's held that position for the past 25 years). Sergeant Ivhon Stone is the former Sheriff of Kuller. He now has no crown authority. However, they are all still soldiers on active duty. Crown Captain Tazor outranks any soldier in the Barony. Period. He yields to those at the Kingdom level, but to no one else.

• A platoon can range in size from 10 to 40 men. The smallest units are usually specialized, either by composition or function (such as the "platoon" of Havenites) and are differentiated from squads by whether or not they are attached to a larger platoon.
• A company numbers between 100-200 men and is composed of five platoons.
• A battalion is made up of five companies (500-1000 men).
• A regiment is made up of five battalions (2500-5000 men). Each Barony fields one regiment. Captain Tazor is Commander of the Baronial Regiment of Heimdall's Gate.
• On the national level, there are seven divisions, divided by regions, each comprised of five regiments (or five Baronies) plus one more, the Maritime Division (the Navy, part of the familiar structure, but also as different as wet and dry…) that is manned by men--sailors--from all over Caldorne.
• Together these seven divisions form the Royal Army of Caldorne.

Military service in Caldorne is compulsory for all male citizens of suitable health and intellect. Women are permitted to enlist, and many do, especially those who are training as mages or clerics, but they are not required to do so. Once a boy reaches 16 (48 dwarven) he is permitted to begin his term of service, but waiting until 20 (60), when he is considered an adult under the law, is much more common. He is expected (societal, not legal expectation) to begin his term of service no later than age 22 (66), and most do. However, if a young man hasn't enlisted by the time he reaches 25 (75) he must present compelling reason to the courts why he should be exempted/deferred, or penalties--of increasing severity--will accrue. This very rarely happens. An immigrant is expected to begin military service within 6 months of taking the oath of citizenship.

After the compulsory term of service, the serviceman is reverted to reserve status. He is NOT discharged. He is expected to serve when called, as a militiaman, as a deputy or guardsman, or in the active duty military in time of war. However, usually this means at most a month or two a year (on non-consecutive days) are spent in the service of the Barony.

The Caldorne military is a single unified force. It includes navy and army operations, and special forces--scouts, cavalry, mage corps, clerical corps, etc--in one administrative body and CoC.

Officers are selected by active duty officers and confirmed by the Baron or other nobleman, or, more rarely, appointed directly by the nobles, but they can only be chosen from active duty soldiers who have fulfilled their compulsory enlistment. Every officer has seen active duty as a private. Lower ranking non-commissioned officers are proposed by active duty officers and/or NCOs and confirmed by two officers of subaltern rank or above. Promotion to Master Sergeant and Sergeant-Major is awarded as per the rules for selecting commissioned officers.

• E-1 Private--only rank possible during 2 yr term of compulsory service; promotion to next rank is not automatic even when the soldier elects to remain on active duty after basic citizenship requirements (the initial 2 yr term) are met
• E-2 Lance Corporal--eligible to achieve promotion to next rank after 3 yrs TIG
• E-3 Corporal--eligible to achieve promotion to next rank after 4 yrs TIG
• E-4 Sergeant--eligible to achieve promotion to next rank after 5 yrs TIG
• E-5 Master Sergeant--eligible to achieve promotion to next rank after 6 yrs TIG
• E-6 Sergeant Major--highest possible NCO rank

Assuming promotions as rapidly as is possible to achieve, a soldier will progress as follows:

• From enlistment through end of 2nd year, Private
• From end of mandatory enlistment (2 full years of service in) through end of 3rd year, Private
• From start of 4th year (3 full years of service in) through end of 5th year, Lance
• From start of 6th year, (5 full years of service in) through end of 9th year, Corporal
• From start of 10th year (9 full years of service in) through end of 14th year, Sergeant
• From start of 15th year (14 full years of service in) through end of 20th year, Master Sergeant
• From start of 21st year (20 full years of service in) Sergeant Major

• O-1 Lieutenant / Sheriff
• O-2 Subaltern / Crown Sheriff
• O-3 Captain
• O-4 Major
• O-5 Colonel
• O-6 General

Additionally the term 'Crown' can be applied to any officer rank; it is an appointive position. The Barons of Caldorne can grant Crown rank to officers of their Baronies up through the rank of Captain. A Crown Major or above is appointed (or confirmed) only by the King himself. A crown Lieutenant outranks all other Lieutenants, but is still outranked by a Subaltern or above. The Crown General is the Chief-of-Staff. He outranks all other Generals.

In the military the "conservative" faction wears their hair very long--mid-back, at least--and tightly braided, dwarven style. The smaller "progressive" bloc wear their hair cut short. Both styles are allowed. What are never permitted are the loose, long, "Cavalier"-style lovelocks that can blind a fighter--and land him on report! Beards are universally worn. They are usually braided, and are always (supposed to be) impeccably groomed.

(A cultural note. Essentially, in Caldorne (and especially in conservative Heimdall's Gate) the only men who go un-bearded are those too young to grow one; those who, through chance or misfortune can't grow one; or some transvestites and genderfluid individuals who chose to reject societal norms. Mores are different further south, and in the southern continent (elven dominated territory) most human males are clean-shaven.)

Discipline is administered through a military Tribunal, a single judicial body that closely resembles the Low, Middle, and High Justice in miniature. Administrative penalties (up to 20 lashes and 6 months hard labor--hard labor to be defined as a full day of regular duty as assigned plus an additional 4-8 hours of hard, unpleasant labor) can be dispensed by the ranking officer without convening the Tribunal. These are for cases that are both open-and-shut (where there is no doubt of guilt) and more-or-less minor is nature (failing to follow an order; disrespect to a superior officer; brawling; petty theft; drunk-and-disorderly; etc.) However, as with all cases, they are subject to review, and a cleric must determine how many stripes can be administered at any one time to prevent undue damage to a culprit.

King Cerramas the Just is a middle-aged man (by Erden standards) of 121 years. He rules a country about the size of Sweden (174, 000 square miles) with a population of 7308000 and a population density of 42/square mile, of which 182700 (2.5%) are urban. The country is divided by population into 30 Baronies (average population: 243600) of 3 to 5 Counties (average population: 60900). These 30 Baronies, and the 30 Baronial Families who rule them ARE the aristocracy of Caldorne, and a powerful one it is. When the old King dies the Council of Barons approves--but does NOT elect--the new King. Usually it is a simple matter, but there have been times in the history of Caldorne where the First-Born and Heir Apparent was NOT approved and the Crown went to a younger child, or even a brother of the King. As might be expected the politics in Caldorne are lively and not for the faint of heart…

The King is properly addressed as "Your Majesty," the Crown Prince as "Your Royal Highness", other Princes and Princesses as "Your Highness", Barons as "Your Honour" or "Milord", Baronial wives and children also as "Milord" or "Milady", Bishops as "Your Grace," and Arch-Mages as "Your Wisdom".