The Gatemarked

The Gatemarked are tunnel wardens, ambush scouts, passage executioners, and branded instruments of undergate command. Each bears a gate-sign showing where they may command without waiting for clan approval. Their kits are close and practical: short blades, chalk cords, smoke masks, signal pins, oil flasks, trap hooks, and ledgers small enough to hide under armour. The order is old, and its first brands are remembered like scars on the realm. They keep invasions out and internal enemies afraid. They are shield and leash, often in the same breath. Their cost is written in people silenced before a feud became a breach, and in pleas cut short because below the gates a delayed order can become a massacre.