Codex Entry IX – Stormguard Hospitaliers
Designation: Stormguard Medical Detachment
Codename:Black Vein
Doctrine Classification: Warrior-Healer Intelligence Protocol
Compiled and Ratified: Redmark Year 3
Sanctioned by: League Council and Commander Altan
I. Origin and Role
The Hospitaliers of the Stormguard are a medical-intelligence division founded in the final months of the Zhong War. They were created not to honor the wounded—but to keep them breathing long enough to rebuild.
Drawn from the same Crucible as frontline Stormguards, Hospitaliers are forged in silence and survival. Every one of them has passed the Trial of the Hollow Helm. Every one has held open flesh and made the call: save, or let go.
They are not healers by mercy.
They are warriors who learned to keep the dying from interfering with command.
II. Uniform and Equipment
Hospitaliers no longer wear helms. Instead, they are wrapped in black linen, covering head and face. Only their eyes are left visible. Their hands are gloved, their gauntlets reinforced to double as clamps or blunt instruments. Their belts carry field tools: cauterizers, marrow hooks, bone saws, and sabers dulled by neither peace nor time.
"If they see your face, they may mistake you for human. Don't let them."
— Warden's Note, Internal Memo 3B
III. The Black Vein Protocol
The first Gale Sanctuary was constructed on the bones of the old imperial palace. It became a place of healing, but not only that.
The Black Vein is now an institutional doctrine:
To heal the wounded of war and the League's civilians. To observe unrest in cities, towns, and frontier posts. To recruit from orphaned populations into either the Stormguard or Gale Army. To serve as early warning nodes for threats the League cannot see coming.
Each major city houses a full Black Vein Detachment (100 Hospitaliers).
Towns receive Outpost Clinics of 10–20 personnel.
All report directly to the Warden of the Black Vein, based in the capital sanctuary.
IV. Tactical Mandate
In Stormguard legions, every twenty soldiers include a Combat Medic, trained for:
Field cautery Arterial and muscle repair Shock and neurofracture stabilization On-field triage, with squire-assigned evacuation
Command Protocol:
"Bring him to the Black Vein."
Response: "By iron, by oath."
If no one answers, the wounded is left.
V. Clinics and Civilian Interface
Black Vein Clinics are structured to integrate into League settlements without disrupting civilian life.
Standard Clinic Includes:
1 Lead Hospitalier (authorized to speak) 4–10 Junior Medics 3–5 Support Staff Up to 5 Stormguards (optional, for protection)
Protocols:
Civilians receive care without charge. Orphans are sheltered, monitored, and assessed. Medical staff do not disclose identities. Any signs of foreign agents, cult activity, or royalist symbols are logged and reported weekly.
"Heal the broken. Watch the unspoken.
Do not raise banners. Do not raise alarms."
— Warden's Rural Directive
VI. Silence Doctrine
Stormguard units observe the Silence Doctrine in all public operations.
Hospitaliers are exempt, but under strict restriction:
Speech is allowed only for care, command, or intelligence relay. Junior medics must not address civilians without authorization. Violations of vocal conduct result in immediate reassignment or expulsion.
VII. League Transcript – Strategic Oversight Excerpt
FILE REF: LFC-ACT-1229
LEVEL III CLEARANCE
PM Qiu:
The clinics hold the people together. Even those who do not trust us trust the black tents.
Commander Altan:
Because they work. And because the Warden watches through them.
Councilor Therun:
It looks like surveillance.
Altan:
It is. But it heals. That's how we keep order without giving speeches.
PM Qiu:
Let it be recorded: The Warden's Network remains active, and untouched.
Closing Note:
Any obstruction or interference with a Black Vein Clinic will be considered civil sedition.
Let the banners fall, if they must.
The Warden remains.
VIII. Final Clause: No Peace Without Structure
The Black Vein does not seek peace.
It seeks function, order, and readiness.
Every bandaged limb.
Every child recruited.
Every whisper recorded.
It all goes somewhere.
"This isn't redemption. It's control. And it works."
— Altan, after inspecting the first Sanctuary