The mansabdars are Raam’s police, city watch, and soldiers. They are a mundane part of the civil administration, supervised as needed by the templars. Their main duty is to enforce the Grand Vizier’s laws, but their ranks teem with corruption. Most mansabdars are on the payroll of warlords or wealthy merchants and spend their time watching out for their patrons’ interests. Other mansabdars shake down commoners and artisans in their districts, work for criminal gangs, or arrest whomever they’re paid to arrest.
Given the malfeasance of the mansabdars and the breakdown of templar authority, Abalach-Re relies more and more on the kuotagha—an organization of secret police—to enforce her will. Like the mansabdars, they are an arm of the civic government, loosely overseen by the templars. Little better than assassins, the kuotagha hide among the populace, striking without warning to eliminate undesirables.