The Thunder Guard are the personal army of Shosuro Hyobu and serve to keep her city peaceful and orderly. Their leader is her son, Shosuro Jocho, a fierce and dangerous warrior. While hardly his mother's equal in matters political, he has a crude (but effective) grasp of small unit tactics and organization. This, joined with a native cunning and the numbers and training of his men, makes the Thunder Guards the single most physically dangerous force in Ryoko Owari.
The lowest level of the guards are footmen known as "kaisatsukan'. They are dressed in light armor with a plumed helm, and arearmed with naginatas. There are over three hundred kaisatsukan in Ryoko Owari, predominantly children of minor nobility.
On a usual day, fifty will be in each of the Towers of the
East and West Eyes, another twenty will be guarding the
walls around the Noble Quarter, thirty will be guarding the walls
around the rest of the city, and five will be stationed at each gate.
In addition, twenty-five are generally patrolling the Fisherman
Quarter (usually by the docks, checking ships for contraband and
protecting the tariff collectors), a like number are in the Merchant
Quarter and a dozen are in the Temple Quarter. These guards are
assigned to specific areas and do not wander from them. However,
Teardrop Island is such a popular assignment that the staff there is changed weekly, and is composed of soldiers from all other
districts (led by one chief who is stationed there permanently).
The duties of the Thunder Guard are to defend the city from
invasion, halt crimes against the Governor (but not investigate
crimes that have been committed; that's a job for one of Hyobu's
magistrates (or the Emerald Magistrate), check incoming
barges, boats and wagons for contraband, check the papers of
travellers, and generally ensure civic peace.
One of Jocho's initiatives since he took control of the Guards
last year has been to offer incentives for kaisatsukan to receive
elite training for two specialized units, Samurai Squad and the Lightning Squad.