Category:Hombre Valiente

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Los Hombres Valientes (singular: Hombre Valiente) are the armed enforcers of the government of the domain Conquista in the Wartorn Cluster. They were created when president Foxskinner officially combined the military, police and secret police into one institution.

(Please note that the term also refers to a prestige class that is detailed in Wartorn Gazetteer Volume II: Conquista.)

Hombres Valientes' combination of duties and authorities was supposedly meant to cut down on administrative bloat and increase the public trust in the peacekeeping forces. In practice, Hombres Valientes often step on civil liberties and are feared as the state's judges, jury and executioners, all rolled into one.

Ciska notes that historically the Hombres Valientes have defended the country from both monsters and invasion, and some do keep the peace and (ploddingly but thoroughly) investigate crime, but most citizens are afraid to turn to them for help, because many of them are open to bribery. Many citizens are also culturally disinclined to seek help because they see it as weakness, owing to a national tradition of violently attacking or dueling one's detractors to settle disagreements oneself.

The only place in Conquista where Hombres Valientes are wholly respected and trusted is the City of Alsem, due to a stringent policy to eradicate corruption on all levels of society. Outside the city, Hombres Valientes are more commonly seen as thugs and snitches in government service, with license to beat up, extort and kill anyone they claim is a criminal or enemy of the state. Notably, Hombres Valientes have on one occasion executed a President of Conquista because the government offices, the major political parties and their own internal hierarchy all agreed the man was a danger to the country. Without such an agreement, however, Hombres Valientes are supposed to answer to the sitting President as their supreme commander. Currently, that means they should answer to President Erik Hughmann, except he has gone to some effort to have them be self-governing - with predictable results.

Hombres Valientes are traditionally armed with a kukri and revolver, and receive training in using these while driving one-man mobila (motorized vehicles). They are deadly with hit-and-run tactics, cultivate contacts in the criminal underworld and have access to public and secret government records to aid in their investigations. Perhaps their greatest power is the ability to mobilize posses out of the average citizenry on the spot.

Although they are solid in direct confrontations and ideally serve as a deterrent against crime, they are too recognizable to be a very effective secret police. Unknown to los Hombres Valientes themselves, this position is actually fulfilled by la officía del recuerdo.