This question has been coming up a lot with new players coming to Sirothelle, so I thought I'd take this time to use the Creators' Insights thread in order to explain the stark differences between the military and the Occult.
Sirothelle's military forces are the brawn of the city, and are split into two main factions: The Infantry and The City Guard. They are recruited once they have finished schooling either at Reyula or Oikeia. For those who have been expelled from Reyula and are forced to work in drudgery, joining the military is possibly their only option to better themselves.
The former, which is substantially larger than the other, is the main army, trained in all manner of combat and prepared to defend the city at a moment's notice. They are an elite force, and are smaller than many other armies across Idalos. But they serve only Faldrun's whims, thus they are not required to be large.
The latter is the policing force of Sirothelle. They are afforded the same initial training as the Infantry, to endure high combative standards and the ability to also defend the city if necessary. Their primary function is maintaining order within the city limits and regulating citizens, visitors and the infantry alike.
The Occult, however, acts as the brains of the city. They are the spies and diplomats. Sent internationally away from Sirothelle, their purpose is to further the goals of Sirothelle. Either through strengthening diplomatic relationships between nations, or through the silent assassinations of politicians and influential individuals who threaten Faldrun's plans. Recruitment for the Occult begins as young as five years old, and continues up until the child leaves primary education at Parvos. To even be considered for the Occult, an individual must have at least one aukari parent (and the other must be human or near-human), and have been born as a citizen to the city of Sirothelle, being raised under the values of Faldrun.
The main point of this is that a lot of people think the Occult is a combative faction. They are not. Far from it. No Occultist is ever going to be a world class combatant, whether it be in weapons or in hand-to-hand fighting. They are taught nothing of male or long range weapons. The closest they will ever come to handling weapons will only be offered to a few, and that is the ability to assassinate someone silently, perhaps by slicing the victim's neck, or by strangling or suffocating the mark. Most commonly, an assassin will chose to use poison - the coward's choice in many cultures, but a sensible one in the eyes of the aukari. All will be trained to attempt diplomacy first, however, as strengthening relations always has more value than breaking them down.
Jade and I, when discussing the initial creation of the city, spoke at great length about the premise behind the aukari and the Occult (which will be mentioned in my next post here). We wanted a faction of highly skilled diplomats who would break the image of the aukari as being brutish, uneducated monsters. Occultist are the type of people who would know how to use a fish knife, not the people who would be found sweaty, with a broadsword in their hand.
