Central Command (nick-named "The Shufflers") are supposedly the supreme supervisory and co-ordinating body for the Guards, operating across the federation. Their functions include the deposition and administration of the Regiments, monitoring their peacetime policing duties, running foreign campaigns and organising internal discipline to Guardsmen. Central Command is also granted special powers should Christoté ever be at war. In practice Central Command is something of an anomaly which is constantly struggling to justify their existence. Most Regiments operate semi-autonomously in terms of daily activities. As the Guards are so subordinated to the political sphere, outside interference mainly comes from Emissaries and the like, and serious breakdowns in discipline are dealt with by civil courts. Constitutionally, all Central Command orders may be overruled by politicians of Emissarial rank or above. Likewise, Guards deployment and their overall goals are usually fixed by Barons Estates and the provincial assemblies. Even foreign operations are controlled by Huwdone House's Federations Office, with the Guards taking a junior role. Central Command is generally reduced to issuing edicts on the most inconsequential matters (minor changes of uniform, new regulations on weapon sizes etc.) most of which are ignored. One area of influence they have is operating Christoté's domestic and foreign spy network (see elsewhere?). From this they have gained a sinister reputation and a habit of throwing walls of secrecy around every action they take. Guards Commanders traditionally dread every communication from Central Command, the common complaint being that "it's either bad or boring". Their letters are nick-named "scarlet fevers" from the pale red parchment they're written on.
Central Command is funded directly from the federal budget. The paucity of this funding has always meant small numbers of personnel. Originally based by Lake Harmone in north Dorlaf, they were transferred to the Tukas Halls of Justice in Yaleth as part of Chancellor Helden Bryakkan's rationalisation campaign. Partially this was to fill up empty office space in the Thoj; even the law courts and XI Regiment HQ weren't enough to fully occupy what is essentially a dirty great palace. There was also a feeling that Central Command needed to be under the eyes of Huwdone House. Assassination attempts on Bryakkan and several of his predecessors had alleged links with senior Shufflers figures, though nothing was proved. A minor mutiny in 1259 visibly demonstrated the need to keep the army on a tight reign. ( Central Command bitterly opposed the move; on Lake Harmone they held court in a stately home bequeathed to them by an aristocrat, whilst at the Thoj they operate from an office suite tucked away unnoticed on the third floor. But it was to no avail. The mutiny had also caused the Guards to lose much of their constitutional freedom which had been granted to the after the Civil Wars demonstrated how ambitious politicians could use the force for their own ends. After 1259 the position of the Guards reverted to the pre-Civil War position.
In practice today, a lot of their business is run from the large central Yaleth house of Sir Oldaran Bryano, High Commander of the Guards. Bryano, elderly, extremely rich, fiercely patriotic, incredibly haughty and none too intelligent, is the sort of figure who normally heads the Guards. He spent much of his Guards career drifting unnoticed from one Regimental command to another, and cannily missed out on the Labbish invasion by then being in one of the unused southern Regiments. Coming from one of the more egregious wealthy families of Kratz (a strongly-contended race), Bryano is a traditionalist by default, holding very strong views on wine and horses but almost none on politics, morality or the direction the Guards is heading. His main function is to out-stare other senior figures at official functions, rubber-stamp decisions and, everyone hopes, keep out of proper business as much as possible.
Real power in Central Command appears to rest in two men a couple of rungs below Bryano. Heighan Caepolla, officially Bryano's secretary but with a larger actual remit, is a well-heeled administrator who was formerly under Holan Brightson's wing in Huwdone House before transferring in 1328. He is typical of the sort of figure who often appears near the top of the Guards without having held a sword in his life. Ellernin Fortraine is also a traditional figure, the step-brother of Lord Holstace, also the Chairman of Yaleth Council and formerly commander of the Guards II Regiment; he operates on a theoretical advisory capacity to the Shufflers. The pair make an contrasting partnership; Caepolla is a smooth (some would say smarmy) diplomat with a knack for mediation and underhand solutions, whilst Fortraine can be as blustering and as big a stickler for official procedures as his step-brother. Their rocky relationship has held for several years, however, and will continue to do so for several more