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Meta Month 3 - The Greil Mercenaries as Contracted Patrolmen
When I feel depressed and listless, I do the dishes. I take it by the fact that my cabinets are nearly empty and my sink is so full that something really needs to be done about it now that I've been quite productive over the last week.
Anyhow, here's your meta.
A lot of services that we take for granted in the modern day didn't exist in early civilizations. I'm not talking about electricity, or plumbing (although some say certain Greek cities had that).
I mean things like firefighters.
One of the richest men in the history of the Earth was a Roman guy by the name of Crassus (and dictionary.com tells me that our word "crass" indeed comes from Latin crassus, but the word which means thick and fat). Rome had no firefighters. He took advantage of this and got a team (500-strong) of slaves with pails and pumps, went to city fires, and ... had them stand around while he negotiated buying the burning house with the property owner -- for much less than it would be worth if the fire were extinguished promptly, and much more than if it were a pile of smouldering rubble. And if they couldn't come to an agreement, he'd let it burn. And then make a new offer. A really low one. Then he'd resell the property, minus the fire, for a very fat profit.
The history of firefighting is interesting, but getting back on topic here. Vital services could be contracted from private individuals out of necessity. Then, perhaps, the original Greil Mercenaries should not be thought of as true mercenaries at all, but contractors for city patrol?
Under Greil's watch, their jobs go like this: Take out some bandits attacking a town! Take out the bandits again when they seek revenge! Take out some pirates attacking a town! And Greil's remark indicate that these types of jobs (if not their frequency) are the norm. The grateful villagers' comments also remark that they regularly rely on Greil's service.
Then you get Elincia, you know, the potential for war! Strife! A real mercenary job, and Soren says,
[We] are mercenaries. We are not Crimea's private militia. No coin has crossed our palms, so I think we should stay out of it.
And later,
Soren: There's nothing to think about. We must deliver the princess to Daein immediately.
Greil: Even if Crimea is in the right?
Soren: We are mercenaries. Our actions are dictated only by self-interest. If we want to ensure our future, we need Daein in our debt. They will win this war, after all, and nothing else serves us better.
In brief, he thinks it's best not to gamble on the potentially lucrative war, but instead tide it over and keep doing what they're doing. They have so much security in their present arrangement that they will turn their noses up to what's the meat and potatoes of most mercenaries' lifestyles. (And it's Soren, so you know it's not about ~protecting the villagers~.)
And, if you think about it, this serves Greil best. He's a once-famous general. There are people out for his blood. The risks of a normal mercenary's lifestyle would bring him way too many uncomfortable brushes anyway. The Greil Mercenaries do eventually end up dragged around as a potent war force, but this is under Ike's command, and I think it's clear that their life has dramatically changed since the Crimean War.
In summary,
The Greil Mercenaries: Sheriffs-for-hire.
Anyhow, here's your meta.
A lot of services that we take for granted in the modern day didn't exist in early civilizations. I'm not talking about electricity, or plumbing (although some say certain Greek cities had that).
I mean things like firefighters.
One of the richest men in the history of the Earth was a Roman guy by the name of Crassus (and dictionary.com tells me that our word "crass" indeed comes from Latin crassus, but the word which means thick and fat). Rome had no firefighters. He took advantage of this and got a team (500-strong) of slaves with pails and pumps, went to city fires, and ... had them stand around while he negotiated buying the burning house with the property owner -- for much less than it would be worth if the fire were extinguished promptly, and much more than if it were a pile of smouldering rubble. And if they couldn't come to an agreement, he'd let it burn. And then make a new offer. A really low one. Then he'd resell the property, minus the fire, for a very fat profit.
The history of firefighting is interesting, but getting back on topic here. Vital services could be contracted from private individuals out of necessity. Then, perhaps, the original Greil Mercenaries should not be thought of as true mercenaries at all, but contractors for city patrol?
Under Greil's watch, their jobs go like this: Take out some bandits attacking a town! Take out the bandits again when they seek revenge! Take out some pirates attacking a town! And Greil's remark indicate that these types of jobs (if not their frequency) are the norm. The grateful villagers' comments also remark that they regularly rely on Greil's service.
Then you get Elincia, you know, the potential for war! Strife! A real mercenary job, and Soren says,
[We] are mercenaries. We are not Crimea's private militia. No coin has crossed our palms, so I think we should stay out of it.
And later,
Soren: There's nothing to think about. We must deliver the princess to Daein immediately.
Greil: Even if Crimea is in the right?
Soren: We are mercenaries. Our actions are dictated only by self-interest. If we want to ensure our future, we need Daein in our debt. They will win this war, after all, and nothing else serves us better.
In brief, he thinks it's best not to gamble on the potentially lucrative war, but instead tide it over and keep doing what they're doing. They have so much security in their present arrangement that they will turn their noses up to what's the meat and potatoes of most mercenaries' lifestyles. (And it's Soren, so you know it's not about ~protecting the villagers~.)
And, if you think about it, this serves Greil best. He's a once-famous general. There are people out for his blood. The risks of a normal mercenary's lifestyle would bring him way too many uncomfortable brushes anyway. The Greil Mercenaries do eventually end up dragged around as a potent war force, but this is under Ike's command, and I think it's clear that their life has dramatically changed since the Crimean War.
In summary,
The Greil Mercenaries: Sheriffs-for-hire.
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Perhaps such a thing is impossible after they save the world, which is why they seem to disband in RD's epilogue.