» Wed May 02, 2012 6:00 pm
I think one has to differentiate mercenaries from the RL modern world with those from RL Classical or Middle Ages, and still again from the ES universe. All three of these settings are very different, with different social and economic factors involved in why people become mercenaries, and what they are doing. For example in Ancient Greece a year or two of military service was a requirement for all men when they reached advlthood. Then afterward they would go back into regular civilian society. But in times of war, roughly a third of the male population would be called up to fight. Usually a campaign would last a week or two, then they would all go back home afterward. So everyone knew weapons and how to fight. When these men were exiled, had their homes destroyed in war, or otherwise were dispossed, they had nothing but their sword and their ability to use it. Men like Xenophon and the other http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Thousand_%28Greek%29 are a good example of these kind of men. They were not necessarily good or evil, just men with few other alternatives.
In the Middle Ages we of course had the example of 3rd or later born sons of the aristocracy, who had to become mercenary knights in order to get lands and titles of their own. But there were a lot more mercenaries then just nobles back then too. In that era, nations could not afford large standing armies. Typically a King would have a small group of soldiers loyal to him personally (huscarls, beefeaters, etc...). Then they had troops they could call up from their barons, and finally they may or may not have had a peasant levy they could call up (depends on the time period, as levies eventually were phased out in place of people paying more in taxes so other people could do the fighting). Since the King was often fighting against his barons, and even with them the army he might raise would be a small one, mercenaries were always hired on as a large part of medieval armies. Leaders needed them to fight any war, and plenty of them. So there were a lot of mercenaries knocking about in the medieval world. They were just an ordinary facet of life.
Today mercenaries tend to be viewed more dimly then in the past. Large standing armies have reduced the need for them as regular troops in first world armies. However, there is a reversal of the trend in Iraq and Afghanistan, where there have been massive numbers mercenaries deployed from companies like Blackwater to fill in the ranks. Blackwater in particular has a rather ugly history of committing atrocities, attempted bribery, and arms smuggling. I do not find this surprising, as there is no real oversight of them. In fact, State-hired mercenaries have been granted immunity from prosecution by the U.S. government, in both the U.S. and overseas. Give people guns and remove all restraints from them, and good things do not happen...
Now when we look at ES, we are looking at a world different from all three examples above. But perhaps we can draw some parallels from all three. We know the Empire has a government sanctioned mercenary company in the Fighters Guild. Just how much oversight there is over them is up to the individual to imagine. In my fan fic, there is a lot of it all spelled out in their charter with the Empire, and FG members are required to obey and uphold the law. An FG member who killed civilians because their wagon got too close to them would end up swinging from a rope. But another person might envision them as no different from Blackwater: a shadowy band doing dirty deeds that the Emperor, Legion, and Elder Council do not want to soil their hands with. I prefer for the Blackwood Company to take this role in the world I play in, and serve as a counter point to everything that FG is. It is really a case of your mileage will vary depending on your viewpoint.
From what the game shows us, there seems to be little law and order in Cyrodiil beyond the walls of the major cities. The roads are swarming with bandits and monsters, and walking from one city to another is like attending a gladiator school. This tells me that the regular army is woefully unequipped to even maintain public order. That is a perfect breeding ground for mercenaries, as the government is going to have to turn to them to fill out its very sparse ranks. Regular people too, are going to need a bodyguard whenever they go on a trip somewhere. Again, what kind of people would this be? Thugs with a badge, or honest fighters? Up to the individual to decide again. To be honest, I again see a combination of both existing. There are always going to be a few bad apples in every bushel, and always a good cop in a bad town.
Good/evil? Or do they just care about the pay.
I wish! That list for Darian in Oblivion is completely inspired by Jensa's play in Skyrim. 
