SEED

SeeD is an elite mercenary force trained in Balamb Garden (and to some extent, Trabia Garden), and employed by external governments and groups. SeeD's tasks range from protection of civilians to the provision of military support, sometimes in undercover operations. These are, at least, SeeD's roles according to the outside world. In reality its true, closely guarded mission is to monitor and contain Sorceress activity if it should ever pose a threat to the world as it has in the past.

Although there are three Gardens, only Balamb and Trabia train SeeD cadets. Galbadia Garden, while formerly part of the Garden project, is now essentially part of the Galbadian military, and its training and recruitment is done on behalf of that nation's army. The Balamb and Trabia Gardens do accept missions from governments (as in the Siege of Dollet), but remain independent.

SeeD battle operations are noted for their skilful use of para-magic and tactics. They are in high demand by groups requiring a small force of elites or undercover specialists. Commissions made through such dispatches are an important part of the Garden's income.

While all Garden activity is heavily subsidized by income from mission fees, a cadet's training requires additional funding. This may be given by scholarship or loan or be paid for by parents/guardians, or they may be Sponsored. Small allowances are given to all cadets to pay for essentials and occasional leisure excursions. Should a cadet graduate, they earn a regular salary based on their rank in the organisation from which tuition fees may be docked.

CHAIN OF COMMAND

Headmaster
Cid Kramer

The Headmaster is superintendent of the Garden, essentially the same role as the President of an American University. In principle, all authority lies with the Headmaster, including the appointment of the Commander, complete discretion over missions and deployment of the Garden, and all decisions regarding both Garden as a facility and the SeeDs it hosts.

In practice, however, the Headmaster takes responsibility only for the educational and civilian aspects of Garden. Cid has not yet interfered with any decision made by Commander Zabala or overruled her in any known capacity.

The Headmaster acts as a Military Judge during a court martial.

Commander
Erlea Zabala

Head of SeeD forces, the Commander manages all SeeD missions and deployments. While theoretically subordinate to the Headmaster, in practice the Commander has full authority over the SeeDs in her command as well as the deployment of Garden itself during an operation. The Commander also directs the Garden in the event of an emergency. Often handles all of the official paperwork that goes to the Headmaster for approval (sort of like a secretary, because a third party wouldn't be trusted with the documents). Present on the panel during court martials.

Lieutenant Commander
Xu

Manages command of SeeD Cadets' missions and platoons, reports directly to the Commander. Present on the panel during court martials.

Dean of Academics
Olivia Smith (AKA Library Girl)

Overseer of SeeD Cadet education, the Dean makes decisions as to what classes to add or revoke, authorizes the passing or failing of all classes and appoints or revokes Instructing licenses. Reports directly to the Commander. Present on the panel during court martials.

Head of Faculty
Dak

The Overseer of Garden Faculty. Although subservient to the Headmaster on paper, the faculty is in the pocket of the Garden Master and operates with a free hand thanks to that influence.
Present on the panel during court martials.

Faculty

Nameless, faceless supporters of the Garden Master that act on his bidding even though their actual authority in the Garden is in fact higher than his. No one knows exactly what it is they do in Garden, but it's assumed that they handle day to day matters in the Garden such as enforcing curfew and other rules.

Rank A SeeDs

SeeDs who have attained the highest rank. Instead of being promoted as they would within a military they simply receive more authority within their missions and a higher rate of pay. They report directly to the Commander.

Doctor/Psychiatrist
Dr. Kadowaki

Apprentice Doctor/Psychiatrists
Lizzie Neill and Touma H. Norstein

The chief medical personnel of Garden have authority equal to a Rank A SeeD in all matters related to their medical discipline.

Examiners

A branch of Garden Faculty that conducts examinations of SeeD missions and evaluates the SeeD's performance to decide whether or not their rank will go up, down, or remain the same. Reports to the Head of Faculty.

Instructors
PC instructors are Namur (rank 12), Thatch (rank 13), Espio the Chameleon (rank 13), Mikuru Asahina (rank 13), Mr. Champloo (rank 14), Pinkie Pie (rank 14), Horace Slughorn (rank 14). NPCs also serve in this role.

Garden's instructors are SeeD graduates who have taken a certification course and selected classes to teach. Although they technically have no higher authority than SeeDs, Instructors receive a rank increase to rank 9 after completing their training and are promoted to rank 12 upon taking on a course, meaning that Instructors are significantly higher-rank on average than SeeDs. Instructors may continue to undertake missions as SeeDs, and may also receive rank increases by providing supplementary assistance and instruction to SeeDs undertaking missions.

Pilot
Nida (NPC), Espio the Chameleon, Rainbow Dash, Ellery Travers (NPC)

Trained SeeD with a piloting specialization are the only SeeD permitted to pilot Garden when it's mobile. The Garden pilot may only follow a course set by the Headmaster or Commander unless otherwise noted.

SeeD Rank 30-1

A SeeD's rank determines their authority over another SeeD, the lowest being 1 and the highest being 30 (and then A). SeeD rank will dictate whether a SeeD is given a leadership or supporting role during a mission, as well as the SeeD's pay rate.

SeeD Cadets

Students in the SeeD program have little to no authority in the Garden.

Proprietor/Garden Master
NORG(?)

The Garden Master has no authority whatsoever granted by the title -- but as the title refers to the person who controls the funding and finance of Garden, the position nonetheless has more than enough practical clout. The Garden Master claims the allegiance of the faculty and is responsible for the appointment of the current Commander. NORG was last seen being carried off by the Shumi after being beaten into defensive cocoon, so his current whereabouts are unknown.

SEED RANKS

SeeD field operatives have a ranking system from 1 to A (1 being the lowest rank and A being the highest). Rank decreases over time if the SeeD is not active on missions or in training. A SeeD must regularly engage in combat training or take a written examination to maintain their ranking at its current level. (For game purposes, each character is assumed to do the necessary combat or testing behind the scenes; playing them out is not necessary.)

Beyond this, rank only changes when the SeeD demonstrates great competence and capability – or a great lack of either. A SeeD who undertakes a special mission, or performs exceptionally well in a standard mission, may be granted an increase in ranking, whereas one that conducts a gunblade combat demonstration in the second-story hallway is likely to find themselves penalized.

An individual's success in a mission is considered by examiners (and sometimes passed on for further consideration to the Head of Faculty, Garden's Commander SeeD or Headmaster) based on the following criteria:
Conduct: How the individual behaves within the mission and within their team
Judgement: The decisions the individual makes and their effect upon the mission
Attack: How successful and skillful the individual is in combat during the mission
Spirit: How brave and/or determined the individual is during the mission
Attitude: How the individual behaves, morally and professionally, during the mission

The grading also includes any additional actions and/or events that the examiners deem noteworthy. Ranking may be decreased by misconduct in the field or if the operative is seen as lagging behind. Serious cases of misconduct will result in disciplinary action.

According to SeeD protocol, commands from any higher ranked SeeD must be adhered to. The highest ranking SeeD in a mission should assign roles to the other SeeDs, who may then command others within a squad. If there are two or more SeeDs of the same rank who happen to also be the highest ranked in a mission and their superiors have not assigned a mission leader, they should decide between them who will formally lead the mission.

SeeD rank also determines their monthly salary:

	SALARY
Rank 1: 500G	Rank 11: 9,000G	Rank 21: 15,500G
Rank 2: 1,00G	Rank 12: 10,00G	Rank 22: 16,000G
Rank 3: 1,500G	Rank 13: 11,000G	Rank 23: 16,500G
Rank 4: 2,000G	Rank 14: 12,000G	Rank 24: 17,000G
Rank 5: 3,000G	Rank 15: 12,500G	Rank 25: 17,500G
Rank 6: 4,000G	Rank 16: 13,000G	Rank 26: 18,000G
Rank 7: 5,000G	Rank 17: 13,500G	Rank 27: 18,500G
Rank 8: 6,000G	Rank 18: 14,000G	Rank 28: 19,000G
Rank 9: 7,000G	Rank 18: 14,500G	Rank 29: 19,500G
Rank 10: 8,000G	Rank 20: 15,000G	Rank 30: 20,000G
	Rank A: 30,000G

Current In-Game Non-Instructor SeeD Ranks

#52133 Marco - Rank 11
#94832 Cyphert, Maria - Rank 8
#18024 Dash, Rainbow - Rank 7
#87832 Elric, Edward - Rank 7
#28262 Kamui, Gakupo - Rank 9
#32007 Norstein, Touma H. - Rank 8
#90016 Sutcliff, Grell - Rank 8

A spreadsheet of current SeeD specializations can be found here, under the specializations - SeeD tab.

EXAM

To become a SeeD, a cadet must pass the entrance exam. This exam is in two parts: a written exam and a live mission assigned to the Garden. While there are active SeeD members at hand during the exams to ensure the mission's success, SeeD candidates are expected to adopt the same goals and conduct of a SeeD, by striving to complete their group-assigned goals in the appropriate manner.

The highest SeeD rank obtainable from a successful SeeD exam depends on the difficulty of the mission, but usually the highest rank possible at this stage is Rank 8.

Sometimes (usually owing to the difficulty of the mission) a prerequisite is required before a student can participate in the exam (e.g. the completion of a low-level mission). In such circumstances the student must be accompanied by an Instructor for support and safety reasons.

Prerequisites for the exam:
Must be at least fifteen years of age
Must have passed all of their Garden required courses
Must declare and qualify for a specialization
Must complete at least four trimesters of classes

MISSIONS

SeeDs will be sent out on missions as the Garden receives requests. SeeD squads are comprised of three SeeDs. Some months will be more slow for SeeDs than others.

Missions may consist of anything from observing a target from a distance to assassinations. SeeDs are trained in a multitude of various skills so that they can carry their missions out with ease.

More info is available here. Players may volunteer their characters for the missions and plot them on the weekly syllabus posts. Standard missions may be undertaken at any time with little to no moderator input.

UNIFORMS

Garden's dress code is very lax, but for formal occasions and outings in which they formally represent the Garden (such as appearing in a dress parade), students and SeeDs are required to wear their uniform. Each Garden has the same Cadet uniform with a unique color scheme, and a formal SeeD uniform which sees much less use. The uniform is renowned enough that the SeeD can be identified nearly anywhere around the world.
Uniforms:
Balamb cadets
SeeD
Trabia cadets
Galbadia cadets

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