Whether or not the Border Guard can be considered an organized sect has never been proved.  This essentially nomadic altruistic organization is

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alleged to exist on the edges of civilization, as a kind of watch on the safety of the world.  Encounters with persons claiming to be part of this group are fairly frequent in these borderlands, and rare elsewhere, but usually such encounters go unrealized.  That is, if you are inquiring after a member of the Border Guard, someone may claim to be one; but if you meet an alleged member, he is not likely to so introduce himself.  this has caused many scholars to doubt the viability of the group.  (But see Hickers, "The Border Guard", for a supportive argument.)

  The group is supposed to have been founded by Rangers and, if the mythology is correct, these men and women kept the group alive for several centuries before others became involved.  Gradually other humans and half-elves joined, then elves and dwarfs, and halflings, gnomes, and half-orcs, fighters, magicians, clerics, and even thieves of good persuasion.  the ranks are supposed to have swelled to a fair-sized army headed by the rangers, protecting civilization from forces beyond; yet it remained inconspicuous according to reports.

  While the existence of the group and the above schema of organization is at best questionable, there is no doubt that the spirit of such a group exists.  While few scholars believe that the group existed in this form at any time, field research has proved that there are still persons in the borderlands claiming to be connected to it in one way or another.  Vigilante-type groups are frequently credited by local military officials with the defeat of marauding bands.  How many such groups exist is not known, but scholars are certain that they have no connection and do not cooperate with each other except in so far as that they have similar aims.

  In conclusion, the Border Guard is probably a fanciful myth built around the exploits of a handful of fanatics who believe that civilization is threatened by some outside force, that the small bands of wild men sometimes spotted at the edges of the world pose any real danger, and continued by some well-meaning but misguided nomads who perhaps gain some status in the eyes of the uneducated by pretending to be members of this imaginary army.

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