“Now then, Fred, let’s ‘ave some Lowfolk Pie without so much baby in it!”

This.

I admit I haven't given much thought to the Imperial army. Obviously there has to be one.

My only quibble would be that if the weasel denied using Gramerye that should have been the end of it, since outright lying is the worst crime an elf can commit. It has something to do with magic, though, this sense of integrity ... and since the Changeling Conspiracy is making elves less magical, maybe lying is starting to creep into the lower classes. Hmmm

That actually *is* one of the elements of the story. Some of the elves in this story, particularly the enlisted "squaddies" are either not very magical at all, or are not competent at it. As evidenced by the following, appearing much later:

Mouser performed a series of mathematical exercises, carefully transferred them to the map, oriented the map with the sun, looked up, and announced that we were lost.

Fisher: "Lost? Lost? How can we be _______ lost? We're bloody Elves."

Nightedge, for one, was less than impressed with this observation. "Wot's tha' got to bluidy do wit' it?"

"Look, we're supposed to be able to commune with nature, read its signs."

"If tha was any bluidy signs 'round 'ere, we wouldna be lost, would we?"

"No, you stupid sod, we talk to the trees."

Nightedge folded his arms across his chest and give Fisher a look. "You want...me...to talk... to a bluidy tree?"

"Yes."

"If I talked to a bluidy tree, furs think I'm daft. Wot's a bluidy tree going t'tell me if I talk to it, eh?"

"If it's talking to you, probably 'Piss Off'."

The Marshal in the story here is either the uncle of the current king, or a younger brother (more likely the former) and is a career officer. As for the Imperial Army qualifications, I'm figuring that Winterbough qualified on the throwing spear (on which he cheated) and the elvish short sword.

The officers are most likely the more magical elves, at least the ones trusted with command. The squaddies, on the other paw, are furs straight out of Milligan and Giles.

In re-reading the segment, by the way, it's not clear whether the weasel was, in fact, using Gramerye. He was *accused* of it, to be sure, but Winterbough, the narrator, didn't see any evidence of it, and there's no independent evidence in the story he was using it. (Note that the dapper wolf-corporal's comment is a little vague.) The charge could have been in error by a sorehead who was losing badly at shove-copper, and the weasel *could* have been telling the truth that he wasn't using Gramerye.

However, you raise a very good point, and one that I will incorporate a little later. The weasel certainly would be accused of lying, a serious charge in the Imperial Army, and Chitterleigh would likely be in on the court-martial.

The fact that the squaddies are engaged in all sorts of petty graft and it-came-off-the-back-of-a-quartermaster's-wagon (technically and literally true) type of activities does indicate that the sense of integrity is eroding. Winterbough does cheat a bit, using Gramerye in his qualifications, but he does settle some of Chitterleigh's bills in an honest and straightforward fashion. He is, unusually, Faerie-raised, and there's less of an erosion with him than with some of the other squaddies.