Scions [Fantasy|OOC]

[Reverend Norv]

Not really. The Ironmark has always been a multi-species polity. The Markers revere the Dwarves, who are the custodians of the Forge of Colborn; they consider themselves the protectors of the halflings of the Mootland; they likely served as a refuge for Narinhur in the past. Like a lot of border societies, despite its intense militarization, it's actually quite culturally pluralist and tolerant.

I'm sure they're less thrilled about some of the things crawling in their neighbour though, all multi-species polity aside.

I assume that despite the best efforts of Lord Veres, some have probably crawled across the border and do all kinds of things like stealing away children at night or attacking herds or fields to kill or steal from them.

I mean, yes. Literal monsters are a different story. But elves/dwarves/halflings are recognized as being in a different category from mutated creatures bred for war by the Pale Emperor.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

The Dominion is strongly anti non humans. It's enshrined in the religious beliefs of the realm, which dictate that non humans exist to enslave humans and as such should be purged. This is born from the enslavement of Serelyodi by Orks under the Ancient Urguz Kingdom. The Pale Wars only reinforced this belief

[Remnants of Exilvania]

The Dominion is strongly anti non humans. It's enshrined in the religious beliefs of the realm, which dictate that non humans exist to enslave humans and as such should be purged. This is born from the enslavement of Serelyodi by Orks under the Ancient Urguz Kingdom. The Pale Wars only reinforced this belief

No pity for the poor Bilwiss, the deformed, pitiful descendants of some of those very same orcs.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

The Dominion is strongly anti non humans. It's enshrined in the religious beliefs of the realm, which dictate that non humans exist to enslave humans and as such should be purged. This is born from the enslavement of Serelyodi by Orks under the Ancient Urguz Kingdom. The Pale Wars only reinforced this belief

No pity for the poor Bilwiss, the deformed, pitiful descendants of some of those very same orcs.

The Mercy of the Martyr allows them to continue to live as slaves.

[Danubian Peoples]

So far you guys seem to be having an interesting discussion about racism in your societies. Personally I've yet to answer that creation for predominantly Taash human Gataash. I'm thinking that they may be less than welcome to Embwealders in particular, for obvious reasons. As for other races and non-humans, perhaps minorities occur within Gataash as echoes of distant actions. Escaped grey orc slaves, Tsovamar merchants that have settled down, et cetera. Of course, these are just examples based off what I know of these races, and I would need to consult their creators for permission of minority populations existing within Gataash.

EDIT: Here are the locations of the two cities I pointed out in my app. The legend is as follows:
The dot labled 1. Galaza
The dot labled 2. Gatha
I've put this here so as to aid OP when he revises the map.

[Fahran]

The Dominion is strongly anti non humans. It's enshrined in the religious beliefs of the realm, which dictate that non humans exist to enslave humans and as such should be purged. This is born from the enslavement of Serelyodi by Orks under the Ancient Urguz Kingdom. The Pale Wars only reinforced this belief

The natural disposition of the soot sprite is an enduring and passionately held belief that all beings should succumb to their might and majesty, though, even in subject peoples, they admire tinkerers and lovers of beauty above all others. A human who can forge a necklace of molten gold glistening with rubies and garnets or who can, by chance, be ensnared by the enchanting melody of a flame-song sung amid the crackling of embers over oaks and cedars is to be loved infinitely more than a master of high pedigree who flaunts boorishness, philistinism, and baseness.

[Fahran]

Not really. The Ironmark has always been a multi-species polity. The Markers revere the Dwarves, who are the custodians of the Forge of Colborn; they consider themselves the protectors of the halflings of the Mootland; they likely served as a refuge for Narinhur in the past. Like a lot of border societies, despite its intense militarization, it's actually quite culturally pluralist and tolerant.

I imagine the Narinhur have a special affection for the Dwarves, the Markers, and the Avazmar. The first of these groups seem to embody a lot of what the Narinhur perceive as virtuous and worthy. The thirst to bring beauty from nature through artifice, ingenuity, craft, and cleverness would amuse them, probably to the point that they refer to the Dwarves as a sibling race, low in stature but lofty in soul. The Markers would be viewed with a bit more caution given the aversion to humans that the Narinhur have acquired in the last couple centuries but the flame elves are a prideful and honorable people, and, even if they do not conceal their disgust or their patronizing attitudes at times, they will return favors if only not to be in debt to another race. As for the Avazmar, they're cousins who didn't betray their oaths. They might be smelly merchants who are unaccustomed to proper urban living and who do little more than sell the art produced by their social betters but even the idiot cousin must be loved by the family when he is good-natured.

[Danubian Peoples]

Would anyone like to flesh out their militaries? As in, the tactics and strategies, all the bells and whistles used by your cavalry, infantry, extra good cavalry, dinosaurs, et cetera.

Personally, I envision that the elements of the Gataash military that aren't warrior mages or peasant levy is comprised largely of pikemen trained to fight in phalanx formation (not the Macedonian kind, the kind practiced by Swiss and German mercenaries as well as Scots) to create a solid defensive wall, combined with archers in the rear and cavalry wings to harrass the opponent and unleash devastating flanking attacks. Given that the most major conflict that Gataash has experienced in recent history was the Pale War, a conflict which it spent mostly on the defensive, to me it makes sense that they would employ tactics like those I listed above. Given however that levies exist, I envision that the light infantry that makes up the bulk of the levy is probably used in a supporting role, while the Aghoash being the devastating mages they are probably take central (but not exposed) positions to ensure maximum damage against the opponents. If this is inaccurate or just wrong, please let me know. I get my smarts about medieval warfare from Kings and Generals videos and Crusader Kings 2.

Now to you I guess.

[Danubian Peoples]

Planning to make my second post, about the Tuashrido convening again and coming to a conclusion with regards to the 'what to do while Nekhur is busy' question. In the true spirit of democracy, I'm going to consult you guys for what you think would make a good conclusion and by extension plan for Gataash storywise.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Would anyone like to flesh out their militaries? As in, the tactics and strategies, all the bells and whistles used by your cavalry, infantry, extra good cavalry, dinosaurs, et cetera.

Personally, I envision that the elements of the Gataash military that aren't warrior mages or peasant levy is comprised largely of pikemen trained to fight in phalanx formation (not the Macedonian kind, the kind practiced by Swiss and German mercenaries as well as Scots) to create a solid defensive wall, combined with archers in the rear and cavalry wings to harrass the opponent and unleash devastating flanking attacks. Given that the most major conflict that Gataash has experienced in recent history was the Pale War, a conflict which it spent mostly on the defensive, to me it makes sense that they would employ tactics like those I listed above. Given however that levies exist, I envision that the light infantry that makes up the bulk of the levy is probably used in a supporting role, while the Aghoash being the devastating mages they are probably take central (but not exposed) positions to ensure maximum damage against the opponents. If this is inaccurate or just wrong, please let me know. I get my smarts about medieval warfare from Kings and Generals videos and Crusader Kings 2.

Now to you I guess.

Well, not getting into a battle but rather tons of skirmishes or non-fights is a start. Embweald forces at this point specialize in attrition warfare so most notably endangering supply lines and keeping an invading host on edge at all times. They know full well that they lack the strength for pitched field battles, not to mention that these forces aren't unified or would listen to a central commander so one ends up having to deal with multiple small forces front, side and rear, which won't let themselves be caught in open battle and know the lay of the land.

Should a field battle take place however, the troops aren't completely useless. While the levied soldiers are usually are of poor quality, they still form solid blocks and lines of polearm infantry fully capable of keeping an enemy force in place for a while or slowly hack and stab an inferior force into submission.

But a regular, human, Embweald force isn't going to beat any enemy of same strength or stronger in a field battle. Their real strength lies in the non-human elements. Bilwiss skirmishers costing enemies lots of blood as they approach and skitting around the legs and hips of enemies when the lines clash, sneaking more hits in. Werewolf flankers sprinting across the field or difficult terrain to catch enemy forces in their flanks. Nightlords casting powerful blood magic from the backline while in the frontline lower ranked Vampires use their immense physical strength and presence to hold the human line together and disrupt the enemy line. Not to mention possible ethereal fiends in the mix.

Cavalry is actually almost a non-thing in Embweald. As are field battles usually but let's assume this would be a field battle outside of Embweald. Anyway, yeah, cavalry formations are a non-thing, horses in Embweald usually being used for couriers, farming or coach rides. Has to do with the poor terrain which is not really suited to cavalry warfare. The Werewolves are much better at traversing the terrain in Embweald, hence why they take the spot of the fast flanking force, crashing into the enemy lines from behind or the side.

That answer the question?

[Danubian Peoples]

Would anyone like to flesh out their militaries? As in, the tactics and strategies, all the bells and whistles used by your cavalry, infantry, extra good cavalry, dinosaurs, et cetera.

Personally, I envision that the elements of the Gataash military that aren't warrior mages or peasant levy is comprised largely of pikemen trained to fight in phalanx formation (not the Macedonian kind, the kind practiced by Swiss and German mercenaries as well as Scots) to create a solid defensive wall, combined with archers in the rear and cavalry wings to harrass the opponent and unleash devastating flanking attacks. Given that the most major conflict that Gataash has experienced in recent history was the Pale War, a conflict which it spent mostly on the defensive, to me it makes sense that they would employ tactics like those I listed above. Given however that levies exist, I envision that the light infantry that makes up the bulk of the levy is probably used in a supporting role, while the Aghoash being the devastating mages they are probably take central (but not exposed) positions to ensure maximum damage against the opponents. If this is inaccurate or just wrong, please let me know. I get my smarts about medieval warfare from Kings and Generals videos and Crusader Kings 2.

Now to you I guess.

Well, not getting into a battle but rather tons of skirmishes or non-fights is a start. Embweald forces at this point specialize in attrition warfare so most notably endangering supply lines and keeping an invading host on edge at all times. They know full well that they lack the strength for pitched field battles, not to mention that these forces aren't unified or would listen to a central commander so one ends up having to deal with multiple small forces front, side and rear, which won't let themselves be caught in open battle and know the lay of the land.

Should a field battle take place however, the troops aren't completely useless. While the levied soldiers are usually are of poor quality, they still form solid blocks and lines of polearm infantry fully capable of keeping an enemy force in place for a while or slowly hack and stab an inferior force into submission.

But a regular, human, Embweald force isn't going to beat any enemy of same strength or stronger in a field battle. Their real strength lies in the non-human elements. Bilwiss skirmishers costing enemies lots of blood as they approach and skitting around the legs and hips of enemies when the lines clash, sneaking more hits in. Werewolf flankers sprinting across the field or difficult terrain to catch enemy forces in their flanks. Nightlords casting powerful blood magic from the backline while in the frontline lower ranked Vampires use their immense physical strength and presence to hold the human line together and disrupt the enemy line. Not to mention possible ethereal fiends in the mix.

Cavalry is actually almost a non-thing in Embweald. As are field battles usually but let's assume this would be a field battle outside of Embweald. Anyway, yeah, cavalry formations are a non-thing, horses in Embweald usually being used for couriers, farming or coach rides. Has to do with the poor terrain which is not really suited to cavalry warfare. The Werewolves are much better at traversing the terrain in Embweald, hence why they take the spot of the fast flanking force, crashing into the enemy lines from behind or the side.

That answer the question?

Yes it does, and it's a very detailed answer too. Something to keep in mind should Embweald go to war. I would like to ask about the terrain. Most of Embweald lies upon land considered Mediterranean in the geographical map, if horses are good in one place in that region, they must also be good elsewhere, correct? Then again Mediterranean can have a lot of nuance in it, it can be anything from the fertile plains that built many a civilization, to the mountainous ground that created the Greek city-states, et cetera.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Yes it does, and it's a very detailed answer too. Something to keep in mind should Embweald go to war. I would like to ask about the terrain. Most of Embweald lies upon land considered Mediterranean in the geographical map, if horses are good in one place in that region, they must also be good elsewhere, correct? Then again Mediterranean can have a lot of nuance in it, it can be anything from the fertile plains that built many a civilization, to the mountainous ground that created the Greek city-states, et cetera.

The horses are good on the roads.

Think Pontine, Camargue or Guadalquivir marshes, just a lot less civilized and more swamp mixed in. Dry areas are usually either heavily forested or have been used to build settlements.

[Danubian Peoples]

Yes it does, and it's a very detailed answer too. Something to keep in mind should Embweald go to war. I would like to ask about the terrain. Most of Embweald lies upon land considered Mediterranean in the geographical map, if horses are good in one place in that region, they must also be good elsewhere, correct? Then again Mediterranean can have a lot of nuance in it, it can be anything from the fertile plains that built many a civilization, to the mountainous ground that created the Greek city-states, et cetera.

The horses are good on the roads.

Think Pontine, Camargue or Guadalquivir marshes, just a lot less civilized and more swamp mixed in. Dry areas are usually either heavily forested or have been used to build settlements.

Ah okay.

As for this post, I guess I can wait for an answer. Really I just need some ideas for what I am to do, plus the consent of all other RPers should I plan to start a war or something.

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

The land forces of Serebyan can be divided along religious and non-religious lines.

The Warriors of the Martyr are better trained and better equipped than the Druzhina and militia of the Dukes' retainers.

The Druzhina are divided into light and heavy cavalry, of which the later composed of the veterans and wealthiest of the Duke's retainers. These are generally nobles and the wealthiest of merchants. The light cavalry is usually minor nobles or the younger sons of the wealthy merchants. They generally can't afford the full arms and armor of the heavy cavalry. There's usually a 1:1 ratio. The preferred heavy horse weapon is the lance while mounted and the mace on foot. The light horse uses the bow.

The ducal retainers are generally broken into three classes. The Citizen's Militia, those drawn from cities, were at least partially supported by the City Councils and the local nobles. The Peasant's Militia were levees that used whatever they had available. Generally that meant hunting bows and farm tools. Some nobles, particularly on the borders, will occasionally equip them with better gear. The Duke's also maintained full-time Guard forces.

The Warriors of the Martyr are a full-time professional force. They generally fight as dragoons, though there are circumstances where heavy cavalry are used. They are maintained by the Martyr's Sept and are loyal to both the Archduke and the Grand Speaker of the Sept. They combat heresy and the non-human. Generally they hunt orcs, vampires, werebeasts, and their ilk.

[Lunas Legion]

I should hopefully actually get around to the Koinon's app this week, but their military is likely unchanged since the original.

Each town and city in the Koinon is required to supply a minimum of a single mora to be a member; that is, a force of 600 men, of which half are pikemen, a quarter are zweihander-armed skirmishers and a quarter of which are a form of ranged infantry, normally archers (either longbowmen or crossbowmen depending on the city) or slingers. Quality of training and equipment varies greatly depending on the city providing the mora, with the mainland cities mora tending to be more heavily armed and armoured, while island cities mora have lighter armour as they're often used more as marines. Mora from larger cities tend to be professional soldiers, while those from smaller cities tend to be a semi-professional militia force.

The mainland cities often raise mora of 600 cavalry as well, of which three quarters are light and armed with spear and bow as light cavalry and scouts, while one quarter are armed like cataphracts crossed with medieval knights, heavy coats of scale over the horses with plate and lance for the riders. Some mainland cities also have war elephants which are normally armoured and used as super-heavy shock units to break an enemy battle line.

Mages tend to be a rare asset as they're part of a quasi-religious monastic order, so an army of the Koinon might number a handful at most and they fill the role of a flying company in the battle line.

Then there's Drakina, of course, who is an army in her own right, if she can still fly...

[Danubian Peoples]

Thanks a lot for fleshing out your militaries, Lunas Legion and The Holy Dominion of Inesea.

[Lunas Legion]

I had the Koinon's down from its previous appearance, so it was just a matter of finding it and modifying it a bit for changes in circumstance.

[Reverend Norv]

There's a good deal of detail in my app, so some of this is likely recapitulation.

The Ironmark is a highly militarized society, and the Aðadain are a warrior caste whose every boy trains from early childhood for battle. Most manufacturing is done by the dwarves; most agriculture by the halflings. This leaves the Aðadain free to herd cattle and prepare themselves for warfare.

The result is an army with only one type of soldier: the eórod. The majority of adult male Aðadain are eórodain, and so their total numbers are over 100,000. An eórod is distinguished by equipment, mount, and training from other cavalry.

The equipment that distinguishes him is primarily armor. Eórodain are medium cavalry, equipped with - at a minimum - a cuirass and helmet of Colborn steel, usually over a tough buff leather coat. Colborn steel - thanks to its naturally occurring chromium and vanadium, and its Dwarven craftsmanship - is considerably harder than most armor; it is more closely analogous to modern stainless steel than to medieval iron. Thus, in pitched battle, eórodain are considerably harder to kill than most light and medium cavalry, and can function effectively as heavy shock cavalry if necessary.

The mount is probably the most important distinguishing feature of the eórod: every man is mounted on a hwiða. This has both strategic and tactical implications. Strategically, eórodain can cover more than a hundred miles in a day, even in large numbers, and can graze their mounts off any available land. This allows them to move very quickly with limited supply, and strike deep into the enemy's rear, and choose the time and place of battle. Tactically, eórodain can reach fifty miles per hour, which means that they can usually dictate the tempo of engagement: the enemy cannot catch them unless they choose to give battle, and the foe cannot outrun them if they attack. It also means that they can close with the enemy very quickly, allowing for minimal exposure to archers, and giving the enemy minimal time to prepare for the charge. Finally, and most importantly, a hwiða is capable of understanding basic battle plans and its own role in much the same way as an intelligent sheepdog; it is very much a combatant in its own right, working with its rider to achieve a larger tactical purpose.

The years of training that every Aðadain boy receives are also reflected in the fact that every eórod is also equipped - and adept - with three weapons: the recurve bow, the lance, and the sword. The result is that the same horsemen can harry a superior foe with mounted archery - using their hwiðas to stay just out of reach - until the enemy is weakened and exhausted, and then wheel and charge knee-to-knee with couched lances. Marker battlefield tactics rely on this versatility. For example, in the famous "Bull Tactic," two wings of eórodain (the "horns") rapidly envelop the enemy's flanks and rain arrows on the flanks and rear. This breaks up the enemy formation and corrals the foe into a smaller and smaller area; the horns use their mobility to avoid any counterattack, retreating briefly and then returning to continue the barrage. Then the main force (the "head") makes a top-speed charge with the lance directly into the center of the enemy formation. In real-world terms, the eórodain can function as Mongol horse archers one moment, and French knights the next.

Ultimately, the Ironmark thus possesses a force that is very difficult to defeat on the battlefield - and, indeed, that has rarely lost a pitched battle. Its weaknesses, however, are also significant. Most notably, it has no capacity for siege warfare whatsoever, and so while it has never lost a war, it has never decisively won one, either. Once an enemy army is smashed on the battlefield, the Mark cannot make that victory count by seizing fortified cities, and so an enemy who is prepared to hunker down behind walls and wait out the riders cannot be decisively beaten. This explains, for example, why the Ironmark has often defeated Nekhur armies while heavily outnumbered, but has never managed to advance any significant distance into Nekhur itself. The eórodain are a field army - perhaps the greatest field army in Minilar, but a field army only.

[Lunas Legion]

I should probably also do the Koinon's navy at some point, given, uh, it's probably the biggest sea power in Minilar which is why it's actually a threat against Nekhur, but that's a matter for later in the week in the app.

[Ublia]

Hey all sorry for the delay. I will be posting my Solace APP tomorrow (unfortunately work really ramped up the last few days).

[The Holy Dominion of Inesea]

We should hold a Southron Convocation on Nekhurs recent advances south

[Danubian Peoples]

We should hold a Southron Convocation on Nekhurs recent advances south

Ooh. Good idea. I propose that you send out the word and other RPers will react to it.

[Danceria]

tag

[Danubian Peoples]

Remnants of Exilvania's made me laugh. Now I'm imagining the two warriors and the mage making good time... mostly because the latter either used his magics to lighten the load on their haul or because he told the other two to dump Belas in the swamps halfway through. Still not sure which one I'm going to decide on. As for what to do with the realm once known as Coldmist, well the integration bit is probably due to begin once the mountain of silver is processed by the Tuashrido. Once they handle that, then a whole menagerie of prophets and soldiers, donkeys and horses are probably due for what was once Lord Belas' realm.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

Remnants of Exilvania's made me laugh. Now I'm imagining the two warriors and the mage making good time... mostly because the latter either used his magics to lighten the load on their haul or because he told the other two to dump Belas in the swamps halfway through. Still not sure which one I'm going to decide on. As for what to do with the realm once known as Coldmist, well the integration bit is probably due to begin once the mountain of silver is processed by the Tuashrido. Once they handle that, then a whole menagerie of prophets and soldiers, donkeys and horses are probably due for what was once Lord Belas' realm.

Which they'll now probably end up having to siege bit by bit.

Ya went and created a Libya/Iraq. Which does offer interesting plots so I am quite happy with it.