Proturan Military¶
Contested
This page is named in the open question Proturan army: faction quotas or integrated brigades. The faction notes describe an army raised by equal faction quotas and barred from the city, while the timeline and district notes describe integrated brigades with garrisons inside it. The page gives both.
The armed forces of Proturas in 834 AL, in the Fifth Age, are commanded by the Proturan Warmaster and organized in Proturan Brigades of a thousand men or more, which rotate between the counties and garrison the city, its borders and its outposts in the Rift. They grew from the levies of the exile factions into a federated army after the disasters of the Isolation, and from that army into the brigades under the Warmaster Harald Pallidine. In 834 AL they are at war with the Boreal Elves of Etterwood.
The Warmaster¶
"There is always a Proturan Warmaster responsible for the defense of the city and its surroundings. The warmaster is chosen and promoted from within the military hierarchy (not via the council)." The Warmaster "has complete authority over the external borders (and can override non-unanimous council decisions dealing with the border)" and can call up the faction militias "when granted temporary war powers by the council" (S078). The office made Harald Pallidine, "head of the Proturan Army", the master of the federation and then its first High Lord Councillor (S107).
Faction quotas¶
The faction notes describe the army as a common levy (S078). "Each faction is responsible for supplying an equal quota of soldiers to this force and the force is only to be used for external defense. These forces are paid and supplied by their faction. How the quota is met is different for each faction. For instance, the Marlezai use almost exclusively mercenaries (they pay humans)." The Divine Alliance meets its quota "almost exclusively due to zealotry ... their soldiers live on subsistence wages due to their divine duty". Each faction must also keep "its own militia, 2x the size of its permanent army levy", for local defence. A faction that cannot meet these obligations can lose its seat on the Proturan Council.
"Internal management of the lands of Proturas is left to the discretion of the members of the republic (outside the army's control). The army itself is actually not allowed inside the city boundaries in uniform or as organized units" (S078).
History¶
| Period (S107) | Force |
|---|---|
| Settlement, 626 to about 650 AL | Proturan Levies and Companies |
| Isolation, from about 670 AL | The Proturan Army |
| Influx, from about 740 AL | The Proturan Brigades |
The Lorsythian War showed "the Proturan military ... to be ill-organized and incapable of projecting power far from Proturas", and that war and the Great Guhvil War were "a trigger for the establishment of the Proturan Federated Army". Federation members kept forces for their own dominions "as well as provide forces under the command of a single Proturan Army" (S107). Under Harald Pallidine "the individual faction armies were integrated into the Proturan army" and "the Proturan army was reorganized into the Proturan Brigades which were integrated Proturan units (not faction-segregated units like the army)" (S107).
The brigades ended the Second Araxian War with "the scorching of the south", "a successful counterattack and scorched earth strategy leaving many former territories of the northern kingdoms of Lorsythe and Drobur cursed and blighted" (S107). Six brigades were allocated to enforce the Countess of Wrighthall's writ in the Riverdale War (S107). The wars are told on the Rift Period and Second Araxian War pages.
The Proturan Brigades¶
"Each County is protected by three Proturan Brigades and one of these brigades rotates to a different county every 2 years. This means a brigade remains garrisoned in a county for 6 years maximum. This is to give each brigade familiarity with different parts of Proturas territory but also to avoid the build-up of corruption and relationships that might undermine effective government." The brigades "swear loyalty to the Proturan Council", each with a political liaison to its county. "Most brigades are made up of a dozen or so companies with between 1,000 and 1,500 men total." A county may raise its own militia, guardsmen and county companies, but "no more than 500 full-time soldiers" (S107).
Proturas City is a city-county and shares three brigades (S103, S104). In 834 AL they are:
| Brigade | Station in 834 AL |
|---|---|
| White Bear Brigade | "Currently garrisoned and responsible for defending threats from the Deep Earth" |
| Silver Wolf Brigade | "Currently responsible for the defense of the Upper Grotto and Reservious areas"; holds two garrisons on the Stairs, the Lower and Upper Southstep Garrisons |
| Flying Dragon Brigade | "Currently responsible and garrisoned at the external perimeter and gates" |
The Silver Wolves¶
When the council declared war on the Boreal Elves in 834 AL, "one of the three Proturan Brigades (The Silver Wolves) responsible for guarding the city is preparing to deploy to Etterdun, along with two new brigades filled with conscripts. The other two brigades will fill the gap", and "the garrisoned brigades have been weakened a bit to pull officers to manage and train the new conscripted brigades" (S051). The conscripts came in part from the Warrens, where able-bodied men were taken "unless they could prove full-time employment or pay a 10g war support bond", and women for "the support battalion" on like terms. A Warrens Regiment of the Silver Wolves now draws a payroll of three thousand gold (S051).
The Iron Lion Brigade and the Knights of the Steel Cross¶
The Knights of the Steel Cross are "a Baegor quick-reaction force under the command of Proturan Military and part of the Iron Lion Brigade" (S068). When undead struck Banbridge, the knights "set up quarantine stations along the roads. They will turn back anyone INFECTED and send them to Banbridge (to be euthanized)" (S060). Baegor is the Baegor Chain of the Rift, whose monastery belongs to the Divine Order of Lorsythe (S066).
Gap
The Iron Lion Brigade is named only as the Steel Cross's parent. Its station and the names of any other brigades are not recorded.
Other forces¶
Proturan Rangers¶
Aqiran "serves the 3rd Company of Proturan Rangers, which have been primarily responsible for assessing threats along the borders and wildlands between Proturus and the Kingdom of Lorsythe to the South and Boreal Elves to the East" (S002). That account belongs to the Into the Rift period.
Proturan Border Guard¶
A farming village in the High Vale, "only 40 miles from the cursed no-mans land of Er'Turrak", is "home to an outpost of the Proturan Border Guard". Border patrol there "is considered a boring and safe assignment, so only three types serve here: the lazy, the spoiled or the incompetent" (S077).
The navy and the Rift garrisons¶
Proturas holds its Rift territory with garrisons (S066). Torghuk "houses the Riftborn Proturan Garrison" and "is a shipyard and forward outpost of the Proturan navy"; Tutull "hosts a large Proturan garrison"; Edgemark "hosts a small Proturan garrison"; Vegryn's Tower "has a sizeable garrison which is responsible for patrolling western regions and ensuring the safety of Merriq's Garden and the trade routes". A Rift outpost garrison "is considered a bad and dangerous assignment, so only three types serve here: the ambitious, the outcasts or the opportunists" (S077). The castle at Urdhar "once also housed a Proturan Garrison ... when this was an important route" (S045, S046, S048, S049).
Proturan Garrison and town forces¶
Banbridge keeps its own Banbridge Guard (the town guard) and Banbridge Militia, "wary and unlikely to let the sick pass" during the undead plague (S060). The Wood Elves field the Greywine Scouts, among their "Copper Dragons, Elven Rangers, Elven Archers" (S078).
Council soldiers¶
The council lends soldiers to licensed expeditions: Eliron's dig in the Pemeril Basin went with "2 Soldiers and priest appointed by the council, although wages paid by the leader", among them a council warden, "Human Priest of Nyx, demonic lore specialist" (S073).
Service¶
One recruit's history shows the path of service: a High Vale farm boy "joined the Proturan military at 16", fought his first battle against border raiders at 18 and was "discharged as unfit for continued duty due to a permanent leg injury" (S074). Many Concord warlocks join the military after their initiation (S074).