Sancturi Military¶
"Seen as the turning point of the conflict, the Draconian forces crumble quickly to the superior numbers of the Sancturi." — the Sanctuary Age Timeline, of 524 SM (S326)
Contested
Named in the open questions Legion garrisons in Dalmar, which asks which legion holds Dalmar and which Nightshade Legion holds Haddensfield, and Golden Legion armies: prefectures or provinces.
The armed forces of the Sancturi Empire are organised into five legions under four elected Warlords: the Golden Legion that guards the homeland and the Darkwater Legion that runs the navy, both under the High Warlord, and the three frontier legions, Obsidian, Griffon and Nightshade, that fought the Sancturi Campaigns. "The majority of the Sancturi military is made up of slaves, freemen and mercenaries. Only the command structure is filled out with Sancturi nobility" (S314). The Warlords and the law that divides the legions among them are described under the Imperial Government; the clergy's own fighting orders, which march alongside the legions, under Arbitori Bannerguard.
Also called: the Imperial Army, in the village notes (S138, S144, S145).
Command¶
"By law, each warlord is allotted one-fifth of the empire's military forces (with the warlords rotating their command with each election to avoid the forces becoming overly loyal to a single warlord), with two-fifths going to the High Warlord" (S323). The High Warlord resides in the capital and is responsible for home defence; the three Warlords "govern/manage the empire's forces in the frontier areas" (S323). "When there is a change in warlord, it will result in a drastic change in command structure" (S314).
House officers fill the high command, but "cannot occupy any enlisted rank that they have not achieved while they were enlisted themselves (before they were affiliated with a house). They are also required to report to non-house officers while in the Company command structure or enlisted ranks (unless in a full House Company or Regiment)" (S314; see Great Houses of the Sancturi).
Ranks¶
| Rank | Commands | Drawn from |
|---|---|---|
| Warlord | a legion | house officers |
| Legion Marshal | the legion's supply, with the company marshals | house officers |
| Strike Commander | a strike, about six regiments (5,400 men) | house officers who have been Commanders |
| Commander | a regiment, about six companies (900 men) | career military |
| Marshal and Under-Marshals | a regiment's supply routes, provisions, reinforcements and equipment | career military |
| Captain | a named company of about 150 | career military or mercenary leaders |
| Company or Regiment Scout | mounted pairs of runners and frontline scouts | career elite soldiers or mercenaries |
| First Sword | a brigade of three squads, about 15 men | career elite soldiers or mercenaries |
| Second Sword | a squad of five | career elite soldiers or mercenaries |
| Legionnaire | career soldiers | |
| Soldier | slaves, conscripts or mercenaries | |
| Servant | supply, cooking, cleaning and maintenance | slaves or mercenaries |
"The average frontier legion is made up of five armies (about 25,000 fighting men total). Often between 5 and 10k are made up of house forces, and the rest are on the imperial payroll" (S314). A regiment's companies "may be imperial, slave, mercenary or undead companies/brigades"; a standard company is "120 men divided into 8 brigades as well as a command brigade and scouts". First and Second Swords "carry an engraved Santuri short sword", and "if not enough elite soldiers are available, then fewer, larger squads will be used". Professional scribes, "career, slaves or mercenaries", are attached to every command that needs them (S314).
Veterans of the ranks turn up across the frontier. The innkeeper Normand Haket "retired as an Elite Sword from the Imperial Army. His company was the Rising Boars," and lives on his pension (S138, S144). The runeblade Kaito Tadaheik, now a slave, was "a First Sword in the 6th Strike of the Obsidian Legion" (S138).
The five legions¶
| Legion | Warlord | House | Station |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Legion | High Warlord | Vinceric | the homeland, eleven armies |
| Darkwater Legion | High Warlord | Vinceric | the Imperial Navy |
| Obsidian Legion | Obsidian Warlord | Vesulias | Arnyr |
| Griffon Legion | Griffon Warlord | Barahd | Faragond |
| Nightshade Legion | Nightshade Warlord | Novall | Dalmar |
Stations as the military overview gives them (S314); the warlords' houses agree with the party lists (S322; see Sancturi Political Parties). The Sanctuary Age Timeline speaks of the frontier legions in the plural, the "Obsidian Legions", "Griffon Legions" and "Nightshade Legions", and says that in the late 590s SM, with Danar and Corvald chosen for conquest, "the Sancturi began organizing and recruiting the Provincial Legions" (S326).
Golden Legion¶
"Golden Legion is responsible for protecting the land and borders of the Imperium. It is the largest legion and is composed of 11 different armies (one for each prefecture)" (S314). It is commanded by the High Warlord, of House Vinceric.
The political notes divide the Imperium into eleven provinces, each with many prefectures (S323), so the count of eleven armies matches the provinces rather than the prefectures; see the contested note above.
Darkwater Legion¶
"Darkwater Legion runs the Imperial Navy and is composed of both marines and seamen" (S314), under the High Warlord. The navy, called the Sancturi Navy in the organisations list, "is responsible for protecting sea lanes and Sancturi shipping. They also engage in offensive seaborne naval operations against enemies of the Imperium. They control the largest military fleet in the Broken Sea, but most of it is engaged in protecting their shipping routes from Riven Pirates and Oesterkull Raiders" (S317). The Broken Sea Merchant Alliance is believed to have the second largest fleet, and the Pirates of Azmeran "exclusively target Sancturi shipping" (S317).
Obsidian Legion¶
"Currently occupying Arnyr, the Obsidian legion is well known for its widespread use of Runebinders and undead battalions" (S314), the art of its Warlord's house of Vesulias (see Namakan Runecasting). Its campaigns, as the timeline gives them (S326):
- Danar, 614-674 SM, in Southern Danar, abandoned in 674 SM to "the Wights and their armies of corporeal and incorporeal undead". "One result of this campaign was the development of Namakan Runebinding."
- Vael'Doreis, from 675 SM, when "the Obsidian Legions had regrouped from the failed Danar Campaign" and joined the Nightshade Legions "with a new scorched earth strategy" that burned the forest to ash by 688 SM.
- Arnyr, 691 SM to the present, "a fierce campaign against the largest Riven kingdom in the North"; "the legions have already begun grabbing some easy targets on the western and northern borders."
Griffon Legion¶
"Currently occupying Faragond" (S314). The Griffon Legions took Corvald (624-641 SM), where "open warfare was over with the petty kingdoms by 625 SM" but stabilisation took almost twenty years more; Rhyunn (644-653 SM), where "using the lessons learned in Corvald, they were able to stabilize the area much more rapidly"; and Pevelor (from 654 SM). In Faragond from 695 SM they "ran afoul of the enigmatic Necromancer", and in 700 SM drove "deeply into the Necromancer's territory ... with the intention of cutting off the head of the snake. Instead, the legions disappeared and not a single soldier returned. The Griffon legions have been rebuilding ever since" (S326; see Rodrizhal).
Nightshade Legion¶
"Currently occupying Dalmar" (S314). The Nightshade Legions fought at Pesh on Danar (617-652 SM), in Vael'Doreis (654-688 SM) and the Hills of Ghorresh (690-698 SM), "mostly a land grab and infrastructure campaign", and from 700 SM in Dalmar, where an initial incursion "left Floren crippled and took considerable Brusau territory" before Brusau, "backed with Ozau mercenaries", pushed them back to an entrenched front (S326).
The legion is numbered. After the treaty that made Brusau a Sancturi province, "General Yutoshi of the III Nightshade Legion is in control of the city" of Altandon, "reporting to Warlord Diasamu" (S189), and a prisoner is held "at the center of the III Nightshade Legion's Headquarters (just outside the city)" (S190). The fortified temple of the Verdant Knights of Haddensfield "has fallen and is presently occupied by the 3rd Cohort of the VI Nightshade Legion, Commander Ariharu" (S190), or, a week later, of "the III Nightshade Legion" (S191). The session's tally of a cohort there gives "30 arbitori bannerguard + 160 legionares + 10 centurians (elites)", with "General of the 3rd Legion: Ariharu + 30 command staff (12 messengers, 8 clerks, 12 personal guard)" and "1 sergeant per 16 legionares", besides "40 undead with 3 runepriests" (S191). Yutoshi, Diasamu and Ariharu are described under Minor Figures of the Sancturi Imperium.
Gap
The session notes' cohorts, generals, centurions and sergeants do not appear in the military overview's ranks, and nothing reconciles a numbered III and VI Nightshade Legion with five legions in all.
Dalmar Province¶
The frontier gazetteer of Dalmar Province shows a legion settling in (S315). Odawara, once Valdemark Castle, is the Warlord's headquarters, where "Warlord ?? has made this his headquarters, and his personal ?? legion has its barracks here". At Ibraki a temporary wooden fort around the ruined keep "is presently the headquarters of the Obsidian Legions". Hirai, the first year's "legion and provincial headquarters", now holds "a large ranger expeditionary force ... that patrols the border areas, including the Florentine Woodlands", and the hillfort of Matedo has "some of their expeditionary forces now stationed here". Sumeji, taken "after a bloodless siege", continues as a border fort against the orcs to the south. A captured prisoner of the legion spends a night at Odawara on the road to Kurano (S168). The gazetteer's Obsidian headquarters at Ibraki stands against the overview and the timeline, which give Dalmar to the Nightshade (see the contested note above).
Brusau Rangers¶
Before the treaty, the Brusau Rangers were the cavalry of the free kingdom: travellers on the road north from Floren "encountered a dozen Brusau Rangers (cavalry) on patrol" (S162). After it, they serve the occupation; at Haddensfield the session tally lists "32 Brusau Rangers (commander is Sancturi)" beside the legion's cohort (S191).