Military Units, Part 3
The Southlands can truly be divided into two parts, or dozens of parts, but they share a very closely related culture and language, and militarily while the 'Oasis'/Far part of the Southlands (though not too far South) tends to have superior cavalry, they are more alike than not.
The Seventeen Cities of the Northern Southlands are each quite rich and populated, and mercenary work is very common, and so their armies are actually surprisingly varied, as types of units and people from around the world, or at least the immediate area, gather in one place. So yes, you can find Aedeamons, and Hanin, and Sea-Raider style men who swagger around in spirit-haunted armor selling their skills for hire because they've decided to look for softer targets. All of this can be found, so I won't rehash it, though their skills take their own twists in a different environment.
So, instead, the two unique units. First, they have been mentioned before, and so I am proud to introduce the Tarnarins! Every boy (most, at least) dreams of being one when they grow up. They are the quintessential military unit of the Southlands, and they have all of the mythology that our Knight or Samurai might have around them. They are similar to Aedaemons in some ways, actually, but are somewhat less connected to the idea of a hereditary elite, though there's a high degree of clan and family solidarity. So, what are they? They are heavily armed and reasonably heavily armored cavalry who possess great skill at both the bow and the lance, as well as a side-arm of some form which was used when dismounted. They worked and fought as one, and when combined with the special magics that their traditions passed down, there were few forces that could stand against the volley-and-charge of a Tarnarin, and there are still few enough. The horses too are special, trained and bred for this very purpose from birth, made capable of great bravery and made used to the sights and sounds of battles as well as the spirits themselves, and armored as best as could be without compromising any of their mobility, for despite the 'heaviness' of the cavalry, it is an axiom that the Tarnarin is always where you least expected him.
They are relatively few in number, of course, even in the most concentrated Southland army, but they are one of the reasons that Csirit once bowed its head to a Southland Emperor.
In addition, there are the Rassit, the light horse-archer skirmishers whose fame is less than that of their brothers--and the tradition is that two brothers each founded one branch of the great and noble art of Southlands cavalry--but whose skill is equal. They are excellent shots, like their brothers, and if their brothers are as fast as the wind, they are faster still. They are like a sandstorm, a chaotic and fast-firing threat that cannot be grasped any more than one can the desert that the Southlands eventually slips into past the Ash Passes. They cultivate generational relationships with the spirits of the winds and the sand, of horses and speed and far stranger things, and they could cover in a single day what might take others a week, it was said.
On a battlefield they never directly engage the enemy, attacking and fading out, bow twanging with power, laughing at any attempt to engage them, and it TOO is an axiom that the only way to beat them is to either pin them down by terrain (difficult indeed, depending on time and place) or beat them at their own game with light cavalry (preferably Rassit mercenaries) of your own.
In addition to these, depending on the area, there is of course some manner of infantry, including skirmishers who tend to be even more lightly armored and to rely on the spirits, luck, and short bows, and more 'typical' infantry troops of the Seventeen Cities, which is different from the Csiritan version only in their tendency to be somewhat more disciplined and trained by some degree.
These forces are as often turned against each other as anyone else, for the far Southlands, the Oasis portion, as well as the near-Oasis areas outside of the reach of the Seventeen Cities, are home to many Kings and Lords who vie for dominion and power, backed by the clans of Tarnarins or desert mystics, poets, and the like.
As to what lies beyond the Southlands? Few know and fewer speak of it, except in absurd stories that nobody would credit, and if there are any unique and interesting military units to be found that far south, they don't take part in the struggles of the Southlands, and are thus beyond this overview of Csirit and surrounding land-powers.
So, any other questions about the military stuff now that I've done the basic overview stuff?
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Also, yes, marriage is something that might eventually be important, but it's not going to...well, maybe the voters will try to make it a 'thing', but it really isn't going to be one for quite some time unless they purposefully jump the gun. Like, to note: this is a Quest that goes month by month and is about court power. Even if you do something moronic and immediately get betrothed to marry (and there's no good reason to do so right off the bat), it could be as many as 12 to 24 turns before you'd be married, and then...you get the drift. Marriage is a thing that happens to people, but...*shrugs*
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