Anyway, while I wait for the vote, here have another worldbuilding loredump. Last time I talked about how the militia is organized, so this time I'm going to talk about the forces available to the noble houses of Ulthuan.
By ancient law dating back to Aenarion the Defender, every noble house is obligated to maintain a force under arms that their lieges can call upon to perform military service to him. This was originally the basis of Ulthuan's military power: the Phoenix King calls the High Princes to war, who each have their own retinue and vassal Princes, who also have their retinues and vassal Lords, who each in turn have their own retinues. Thus, the warhosts of Ulthuan were like pyramids of retinues.
However, as I have discussed previously, this system fell by the wayside during the Long Peace of Bel-Shanaar, as many Asur thought that Ulthuan would never be seriously threatened again and most nobles turned their fighting retinues to town/city watches, estate guards and road/fieldwardens. Thus, when the Sundering began, these forces were not prepared for field warfare and in any case had their hands full suppressing cultist activity and Druchii infiltrators/sympathizers, leading to the founding of the Royal Army by Caledor I that eventually evolved into the militia system.
Hence, in modern times lower Asur nobility principally fulfill their military obligations through personal service, organizing the population of their fief into militia and by paying taxes, rather than recruiting and maintaining large professional standing forces. The law still exists and can technically be invoked, but this is only done during times of desperation or because you want to fuck with your vassal. Caledor I was particularly caustic in his criticism of the "retinue of retinues" army model, noting the difficulties of stitching together hundreds if not thousands of small retinues into a cohesive army. While these retinue units are still expected to fight in defence of the settlements that they police, they are not equipped or organized for field battle.
However, there is a reason I specified "lower nobility" in the above paragraph, because while the minor noble houses were generally happy to do away with the burden of maintaining standing forces and rely upon commonborn levies, princely houses still found themselves in need of standing forces to act as garrisons, further their colonial interests, and all of the other instances where having a bunch of soldiers loyal to you alone without having to call up your vassals or muster the militia can be convenient. Not to mention there's a lot of prestige in showing up to battle with a couple of companies or regiments of elite troops you trained and equipped, flying your banners and fighting in the traditional style of your house. Thus, these forces are staggeringly varied, representing the culture and history of their house, and many of them have risen to incredible fame. Of course, some minor houses also maintain household troops, while some princely ones do not, but generally most princely houses maintain at least a regiment of their own troops, and ruling princes often maintain what amount to entire armies: Lothern Sea Guard began as the household troops of the High Prince of Eataine before being absorbed into the Royal Navy, while the Silverin Guard and the Spire Guard of Tor Yvresse are part of the retinue of the High Prince of Yvresse.
Most princely houses and each kingdom also maintain sizable fleets, both mercantile and warships. As with household troops, there's a ton of prestige to showing up to the muster with more ships than your rivals, and the noble houses are invariably extremely proud of the prowess of their fleets. As there is no "naval militia" these private fleets also function as the main reserve force that can be called up during wartime to reinforce the Royal Navy.
Lastly, there's the knights of the Prince's household. These are distinct but not wholly separate from their vassal nobility that they can call upon: they are their vassal nobles, and during general muster are typically grouped together as they usually all fight as Silver Helms. But the distinction there is much the same as the one between household troops and the militia: mustering one's vassals requires the Prince to formally call upon their aid, whereas household forces are sworn to fight wherever and whenever their Prince wishes for them to. They are also conveniently located right in the Prince's capital, rather than scattered everywhere ruling their own fiefs. This makes them ideal for overseas military adventures, posturing with your neighbours or unruly vassals, dealing with smaller problems that don't require a full muster or must be dealt with swiftly, and so on.
Household knights are landless nobility that have completed their voluntary service in the Silver Helms; heirs that have yet to inherit or second- and thirdborn children, or extended family like cousins, aunts, uncles and so on. Most often these are part of the Prince's own house, or members of their vassal houses: sending your heir to fight under your liege is a great way to build relations with them. This is also a common path in life for impoverished nobles that cannot afford a horse and the other trappings of a Silver Helm: the Prince provides them at their own expense, and in exchange once the noble has completed their tour of duty they join the household knights of the Prince. There is of course the risk that they die during those fifty years, but giving a fellow noble the chance to serve Ulthuan as a noble ought to is seen as a deeply honourable thing to do and a show of great magnanimity, not to mention accruing a debt of favour with the noble's house, as they couldn't afford to furnish their own scion.
Sometimes, houses which lack land entirely can enter into such an arrangement wholesale: the Prince houses and equips the house, and in exchange they all become part of their household knights. This practice traces its roots to the reign of Caradryel: many noble houses from the colonies had been uprooted in their entirety by the Edict of Evacuation, their lands abandoned to the dwarfs with no real prospects of recovering them. There wasn't enough land to go around but there was a great need for fighting men with Malekith's new invasion, so Caradryel encouraged these dispossessed houses to make such arrangements with Princes who had an excess of wealth and a shortage of manpower. Of course, many such houses were eventually granted lands to replace houses that went extinct, but elves are prideful people, and some houses have resolved that they will not accept handouts: they will remain landless until they can return to their own lands. It doesn't matter that those lands might be in the middle of Altdorf, if they can't have their ancestral lands they would rather hold no lands. This is why Finubar refounding Sith Rionnasc was such a big deal: he found the displaced inheritors of the original house that ruled the colony, and gave it back to them. Not only was this an enormous prestige boost, the leadership of Sith Rionnasc would quite literally die for Finubar.
