Imperial Army
The Imperial Army is the military of the Empire. It has waxed and waned in importance throughout the time of the Empire's rule; in several periods it has been nigh-powerless, and in others it has been instrumental in selecting and retaining the monarch.
The army is of indeterminate size; it would be unreasonable to assume the Empire keeps a large standing army by habit, but with the emergence of the Kingdom of Avernum and the Olgai Tribe as potential enemies, the armed forces have certainly enjoyed unprecedented growth in size and prominence under the rule of Prazac.
Composition
Imperial Army specialties include weapons mastery and archery; in addition to their large number, they maintain a large corps of shock troops known as Empire Dervishes and Empire Archers, with each maintaining peerless skill in melee combat and archery respectively.
The Imperial Army is distinct from Imperial Wizardry, although the two were treated as essentially inseparable during the Empire-Avernum War. While it is common for magical forces to be attached to any army, they are usually essentially independent outside of combat.
A typical imperial platoon consists of about eight to ten soldiers or blademasters, and a few elite archers. Special platoons implemented for aggressive tactics or infiltrative purposes may be backed by any combination of battle-mages, priests and assassins. These additive units usually number from one to four. Shock troops may consist purely of elite soldiers or blademasters, elite archers and a contingent of dervishes.
Clearances and ranks
(Work in progress.)
Clearances in the army of the Empire
- Red Pass.
- Blue Pass.
- Grey Pass.
- Royal Seal of the Empire (also known as Royal Token).
Ranks
- Private.
- Soldier.
- Corporal. (Unverified.)
- Captain.
- Lieutenant.
- Field Commander.
- General.
- Emperor. (Not obtainable via promotion, but is still a part of the hierarchy. The emperor commands the highest and final authority in the military matters.)
Honorary ranks
- Elite Archer.
- Elite Soldier.
- Blademaster.
- Infiltrator.
- Dervish.
Notable imperials
- Gabor Krizsan, Dervish Field Commander of the Imperial Army.
- Manfred Redmark, General of the Imperial Army, during and after the reign of Prazac I.
- Dorikas, soldier during the Empire-Avernum War. Defector and founder of the Darkside Loyalists.