Ihtsikhá

The Ihtsikhá (lit. "Not below the stars") is an elite fighting force and the secret police of the Vht'shjenjé government. They protect the Greater Council in the heart of Varvardnársh and work in the shadows to eliminate all enemies of the state.
==Origin==
During the middle of the Thousand-Year War era, the Vht'shjenjé government faced a long period of instability and antagonism between different castes within its social structure, in particular between the poet class and the Azure Army. After a conspiratorical coup against the Shjevtyrín , referred to as the Ikhjeshírenite incident, was put in place the general Iss'sjyrín launched a counter-coup where large portions of the government was executed and replaced by militarists loyal to her. Although she did increase the influence of the military over the government, she also created a new army that would be separate to the Azure Army and would only remain loyal to the Shjevtyrín herself and not the Azure Army and their agendas. This army, who fielded a plain black flag instead of the star-studded banners used by the Azure Army, became called the Ihtsikhá.
The Ihtsikhá did not officially exist during the first centuries after their foundation, and lived completely isolated from the rest of Shadowborn society. They took on a role of being anti-Mósharenja commandos during the Thousand-Year War, responsible for many assassinations and raids.
==Training==
The Ihtsikhá are rather unique in the sense that the warriors of the Ihtsikhá devote their entire lives solely to the art of killing, unlike most members of the Azure Army who also maintain other professions on the side. Their training is done in secret but is reputed to be extremely harsh and only a portion of all recruits survive the training. The average Ihtsikhá recruit is picked up from the state education program or the nomad tribes at the age of ten and usually finishes his or her training around the age of twenty-five. There are female Ihtsikhá operatives but they are much fewer than their male counterparts.
The Ihtsikhá are not so proficient in battle as they are in small-group tactics, individual combat prowess and resourcefulness. They rarely appear in larger numbers than a handful and their training thus reflects this. They carry specialised equipment for climbing treacherous subterranean terrain and swimming through underground lakes and rivers, they are proficient in disguise and stealth and are masters of individual and group combat. An Ihtsikhá enforcer are expected to be able continue fighting in the face of extreme pain, to be a dangerous combatant with just about any weapon or tool and to be able to kill quickly and silently. The Ihtsikhá martial art is focused largely around combatants assisting one another to overpower enemies and quickly finish them off with quick repeated blows against sensetive areas. Unlike the Azure Army who maintains a strong spiritual tradition after the influence of Nashenirén, the Ihtsikhá tradition only respects ruthless and cunning violence.
==Equipment==
The Ihtsikhá is notable in that it was perhaps the first fighting force in the world to adopt bronze weaponry, something that made them vastly superior to most soldiers of the Iron Desert in the early Bronze Age. In the later Bronze Age, these weapons have been adopted by the Azure Army as well, their equipment largely based on the Ihtsikhá designs that have been in employment for over a century before the Azure Army ceased arming themselves with obsidian clubs.
Category:Militaries
Category:Martial arts
Category:Vht'shjenjé