The Imperial Legion

The **Imperial Legion** or **Imperial Army** is the main armed force of the First and Second Empire, and is a large military organization on both Agallura and Chilastra. The patron deity of the Imperial Legion is Mereus, god of Justice and Mercy. The Legions meet annually in the Legionary's Council, in which decisions made by the Elder Council are discussed among the Legions.

## Background

The Imperial Legion proclaims itself to be the most disciplined and effective military & police force in history, and that it preserves the peace and rule of law in the Empire.

On Chilastra, the Imperial Legion has manned fortresses all across the continent to protect the citizens of the Empire from threats, both domestic and foreign.

The Legion looks for upstanding citizens who show superior endurance, soldierly virtue, and a trustworthy personality. A Legion soldier is supposed to be a model of the duties of Imperial citizenship.

To be able to join the Legion each soldier must be trained and become proficient in various offence and defence skills. Imperial soldiers must be able to block quickly and move quickly while in heavy armor. Soldiers are also trained to be able to march long distances with heavy packs and to perform the complex maneuvers that soldiers will perform in real battle. Furthermore, knights are trained to be able to block blows with just their heavy armor, no shield. Imperial Smiths often rely on books to master their trade.

New recruits must take the oath binding them to the service of the Emperor and the Legion.

## Ranks

- Auxiliary

- Private

- Sentinel

- Legionary

- Knight

- Praefect

- Dreadnaught

- Sergeant

- Centurion

- Major

- Tribune

- Lieutenant

- Legate

- Captain

- General

## Soldiers

The Legion uses a variety of soldiers, which consist of the following units, light and heavy cavalry, heavily armored knights, berserkers, skirmishers, archers, scouts, pikemen, troopers and foot knights. The Legion also uses Battlemages, artillery, levies and rams.

### Officers

#### Commander

The highest achievable rank, appointed by the Emperor/Empress. This rank commands every officer and legionnaire in the Imperial legion. They take orders directly from the Emperor. There can only be one Commander at a time.

#### General

One of the highest achievable ranks in the legion. Generals carry out the duties assigned to them by stated ranks. Under normal circumstances, a General commands one Legion, however, a General is also able to command several Legions at a time.

#### Captain

Captains are the commanding officers of town garrisons, and train recruits. They are superiors to Legion Lieutenants, and answer to Legion Centurions.

#### Legate

High-ranking legates serve as the right hand to the generals and fort commanders of the Imperial Legion, directly carrying out tasks and duties presented by these superiors. Although acting as an extra set of hands in some cases, they primarily command maniples of a Legion, allowing for battlefield versatility and more efficient command of lower-ranking soldiers and officers.

#### Lieutenant

Lieutenants are tasked with commanding larger groups of soldiers and answer to Legion captains.

### Field Officers

#### Centurion

Imperial Centurions are in charge of the Palace Guard in Stormhaven. They also command Imperial Cohorts of a Legion.

#### Palace Guards

Palace Guards are an honor guard and an elite unit of the Imperial Legion. They are tasked with defending the Imperial Palace in Stormhaven.

## Armor

Light armor is used for scouts, skirmishers, archers and light cavalry. Iron armor and weapons are produced in bulk for usage for the Legion, much like Imperial steel and silver. Heavy armor is used for the frontline infantry, heavy cavalry, foot knights, pikemen, troopers and officers.

## Weapons

The Imperial Legion mainly uses the Imperial Sword or Steel Swords for its army, however the Legion also makes use of some other weapons, such as pikes, the commonly used Imperial Broadsword, the standard Imperial Shortsword, spears, claymores and the Imperial Bow. Imperial light cavalry makes use of sabers, while longswords is the standard weapon of Imperial officers.

The wooden short bow is the standard issue bow for the Legions, while the long bow is also used. While the Legion did mass-produce crossbows, they were less popular among its soldiers than the short and long bows.

Imperial weaponry of the Second Era consisted of a combination of the colors red, silver, and gold. Imperial Shields often bore an Imperial crest or a ruby in a case of broze or gold, alongside the wood from Chilastra's forests. Legionnaires would use red leather as much as possible on their grips to match their armor and their weaponry. Imperial axe heads had designs of red and copper, as well as carved pommels. This carving sometimes extended to the surface of the Imperial maces and axes. Some Legionnaires use the symbol of one of the major Imperial cities of Chilastra as carvings.