Mustering an Otheiae Army

Part of Culture of Otheia

Part of Armies of Otheia

Oftentimes, a Realm will require more soldiers than it possesses in its garrisons, and so must begin the process of mustering a new regiment. This is a long and demanding task, and the recruitment method varies between realms, as well as the type of unit being mustered. For example, while the following is specific to the regiments of the House of Roral, and applies to most infantry regiments and companies, a company of hunters might be mustered by way of their Deed of Huntship, or rangers may be recruited from the Landguard of a region.

### Process of recruitment

The recruiting of a regiment is a difficult task. It is generally appointed to trusted subordinates by the Kara of the realm, called the Master, who then send out Recruiting Captains throughout the region the regiment will be raised from.

The captains are then to go about recruiting as they see fit, generally with funding from the Kara, though this cannot always be relied upon. Generally, the recruiting captain will travel from town to town with a small entourage, beating drums to announce his arrival. Once there, he will often host a public gathering, generally at the town’s center or a local tavern, wherein he and his entourage will attempt to impress upon the onlookers the glorious life as a soldier of the Kara, full of adventure and excitement. He may provide drinks to all those in attendance, and attempt to cultivate a feeling of martial adventure in the celebration in the crowd.

Those who sign the Recruiting Captain’s contract are then brought to the town’s garrison house, and the locals are instructed to begin the training of the recruits in basic weapons use, until the captain can return to collect them and move them to the muster point, where the regiment begins its drilling.

By its very nature, mustering a regiment is a very costly enterprise, and while officially funded by the realm, it often falls to the Master and his captains to use their own money to fill the gaps.

Needless to say, it is not always possible to carry out the above recruiting process, or there may be too few volunteers. As such, it is not uncommon to hear of entire companies being comprised of “Pressedmen”, soldiers who were conscripted against their will through a number of means, from forcible drafts to drugging to, in rare cases, outright kidnappings. However, such cases are relatively rare, and to attempt to press anyone into service is generally frowned upon.

### Mustering

Once the Recruiting Captain has completed his rounds, he will then return to the various towns he had visited, and collect the recruits, who have now developed at least a modicum of individual skill, being drilled by the Garrisonmen. From there, he proceeds to the Muster Point, where the true training begins.

Veterans and commissioned soldiers instill the various drills into the recruits, from keeping coordination in the loose formation typical of the Otheiae, to running while condensing into an effective mêlée force, as occurs during a charge.

Under ideal circumstances, by the date outlined by the Kara to the Master, the regiment will be considered combat ready, and will be issued orders to march to battle. The Master will then either take charge of the regiment, or will immediately begin the process of recruiting another, depending on the need, and the Recruiting Captains will typically take command of the recruits, now considered full-fledged soldiers, whom they originally mustered.