Banners of Arkland

*"Gerard! Summon my banners! I think Ortienne will find negotiation with my Lord Commanders to perhaps be more compelling than he has so far found them to be with me."* - **Alaine Dagne of House Dagne before the Great Feud of Chavriselle**

## Banners and Lord Commanders

A banner is the literal term referring to the house banner that the armies of the nobility carry with them into battle to signify to which family they belong. These banners are also decorated and colored by the Lord Commander who is in charge of the regiment. As such, when referring to bannermen or to calling upon banners, what is actually being referenced is calling on the Lord Commanders and fighting forces that they lead.

## Sizes of Arkland Banners

The literal size of a banner can vary greatly, depending on the creative nature of the house and Lord Commander.

The figurative size of a banner as referenced here is in terms of the number of soldiers within a single regiment overseen by a Lord Commander. Typically, these can range from a few hundred to a few thousand soldiers, depending on the access to wealth and needs of the noble backer of the group.

## Summoning Banners

To muster forces, a noble will call upon his or her Lord Commander to mobilize. In the direct employ of that noble, and also having been granted land and title, the Lord Commander is obliged to respond. Failure to respond to a summons would be considered treason. The Lord Commander would be immediately deposed and replaced, losing his or her access to land and title. Most likely, this would be considered an act of hostility and also result in an execution.

For the most part, a Lord Commander is not surprised by a summons. The communication lines between a noble family and their banners are always open. Lord Commanders often spend more time within the homes of nobility, acting as advisers, than they do at the barracks with their troops. The daily operations of barracks are often overseen instead by Officers. As such, when it is time to mobilize, Lord Commanders are generally already thoroughly prepared with strategic plans and goals already in place. Further, supply wagons are generally already stocked and troops already briefed and drilled on the upcoming military action. All that remains once a summons is received is to march to war.

## Multiple Banners in an Army

Much of the more rich and powerful nobility will maintain multiple banners. They do so for many reasons. First and foremost is that having multiple banners means that a noble can spread his or her military force to many engagements or across many needs. Perhaps one banner is dedicated to protecting shipping companies owned by the noble family, and thus, they are acting more as marines than land soldiers. Meanwhile, banners are also maintained on land to protect or defend the interests of the noble on land. Further, should the nobility find itself needing to open multiple fronts in a campaign against one or more other noble families, it is often useful to already have clear distinctions between forces be in place such that one Lord Commander can be tasked with a specific front or job whereas another is given a different goal.

When needed, however, Lord Commanders will combine their forces into a much larger division or simply a full army. To do so requires that Lord Commanders establish an army leadership which will act as overall command for the combined force while each Lord Commander still maintains direct control of his or her soldiers. Often, combined leadership is actually more or less communal with all Lord Commanders planning and acting in concert sort of like a military council. The final decisions then usually fall upon a single Lord Commander who is nominated by the rest to be the overall leader. This Lord Commander is often an obvious choice, being the most experienced, wisest, or most proven of all present. There have been situations where multiple Lord Commanders have more or less failed to be able to combine their personalities into an army, and this can create a great problem for a standing army if the leadership cannot come together. This can especially occur if the combining of armies is between noble families who are forming an alliance or if the monarch has summoned banners from multiple families together in the interest of forming a national army of Arkland. This is because you may be being asked to join forces with a banner that you may have been fighting in an earlier season. In more famous examples, such disputes between leaderships have actually come to blows, resolving themselves in duels between Lord Commanders to determine leadership or to solidify an alliance between banners.

## Forming a National Army

Arkland rarely marches to war as a single nation. The action of most banners are almost always local to the feuds and squabbles of nobility. However, when the need is great, and Arkland must field a very large army as a national entity, this falls upon the current monarch. The monarch will summon the Council of Barons, and they will be asked to summon banners from all the noble families in their control. Each baron will be expected to field a certain number of banners, and failing to do so would be seen as a sign of weakness and disgrace. It is not always politically easy for a baron to return to his constituent nobility and tell them that their soldiers must march to war in defense of Arkland. However, being able to persuade and summon banners is a duty of the baron and a symbol of power. In some rare cases, barons that have failed to summon barons have quickly seen their dynasties come to an end. Should a barony fail to rally banners, ultimately, if this is critical to the success of Arkland, the monarch may demand of the nobility directly that they send troops. Failing to do so may result in internal action up to civil war whereupon the monarch would march the other armies of Arkland into the barony and demand that they surrender their banners. Such an event has only occurred once in Arkland's history, and the outcome for the local nobility was so disastrous, no one has tried since.

Once banners are summoned, typically the monarchy will establish an army command structure from among well respected Lord Commanders. The army will then organize itself as leadership roles are dispersed and the pecking order is established. When coming to the defense of Arkland, all previous squabbles and feuds are, based on honor, expected to be laid aside. Banners which were perhaps the week before fighting in the streets are now expected to march together. Failing to do so would amount to treason and execution, and thus, the soldiers are well motivated to at least pretend to get along. Aside from this threat, however, large scale wars can prove to be very lucrative to soldiers as the spoils of war are valuable. Thus, the soldiers receive both positive and negative reinforcement for behaving well while in an allied army.

Further, while away at war in the defense of Arkland, armed conflict between nobility whose banners have been depleted is forbidden. All such feuds are expected to lie dormant throughout the duration of the war. Although they may not be happy about this, the nobility would not dare violate this sacred law of truce as the result would be attack by the state and likely execution. This armed truce does not mean that the nobility are not still engaged in the regular, day to day, skullduggery and subterfuge intent on undermining their rivals, but for the most part, large scale violence is curbed.

When amassed on a field of battle, the soldiers of each Lord Command will carry with them their banners into battle. Thus, an army of Arkland standing on a field in gleaming steel armor, will also hoist many large banners into the air as it marches, signifying all the soldiers who make-up the army.

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--Neil (talk) 22:18, 15 October 2016 (AST)