Even if you are not planning on using the military as the focus of your story, it is important that you have an idea of how it works in your setting. After all, if there’s something bad coming that could destroy the city, the military will probably need to be involved. This is such an important topic in worldbuilding that I have several posts dealing with aspects of it, such as Magic in the Military, the Types of Military, Military Ranks, Military and Culture, and Police in Fantasy Settings. I’m not going to rehash all of that in this post.

Due to the constant struggles with Abominations as well as their recent wars, Shildaria does have a standing, professional army. As with cultures in our world, this is a significant expense. The mighty armies of Rome were comprised of only around 1% of the population. Sparta’s army was about 10,000, but were supported by as many as 200,000 others, including slaves forced to work to keep their army fed. Shildaria’s standing army will stand at about 100,000 out of their population of 9,000,000 (about 1.11% of the total population). Since the Abomination attacks are primarily in the southern part of the country, the military will have a higher concentration there.

Shildaria is entirely landlocked, but they have some significant rivers. This will mean that bridges are strategically important. They will not have any sort of navy, even with these rivers, as the use of the horse is the most important aspects of their military.

Abominations are not looking to hold land and they don’t care about strategic areas. Their attacks can happen at any time and they are looking to destroy whatever they find. Scholars debate whether they are simply extremely diverse animals that rove in packs or if there is some sort of organizing intelligence behind them. Whatever the case, however, they attack almost randomly, so high speed reinforcements is extremely important. In addition, some of these beings are stupendously powerful. Being able to hit them at range saves lives, so archery is extremely important. However, if arrows prove ineffective, a lancer charge may be necessary.

The military is therefore divided into three formal branches. The Tricones are Trainees, older, or less able soldiers are assigned as guards in the towns. They never ride out on sorties or missions like the other two branches. The Decerion are the lancers, riders who specialize in close quarter fighting and charges. Finally, there are the Alaris, horsearchers who make up the bulk of the fighting units. Each has their own leadership. However, they are not considered equal branches, like the armed forces in the US might be.

The Tricones are the last line of defense in the towns and villages of Shildaria. These are typically young people who are being trained to become members of the Decerion or the Alaris, but they could also be people who no longer can handle the physical rigors of the other two groups. Some never become skilled enough to leave the Tricones. The bottom rank is Pedes. A group of five Pedes will be lead by a Copedes. The next rank up is an Oculon, who leads up to five Copedes. A Decurido commands up to five Oculons. Decurido is the highest rank in the Tricones. In order to achieve higher rank, you must be in the Decerion or the Alaris.

The Decerion will typically defend the Alaris in the open field and act as the reserve. The lowest rank is Eques, which is at the same level as an Oculon in the Tricones. Five Eques will be lead by a Coques, and five Coques by a Vexarus. A Cenaris leads five Vexarus and a Tribune leads three Cenaris. The Princeps is in charge of three Tribunes. There are a total of three Princeps in the Shildarian army, each in command of over 5600 people.

The Alaris uses a similar ranking system to the Decerion for the lower ranks to keep things simple among the men. The lowest rank is the Eques, followed by the Coques and Vexarus. The next rank is a Legate, who commands five Vexarus. An Aquilius commands three Legates. A Clavius commands three Aquilius. A Praefect commands three Clavius. There are three Praefects in the Shildarian army, each commanding over 16,000 people.

The Lord Marshall commands the entire military infrastructure. All three Princeps and Praefects report to this person. Although it is not required, every Lord Marshall has been a Praefect prior to promotion to this position. The Lord Marshall reports to the Crown, and is one of the most powerful people in Shildaria.

Next week, I’ll be detailing some of the ecology of Shildaria, including a section on the Abominations I’ve been talking about. See you next Thursday.