Military Structure

The Valas Empire keeps its standing army at every border. In Year 317 the army is called the Spears of Light. It answers to the Emperor through the Grand Seneschal. It marches under one banner across five regional commands and one capital garrison.

The Spears Of Light

The Spears of Light is the imperial army. Every soldier in its ranks wears the same emblem: the Crown of Spears, a crown encircled by a halo with spears radiating outward.

The number of spears tells you the rank.

The army marches under one Commander General. He answers to the Grand Seneschal. The Grand Seneschal answers to the Emperor.

The Ranks

PRIVATE. Crown and halo only. No spears. The common soldier. The conscripted son.

CORPORAL. One spear. Leads four to six Privates.

SERGEANT. Two crossed spears. The company backbone.

LIEUTENANT. Two spears in a chevron. First officer rank. First steel armour.

CAPTAIN. Three spears, one for each moon. Field officer commanding a company or regional detachment.

COLONEL. Four spears. Regimental command across a territory.

COMMANDER GENERAL. Five spears, engraved in silver-inlaid steel with gold inlay on the crown and halo. Senior military officer commanding a major garrison or regional army group.

The army’s regimental banners carry the full seven-spear design. No individual wears all seven.

The Regional Commands

The empire fields its army across six commands, one per Solarchy and one for the capital.

HIGH ORVALLIS GARRISON. Four thousand soldiers in the capital. The Emperor’s personal guard and the city’s defence.

NORTHERN COMMAND. Garrisoned at Varkel Tor. Holds the Frost Rampart against the Skarval.

WESTERN COMMAND. Garrisoned at Mordaq Spire. Holds the Stone Chain against the Shard-Kings.

EASTERN COMMAND. Garrisoned at the Ashen Line watch forts. Patrols the Old Forest edge.

SOUTHERN COMMAND. Garrisoned at Sandveil Hold. Holds the Well Guard against the Zareem.

COASTAL COMMAND. Garrisoned at the Ash Coast keep. Runs the imperial navy across the Saphirath Sea Lanes.

The Levy Of Sons

The army does not pay its own way. Every Wardenveil, in the second month of spring, the levy notices reach the villages. The notices name the boys the empire wants. A boy whose name is on the list has one turning to report to the recruitment station. Failure to report is a debt. The debt is collected from the family.

A Private earns ten Orvals a month and a leather cuirass with a riveted iron plate. The plate is removable. When the Private is killed, the plate goes back into the storeroom. The cuirass goes to the next recruit. The widow gets two Orvals a month and a folded letter that the Captain signed without reading.

The empire fills its army from the villages. The villages do not fill themselves back.

The Older Guardians

There is one other thing to know.

The Spears of Light are the empire’s army. They are not the world’s oldest soldiers. Before the empire, before the kingdoms before the empire, there was an older order. They were called the Azdam. The word in the old tongue means Guardians.

Their work was different from the work of an army. They were not raised to fight wars between kingdoms. They were raised to protect every created thing in this world. The Fae. The Sylthic. The dwarves. The elves. The dragons. Human and not-human alike.

The order is no longer what it was. What remains of them keeps to the unseen corners of the world.

Those who still hold to the old way carry one line they live by. It is the creed of the Azdam.

I stand as a guardian for all.