The Imperial Military

The jewel in the  Empire’ s crown, and the sword in their fist, is their standing army. While the institutions of the  Church of Unity  provide fine tools for precision work, invasions are not won by diplomats or scholars. The Imperial Army’s structure and organization has been changed multiple times in the Empire’s history, but the vast majority of the army’s command structure as it is today came from the reforms in the wake of the disastrous first invasion of Simmern, 61 years after the Empire was first formed. The outdated formations and institutions of the Imperial Army contributed to its downfall, and as a result, old practices were exchanged for new ones, like the provincial Maraille system.

Organization
The base unit of the Imperial Army is the Maraille (pronounced mar-eye), which roughly corresponds to what is in English known as a legion. Every region in every province has its own Maraille, which is ideally somewhere on the order of 5,000 troops, and is led by an assigned Marsaillon who is in charge of the battlegroup’s upkeep, recruitment, maintenance, training, and movements. Within the Maraille are Centeries, groups of a hundred men each. Centeries are the most variable in purpose; within any given Maraille there are Centeries of auxiliaries, cavalry, siege specialists, builders, administrators, scouts, as well as more common types such as light infantry, archers, and heavy infantry. The exact makeup of the Centeries within each Maraille is up to its leader, the Marsaillon, unless directly ordered by higher echelons.

The Centeries themselves are divided into Equipes; groups of ten men that serve a designated purpose. Most are rank-and-file within their Centerie, but some specialized groups, such as the Command Equipe, or the Messenger Equipe, exist. Each Equipe is led by a Capitaine, who is seconded by several Aspirantes.

Above the Maraille, there is no fixed structure to the army. Imperial Executeurs make up the highest ranks of the military, and are not fixed to any one division, but instead assemble Imperial Battlegroupes as they see fit, assembling several Maraille under one banner. These battlegroupes are usually not raised outside of wartime, with the individual Maraille allowed to train and base themselves in their home provinces. Currently, the only Imperial Battlegroupe exists under the Military Gouvernour of the  Lands of Blood , whose rank within the Imperial Army is High Executeur.

Ranks
After initial recruitment and training, a soldier joining the Imperial Army becomes a Provinciale; the lowest rank in the army, these are the soldiers that perform the tasks set for them by their officers. An exemplary Provinciale may be raised to the rank of Aspirante, who serve as advisors and senior troops for their Equipe under the Capitaine. Upon the Capitaine’s death or retirement, the soldiers in the Equipe vote for a new Capitaine from the Aspirantes within it. If no Aspirantes are present, a Capitaine will be assigned by the Centerrion. A Capitaine who performs his duty with uncommon skill, honor, wisdom, and courage may be promoted to High Capitaine, which is a higher pay grade as well as status, even though it does not come with an actual elevated position in the command structure.

To progress past Capitaine, a soldier must successfully petition his Centerrion for leave to train in the Officer’s Academy. There is no single Academy; instead, the institution operates out of every provincial Imperial base. Should the soldier be deemed competent and worthy, he will receive the position of Tacitaine, and serve as an aid, advisor, and second-in-command to a Centerrion, who commands a Centerie. Due to the high amount of aspiring soldiers, and a relatively low amount of high-ranking positions, only the best trainees are selected to become Tacitaine. From there, exemplary service may be rewarded with a position as Centerrion one day, and skilled and decorated Centerrions may one day be put in charge of their Maraille as the new Marsaillon. In general terms, this is the highest one may rise in the Imperial Military; for in order to pass this rank to become an Executeur, one must be uncommonly skilled, decorated, honored, and respected. Promotions from Marsaillon to Executeur are directly overseen by the Imperial Monarch- or at least, his or her High Council.

There are a number of other ranks; Signifier, who hold the standards for their Centerie or Maraille, Guerison, who serve as doctors and healers for the army, and Paluche, who serve as quartermasters and camp overseers, to name a few.

Equipment
The nature of the Imperial Army precludes the need for any standardized sets of gear, and therefore places less strain on the smiths of the Alvyrnian peninsula to equip a continent’s worth of soldiers. Each Maraille is based, raised, and quartered in its own region, of its own province, and has attendant crafters, armorers, and weaponsmiths to make its armor and weapons. As a result, individual Maraille may look very different; those from the Duliyanid lands will be clad in  Naziki  scaled and lamellar armor, with Naziki lances and swords, while those from  Olm  will be clad in chainmail and heavy gambeson, with  Sea-men  swords, spears, and axes.

Even with this variation between Maraille, internally, a Maraille has its own defined uniforms, to reinforce its structure. Additionally, ranks are denoted by standardized Imperial marks that go across all battlegroups, such as ribbons and symbols, that serve to identify rank regardless of provincial origin.