Exploring the Halls of Arden Vul: Institutions

Institutions of Empire

Archontean Army

The Archontean emperor maintains a standing army composed of five legions of heavy cavalry (cataphracts), six legions of heavy infantry (scutarii), and three legions of light infantry (velites). In addition, the emperor directly controls nine cohorts of the tagmata, or imperial guard.

Each legion is led by a polemarch and is supposed to contain 3,000 soldiers. Legions are subdivided into 6 cohorts of 500 men, each led by a komes; each cohort has 5 kentarchia of 100 men, each led by a kentarch; each kentarchia has two pentarchia of 50 men, each led by a pentarch; each pentarchia is divided into five konturbia of 10 men, each led by a dekarch.

The imperial tagmata are slightly different. Each cohort contains 1,000 men and is led by a taxiarch. Each cohort is divided into two banda of 500 men, each led by a komes; each bandon is divided into 5 kentarchia of 100 men, each led by a kentarch; each kentarchia is divided into 5 konturbia of 20 men, each led by a dekarch. Common soldiers (privates) are called spatharii.

Archontean Navy

The Archonteans have a long history as a naval power, even as their only real threats by sea are Wiskin long ships and pirates from the coast of Ostralios. The Archontean navy is built around the dromon, a fast galley with one or two banks of oarsmen plus a lateen sail. Light dromons carry 108 oarsmen in one bank, where heavy dromons carry 180 oarsmen in two banks. A super-heavy ship, the chelandion, carries 300 oarsmen in three banks. Each ship is captained by a novarch. A unit of 2-20 ships is called a squadron, and is commanded by a droungarios. A unit of more than 20 ships is a fleet, and is commanded by a strategos.

The main Archontean naval forces are located as follows: the Karabisoi, or home fleet, based in Archontos; the Grain Isle squadron, based in Ostentown; the Irthuin Squadron, based in Narsileon; the Borealios squadron, based in Westholm; the Ostralios squadron, officially based in Agoreon but actually based in Arcturos; and the Iron Isles Squadron, based in the Iron Isles. Each ship carries a complement of marines numbering 1/6 the number of oarsmen; these marines are trained as, and have the same prestige as, members of the imperial tagmata.

Collegia

The seven collegia effectively monopolize the formal training in magic use in the Archontean empire. Originally there was but one collegium, the Order of Thoth, and it was strictly limited to the nobly born. Resentment of this stratification was one of the causes of the infamous War of the Sortians and Theosophs, which nearly destroyed the empire some 1,200 years ago. A result of the war, alongside general imperial retraction from Irthuin, was that magical training became more egalitarian. Seven collegia now exist, each with its own identity and/or specialty:

• The Order of Thoth: generalists; the original order, and still politically powerful
• The College of Perception: illusionists and magic users inter- ested in illusion
• The Imperial Academy: generalists; few in number; snobby, limited to uppermost nobility
• Collegium of Macrina: academics and researchers; their mem- bers produce the largest number of new spells
• New School of Arcane Might: generalists and necromancers; follows a philosophy of domination
• Order of the Fifth Circle: summoners and those interested in the planes
• Collegium of Cinders: elementalists

A few well-placed magi suspect that an eighth, secret collegium exists.