Collected Lore of the Astyan People

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Collected Lore, Volume III

The Astyan Military

This book contains much speculation, as warned by the author in the forward. The vast majority of the Astyan military was used to hold off Mordred until the final escape; thus few military artifacts have survived through the long ages and so information about it is spotty at best. Despite that, it's clear that much research was done to compare modern military methods with the known equivalent Astyan ones.

Looking back through even non-Astyan contemporary historical records it's clear that the Astyan military was a predominant part of their long and continued success. Even the spotty literature regarding the Mythic Era has always touted the prevalent warrior culture. As worldwide centralization occurred under the form of governments, the need for military defense became a concern; the Astyans had long since cornered the market however on the development of military research and was vastly more advanced than their peers, who in their general opinion were mere unenlightened barbarians*.

This sense of superiority was compounded by a genuine giftedness in the magical arts that stemmed from their origin in the foggy murk of pre-history - it was clear even to their enemies that the Astyans had vast control and knowledge over Eternia's brimming pool of energy*. Their general mythological explanation was gifts from the 'Divine Ones', though scholars to this day still debate who precisely those were or if they even existed at all.

Our knowledge on the exact structure and makeup of the Astyan army is spotty at best, though it's known there was at least a simple hierarchial structure of civilian militia*, common soldiers, elite heavily armored infantry*, and advanced scout forces. All in the Astyan military had to be magi, and generally the stronger one's natural gifts, the higher levels of veterancy one could achieve. 

Astyan Heavy Infantry, restored stone etching, c.255AC

The Astyan military model focused primarily on small, powerful, mobile units over large battlefield deployments. These elite companies had long histories often spanning thousands of years but had far less independence than today's mercenary companies and were funded and equipped entirely by the Crown. Unfortunately only knowledge of these company's existence has been found, and none of their actual names or legacies, but some current archaeological sites have borne promising results.*

Each company was generally from three to ten elite magi, lead by an 'Archmage' or 'Warlord', two of the highest military ranks one could achieve. 

Generally, an Astyan military target would be scouted by a scout company to build a solid foundation of attack and defense points; these scout forces would join the main attack or defense force at a pre-arranged time. Their tactics were predominantly based on both hit-and-run by the light forces, and hammer-and-anvil maneuvers by heavy infantry companies. These heavy infantry were equipped with highly advanced armor for their time, capable of being worn for long periods and both enchantable and maintainable by common soldiers in the field. Unfortunately, knowledge of their construction was lost in the fall of Astya.

It's possible both men and women served in the Astyan military equally*, though artwork from the era is scarce and typically does not show any signs of gender in their depictions of warriors in armor.

Astyan Scout Armor; possible female variant, restored stone etching, c.249AC

Numerous Astyan military funeral sites have been found in the Essharan peninsula; many of them the last resting places of Astyan scout forces who initially explored the continent and had to tame whatever nameless beasts already lived there. Their funerary rites were quite simple, with one of two methods being used: either stone-cairn burial with numerous runes and inscriptions surrounding the site*, or cremation into long-lasting ceramic urns. In all cases examined so far, there has been inscribed a dirge or poem near the burial site; though it's not mentioned in any historical writing, it's likely this tradition goes back well into the Early Mythic.

" Astya Eternal", Preserved painting found in manor ruin, c. 1244AC, Time-magic survey dated c.95-105AC

* Numerous Astyan literary references are found in the Late Mythic Era regarding Astya's neighbouring Kingdoms, most of whom they considered young and brash upstarts and conquered them whenever possible. However, after the Astyan Decline, their military might waned significantly and the Astyan border continued to shrink over the centuries.

* It's disputed highly exactly how much stronger Magi were during the Mythic Era; legends tend to be exaggerated over time. Despite all this a thread of constancy remains through non-Astyan sources stating that the Astyans were, in fact, particularly gifted in all forms of magic, much to their great envy. Several references exist to "streams" in Astyan literature, though what they could be referring to specifically tends to be unknown.

* Use of Militia: Only in the Astyan Decline did the use of civilians for military purposes begin; before that, all militaries were elite cadres of extremely gifted Magi and no 'rank and file' whatsoever. However, the urgent and frantic defense against Mordred and his demonic hordes required the mobilizing of every part of Astyan society, and these low-echelon troops were given whatever was on hand to defend themselves with.

* Elite Infantry: The Astyans took great pride in their heavy infantry forces; these were despite the armor, quite powerful Magi with many years of training before they entered the battlefield. This extreme discipline allowed their mere presence on the battlefield to cause many foes to scatter. Many of them rose through the ranks to become powerful and influential Archmagi; unfortunately during the Astyan Decline and the final battles, roughly 98% of the entire elite company units and millennia's worth of equipment were lost.

* Equality: Scholars have been in hot dispute about this issue for many centuries. It's obvious that many Archmagi in the military were women, and many prominent leaders were as well. However, exactly how many were in the military structure itself is unknown. Several 'possibly female' variants of their standard armor are depicted in some artwork, though the sources of these too are disputed.

* Runes: Though many of the funeral runes surrounding Astyan burial sites have been deciphered, many have not. This author personally has studied many in the Vale of Moonfall and the only thing of note besides the lovely poetry was the regular use of what I can only assume were runes drawing on the power of Time. Unfortunately non were active after so many millennia but it begs the question of what their purpose was. To keep time from desecrating the site, perhaps?