next »

The Nisyrran military is one of the few escapes from the harsh realities of the strictly enforced caste system.  All who join the military - regardless of rank - are considered a part of the Duiras caste, and are afforded all the rights and privileges of the nobility.  While all noble families ensure there are some members representing them in the military, the ranks are mostly filled with those born of lower castes. 

While the lower ranks are almost entirely of lower caste, the upper ranks are a fairly even mix of Terath and Culithe caste (middle-class merchants and craftsman, and the upper class nobility).  Most ranking officers make a point of staying on good terms with their peers, but there is an unspoken divide among the command hierarchy that runs between those of Terath and those of Culithe.  Although asking a Duiras what his original caste was is considered extremely rude, this information usually becomes common knowledge quite quickly.

The Nisyrrans military is based on Khadres.  Each Khadre can consist of as few as a single elf (although this is rare and usually corrected quickly; a practical minimum is 50) and 512 elves, with the maximum being enforced without exception.  Each Khadre is called by the name of its ranking officer.  All Nisyrran military members - save those who are off duty - are members of a Khadre.  From the lowest recruit to the highest general, they all are members of one and only one Khadre.  It is considered a point of courtesy to ensure each general has his own personal Khadre and is not subjugated to another higher ranking officer, but this is often overlooked for practical reasons in real battle situations.

Very large forces of elves are formed by combining Khadres into Khadrunes.  A Khadrune simply is the combination of two or more Khadres into one fighting force.  It is not the integration of two Khadres into one, since each Khadre maintains its previous line of command independant of the new Khadrune.  A Khadrune therefor has no maximum size.  The ranking officer of each Khadre each forms one voice of the Khadrune, which makes decisions democratically.  The size of each Khadre is independent of its weight in these votes; only the position of its ranking officer is taken into account.  It is the ranking officer of each Khadre's responsibility to see these orders through, and if necessary adjust their goals to the situations.

There is one exception to all rules of the Duiras caste and the military, and that is the King of Nisyrra.  Without changing his caste, he may join any Khadre.  The king's rank is without equal, and he is automatically considered the ranking officer.  In any Khadrune, his voice speaks for all other voices, and makes all decisions unilaterally.  Few kings actually take this right, but those who do are either respected for their courage and leadership, or despised as despotic by their soldiers.

The magistrates are members of the Culithe which manage the Duiras.  They have little power but to organize the Duiras and direct it as to the will of the ruling body of Nisyrra.  In generally the Khadres cooperate with magistrates, as the magistrates recommend promotion and demotion of officers to the appropriate government bodies.  Despite this, they cannot overrule the decisions of any Khadre or Khadrune.  While they can order a Khadrune to separate, they cannot separate a Khadre once created (although they have full powers to merge them and create new ones).  The magistrates are members of the Culithe, and therefor unlike the Duiras are subject to caste law, and must therefor be more careful of procedure and diligence in the execution of their duty.  Few magistrates join battle, but some of particularly great magical talent do accompany Khadres of their own accord, but they can only command them if all the officers are dead.

The exact makeup of individual Khadres can change frequently.  A soldier can leave his Khadre so long as the ranking officer permits it, and there is another Khadre which he can immediately transfer to (again, the ranking officer of that Khadre must be willing to accept the soldier).  A soldier cannot be ordered to leave a Khadre.  A ranking officer can leave his Khadre to join another at any time.  If he would become the ranking officer of the new Khadre, he does not need permission to join, and merely assumes position as the new ranking officer (though this is considered impolite without good reason).  Otherwise, he must ask the ranking officer of that Khadre for permission.  He cannot leave his Khadre if he would leave it without an officer.  The only way a Khadre can ever disband is it is killed to the last elf.  As a result, Khadres often have long and distinguished histories.  While most were wiped out in the war of elders, it is known that at least one survived, although it is a point of much contention as to which Khadre that is.

One of the oldest Khadres that can be tracked easily is the Gavani Khadre, which has been commanded by the same officer for five hundred years.  General Gavani returns home for five weeks every four years, and as a token of good will his son holds the Khadre, maintaining it in his name.  Joining the Gavani Khadre is a right of passage for many aspiring leaders.  The Khadre has so much respect that when Gavani slighted the king he issued order to all generals greater in rank to wrest control of the Khadre; none complied (no Duiras may ever be compelled to change Khadre).  The king declined to do the job himself, as would be his right as monarch.  It is considered extremely bad luck (a Nisyrran proverb goes:  "mirrors seven years, promises eleven, Khadres none may count") to take control of an officer's Khadre out of spite.

It is said that the spiritual history of a Khadre has a life of its own, and the soldiers that join it take with them a piece of that life, while putting within it a piece of their own.  It is commonly believed by the Duiras that the Khadre is the lifeblood of the Nisyrran spirit that outlasts death itself, and that the Khadrune is a communion of those spirits so that none may ever truly die.  They claim that the ranking officer becomes the embodiment of the Khadre's will.  Whatever the truth, the Duiras as any other caste has its own sense of fanaticism.

Yet this fanaticism is yet another divide in the Duiras.  Those who hail from the Terath generally view the Nisyrran dogma in a lower light.  They are often trod upon by very "divine right" to which the upper castes subscribe.  While the loyalty of the Duiras in general has never been in question, it is no secret that many who hail from the Terath reject the tenets of Nisyrran society and have in fact join the military to escape them. 


Currently there are several powerful military leaders in Nisyrra.  The oldest officer still alive is Gavani, but he is not the highest ranking.  Gavani's Khadre is regarded as a training Khadre where young officers learn leadership and discipline.  The highest ranking officer is Arsyr Ilrus, who is the second cousin of the current king.  Coming from the royal family itself, Ilrus' rise through the ranks was swift, and each promotion is essentially a rubber stamp from an enthralled council or the king himself.  Now at the pinnacle of the Nisyrran command, Ilrus is one of the most powerful creatures on earth.  Few magistrates dare to question his will.

Below Ilrus' illustrious rank are several equally ranked generals.  These generals all have very poor opinions of Ilrus, who has taken a rank normally reserved for great heroes.  They feel that his caste of origin is giving him favours, which is a mockery of the founding tenets of the Duiras.  Among these high generals are several of the Terath and the Culithe.  Those among the Culithe tend to be younger, retiring to return to their lofty caste.  The Terath generals, on the other hand, usually live their full days and then die as Duiras.  As a result they are much older, wiser, and experienced. 

A particularly well regarded general from the Terath is Sidora Perlith.  The Sidora family goes back a long ways, and Perlith has the pedigree of being descended from one of the immortal thirteen.  Although he would never admit it to a Culithe, Perlith has expressed his belief that he is descended from not one, but two of the immortal thirteen, though only one among them was elven.  His empathy for humans has not gone unnoticed, and given the rise in hostilities against neighbouring human nations, there has been some effort to coax him to retire.  Perlith has declined to do so.

The only female among the high generals is a Culithe.  Tulin Elrae made the mishap of involving herself with the "wrong" man, and quickly found herself at the center of a massive controversy over whether she had breached caste law.  Under pressure from her family, she joined the Duiras to make this debate a moot point.  Normally women do not join the Duiras, but there are no rules against it, and Elrae is a popular leader who has commanded her own Khadre for nearly seventy years now.  She has once again drawn negative attention to herself by becoming involved with the young Terath general Amsidrian Kalri.  Although their relationship appears quite professional, rumours persist that it is far more than that. 

Kalri is a respectable general, even if low ranking, and as he is a member of the Duiras there would be no scandal normally.  What has caused the uproar is that the Amsidrian family is well known for producing heretics and anarchists.  It has a long history of family members who join the Duiras to escape caste law persecution.  Although Kalri has no such record against him personally, his name is more than enough to taint him.  Kalri himself is endowed with the skill of a leader, and has recently taken control of his father's old Khadre.  The Amsidrian Khadre is formed almost entirely of Terath (few Culithe would dare be involved with the Amsidrians), and is considered one of the elite task forces.

One of the greatest oddities among the current hierarchy is the presence of a highly reputed priest in the Duiras.  Normally only low members of the priesthood join the Duiras, or high members accompany Khadres much as magistrates do, as separate entities.  However, Tathet (priests drop their family names) has managed to somehow balance his advancement through the Duiras with his advancement as a Massyr (priest).  Although many have argued this is not technically legal, Tathet's influence in the Massyr caste renders him almost immune to such criticism.  He is, as could be expected of the priesthood, a staunch supporter of the Nisyrran caste system and believes strongly in divine assimilation.

Although not a member of the Duiras, Magistrate Fawith has a great deal of influence throughout it.  As the magistrate of greatest authority, he commands the attention of all generals and it is said he has personal favours he can call upon from any individual.  Fawith is a powerful elf, who believes strongly in personal duty and his role in coordinating the Duiras.  He is seen by many as a balanced appointment to his position.  He does not favour the Culithe and treats members originally of Terath as their equals.  He has long been an outspoken critic of Tathet, believing that the "half-priest half-warrior" is breaking the spirit of the law, but he has never seen his interpretation of that law upheld.  Fawith has had no end of trouble from the Amsidrian family, and while he is level-headed enough not to lay blame on Amsidrian Kalri for his relative's transactions, he still is quite reserved to the young Terath general.

Only 1 day into the holidays and you're already on a roll

Keep in mind that I'm offset 8 hours from you, so it's actually been two days for me.  I just woke up on the third day of my winter holiday.