A Stonewall Regiment of Dara Happa — Heartland Corps
Regimental Statistics
History & Background
One of the ancient "Ten Wall Regiments" of Dara Happa, the Marble Phalanx has existed since the Gods War, specializing in fighting and defeating the warriors of the Yellow City — whom it defeated at the Camp of War. It is based at Mesavos in the Oronin satrapy, where the Temple of Polaris serves as its patron temple.
The regiment fields some 550 heavily armored soldiers (paper strength 1,000), each equipped with bronze cuirasses, greaves, full-face crested helmets, heavy shields, and long stabbing spears. When maneuvering, the phalanx forms 10 ranks of 100 files at six-foot intervals, leaving gaps for skirmishers to withdraw through before contact. Just before the enemy closes, the rear five ranks step forward to fill these gaps, presenting an unbroken wall of shields and weapons 200 men wide and five deep — the front rank held by the regiment's veterans and best soldiers.
The war gods of the regiment are Urvairinus and Polaris. Honathum the Shining God is the regimental guardian, protecting the phalanx against mounted troops for as long as the regimental standard remains secure; every soldier swears a divine oath to guard the standard and never break the shield wall. Regimental officers also worship Yanafal Tarnils. The Polemarch presides over worship of the regimental gods, assisted by a regimental priest among the staff officers.
The Marble Phalanx is commanded by Polemarch Hucipites, a Dara Happan aristocrat from the Oronin satrapy, assisted by ten staff officers — all Dara Happans.
Three companies were stationed in Pavis until the rebellion of 1625, fighting at the Second Battle of Moonbroth in 1624, and the Marble Phalanx fought at and successfully guarded the retreat from the Battle of the Queens the following year. Apocryphal sources suggest at least some elements of the phalanx were destroyed at Pavis in 1625.
The Ten Wall Phalanxes
The Dara Happans revere the number ten and its multiples as perfect, and once fielded ten fabled elite regiments known as the Stonewall Phalanxes, active since the Gods War. Uniquely among later regiments, the Wall Phalanxes shared two magical traits: the ability to withstand a charge while taking far less damage than ordinary infantry, and near-invincibility when all ten fought side by side. Each also held a traditional foe against which it was especially effective. These Ten Traditional Phalanxes survived into the time of Emperor Khordavu and served throughout the Arkat Wars, but were slowly destroyed beyond resurrection over the ages — most survived the Dragonkill of 1100 only because they had been left behind, considered too old for the campaign, to guard the Home Garrison while the Invincible Golden Horde marched to its destruction.
A Regimental Rite
Drawn up in ordered ranks, each company arrayed ten-by-ten men wide and deep, the hoplites of the Marble Phalanx stood in their finery — weapons and armor polished, leather oiled, shield designs freshly painted, all sparkling in the sunlight, as the regimental priests offered incense from distant Kralorela before antique tripod braziers marked with the emblems of the Pole Star. As the High Priest chanted in the tongue of Dara Happa, the icon upon the regimental standard brightened with pure white light:
Organization
Per the ancient organization stipulated by Emperor Urvairinus before Time, a regiment consists of ten Centuries of a hundred soldiers each; each Century consists of nine Tens of nine soldiers plus a Guardian, and one Ten of specialists — the Centurion, his deputy, three bodyguards, and five healers. A Polemarch commands the regiment.
| Rank / Role | Half-File | File | Century | Regiment | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoplite | 4 | 9 | 81 | 720 | |
| Half-File Leader (Dimoirites) | 0.5 | — | — | 90 | |
| File Leader (Lochagos/Decurion) | 0.5 | — | — | 90 | |
| Guardian | — | 1 | 9 | — | |
| Subaltern (Optioon/Optio) | — | — | 1 | 10 | |
| Centurion (Kentarch) | — | — | 1 | 9 | |
| Healers | — | — | 5 | — | |
| Specialists | — | — | 10 | 79 | |
| Senior Centurion (Kentarch) | — | — | — | 1 | |
| Bodyguard | — | — | 3 | 1 | Balacrus |
| Polemarch / Commander | — | — | — | 1 | Hucipites |
| TOTALS | 4 | 10 | 110 | 1,001 |
Polemarch/Commander → Senior Kentarch/Centurion → Kentarch/Centurion → Lochagos/Decurion/File-Leader → Dimoirites/Half-File Leader → Hoplite.
Regimental Standard
Their full helmets cover the whole face; tunics and helmet crests are white. Shields display variants of a yellow eight-pointed star of Polaris on a white field, typically edged in bronze. The standard itself is an ancient-form spear set across the pole with a counterweight, surmounted by a star medallion of Polaris with eight rays — the medallion bearing a profile portrait of Emperor Urvairinus the Conqueror. The counterweight, cut from the marble for which the regiment is named, bears a Stasis Rune. As with other Lunar standards, victory medallions hang from ribbons on the crossbar, alongside commemorative ribbons, feathers, and animal tails where appropriate.
Notable Personnel
An aristocratic Dara Happan from the Oronin satrapy, priest of Urvairinus and initiate of Yanafal Tarnils, with another priest of that cult in his personal retinue. A harsh and severe man, Hucipites demands strict obedience and discipline from his men and obsequious servility from the local population; he speaks no Sartarite or any local language save New Pelorian, and sees no problem in this. He reveres Sor-Eel as a fellow member of the Eel-ariash family and constantly seeks to display his devotion to it. He wears a polished gilded cuirass and crested closed helmet, and carries an ornate magical spear that can burst into flame on command. Hucipites is always accompanied by his bodyguard Balacrus, a follower of Yanafal Tarnils, and travels with a 10-man file clearing his path — soldiers who can be casually brutal toward any local in their way, and who will stop and question anyone appearing to have visited the Rubble recently (Lunars exempted, of course).
A simple soldier from Sylila nearing retirement, promised an estate in the Grantlands for his years of service. He wants no trouble or complications, and is heartily sick of futile pursuits of nomad raiders into Vulture's Country.
Related Notes
Guardians — a Lunar innovation, sometimes called Monitors, are competent combat and support spell-casters, usually with healing magics. Many alumni of the Lunar College of Magic who are not inducted into a Magical Regiment must serve a term in the Lunar Army in payment for their education.
Hoplites form the backbone of the Lunar Army: heavily armored soldiers carrying a large shield and a very long pike, trained to rigid formations that make the most of their weapons — in ideal conditions, unbreakable in defence and unstoppable in attack.
At the Battle of the Queens, Kallyr's rebel army of some 4,000 faced approximately 5,000 Lunar soldiers drawn from the Native Furthest Corps, supported by the Silver Shields and the Marble Phalanx.
Mesavos, a small city in the Oronin satrapy, is home to the Marble Phalanx — one of the Stonewall Regiments and an ancient defender against Darkness.