Kobyonja

When imperial legionnaires are preparing to go into battle, they often remind one another to "keep the roses in your sight." This is not a pithy rejoinder meant to boost morale by encouraging soldiers to remember what they're fighting for or make the best of a bad situation. It's sound, practical advice. The roses being referenced are the rose devices on the shields carried by the kobyonja, who serve as the field medics for the imperial forces. A soldier who keeps tabs on the position of this unit will know which way to crawl (or drag an injured companion) in the event of a serious injury, increasing their chances of survival.

Composition

Manpower

Each imperial bandon (a until consisting of between 200 and 300 soldiers) contains one buluk (squad) of 8-12 kobyonja. When attempting to recover wounded soldiers from the battlefield, they often break up into smaller groups of as few as 3 people. When serving as part of a larger army, multiple kobyonja squads often band together to form larger units, especially if they're forced to set up their field hospital in a hostile location.

Equipment

The signature shields carried by the kobyonja are large (4' tall x 2.5' wide), slightly convex rectangles made of two layers of wood and covered with bleached leather bearing the rose symbol of the unit. An additional strap on the inside of the shield allows the kobyonja to carry it securely on their back. They wear a modified version of standard legionnaire's armor with hardened leather in place of steel and several guards removed or reduced in size to allow more ease of movement. Their red cloaks provide another way for wounded soldiers to identify them and can be wrapped around two spears to form a stretcher. Finally, each kobyonja carries a knapsack filled with bandage material, healing salves, potions, roots, and other healing equipment.

Weaponry

The primary weapon of the kobyonja is a spear, but most also carry a dagger or shortsword as a reserve weapon and for close-up fighting.

Vehicles

Kobyonja units are issued their own wagon or pack animals, but these are purely for transport and are not employed on the battlefield.

Structure

Kobyonja units have two leadership positions. The first is the javush, the legion-appointed squad leader who in many cases does not have medical training. The second is the Master Healer, who is in charge of all medical decisions, including which soldiers are too badly wounded to waste resources trying to save.

Tactics

The kobyonja follow the battle as it moves, venturing into sections of the battlefield where the fighting is thinnest and searching out the wounded. When they find (or are approached by) injured soldiers, one or two kobyonja will administer healing while the rest form a defensive perimeter around the healers and the wounded. Those who can still move under their own power are patched up and either sent back to their unit or temporarily absorbed into the kobyonja unit. Those who can't move on their own are stabilized and prepared for transport. Once the unit has stabilized as many wounded as they can carry (while always keeping at least 3 soldiers free to serve as lookouts and first-line defenders in case of attack), they move the wounded back to a relatively safe location farther from the fighting (preferably one that is partially hidden, easily defended, or both). The wounded who can still swing a sword are then charged with defending the rallying point while the kobyonja make another foray out onto the battlefield.

Training

In the rare instances when the legion discovers that a new recruit has previous experience in medicine or healing, the soldier is almost always reassigned to a kobyonja unit. More often, membership in the unit is by recommendation of a commanding officer who feels that a particular legionnaire has the right combination of intelligence, discipline, and stomach for such work. In addition to extensive training in the healing arts and a more cursory survey of the broader field of medicine, kobyonja receive special training in defensive tactics and basic military strategy (which helps them predict where the battle is likely to go when making forays and deciding where to collect the wounded).

Type

Medical

Overall training Level

Professional

Assumed Veterancy

Trained