Opaline Corps

"The Spiral Dancers are some seriously tough customers. A cohort of them went rogue a while back and I volunteered to put them down. I wanted to know what it was like to fight them, you see. If they'd been fighting The Golden Tower, I don't think there would have been much of a problem for them. As it was, I had to pull back my best warmages and led a charge of manikin myself. If you're going to go fight the carters, make sure you don't rely too much on magic and make sure you're not going in there with undisciplined troops."
~Archmage Dulacar, of the Brass Tower

Composition

Manpower

An Opaline Corps Cohort has three hundred and seventy six members, no more and no less. The banneret is the face of the unit, as well as its financial backer. This can mean a Plutarch, but just as often it also means that they have collected enough patrons to pay them what they can’t pay for themselves. This usually implies that the banneret is essentially an honorary title, with his second, the ‘wingman’, making the strategic and tactical decisions while receiving less glory and less booty.
The banneret oversees the wingman, who oversees two provisters. Provisters work together to rapidly inform all subordinates of orders and regulations. Beneath them are three collel, who take individual command of subunit taskforces. These six are usually the first members, and are typically friends or at least friendly acquaintances at the time the unit is formed.
Below the collel are five majors, who are the first real tactical officers in the unit. The majors have eight captains, who have thirteen lieutenants and twenty one staves. Captains lead from the front, lieutenants are seeded throughout their formations, and staves are stationed at the backs of formations to rally faltering troops (with their signature full-staff weapons). Arranged throughout the formation are also thirty four sergeants who see to the individual concerns of their men, fifty five corporals who lead small teams when needed. Eighty nine lancers are maintained from the most experienced basic warriors while one hundred and forty four privits form the bulk of the cohort.

Equipment

The most recognizable (and most often mocked) detail of the Opaline Corps is their equipment. Their helmets are made from flail snail shells, and their shields and weapons are made of carcolite. The larva of the same are also harvested for their shells, which are crushed and mixed with olive oil to make an opalescent dye known as “violet carc.” Despite its name, violet carc does not always appear purple but instead changes color based on the lighting and temperature, often creating insane swirls that can leap from soldier to soldier. This confusing dazzle of color can be disorienting for an enemy. Additionally, the natural antimagic properties of the shells gives some small measure of protection against magic, and carcolite weapons are famed for their sharpness and durability. It’s this wild swirling storm of color and the curling helms that give the Opaline Corps their best known nickname: the spiral dancers.

Logistics

Logistical Support

An Opaline Soldier carries his equipment with him, along with rations for the campaign. He may share a small cart with up to seven other soldiers on a long campaign, giving them the pejorative moniker "carters" due to the countless wagons often seeded throughout their ranks on a march.

Auxilia

Technically, the cohort cannot continue a campaign until their numbers are recouped and perfect. Most bannerets therefore maintain an auxiliary force that receives no training, provides its own equipment, and does the basic work of digging earthworks or building siege engines and palisades. When a warrior of the cohort falls, they can be quickly replaced by an auxiliary and the ratios can be maintained. Traditionally but by no means a requirement, these auxiliaries are maintained at or around two hundred and thirty three.
Some less scrupulous bannerets have been known to use the auxiliaries as scouts, rearguards, and partisans.

Upkeep

An active cohort of the Opaline Corps costs 370 GP per season.

Recruitment

The system works in a strange manner sometimes referred to (derisively) by other military observers as ‘reverse mercenary.’ Rather than being hired, a prospective banneret need only bring the requisite number of people and a fee to the Opaline Guild that now runs the Carcole mines. The banneret is responsible for hiring, training, and equipping his men in the way dictated to him by his charter in careful compliance with the old traditions.

History

Eldermeare’s Opaline Corps originated as a mystery cult in the early days of Maecodia. While the exact founding is unknown, the first mention of them in history is in Year 98, where they took part in several ambushes of scalykind armies in the War of Scales and Teeth under the name of the Opaline Mysteries. They disappeared from the records for sixty years, and then emerged again every now and then in minor regional political and military events. They rarely changed the course of events, and even rarer were specific names of their members known. They appeared to have been a local power around the Carcole region for a long while, shifting from a mystery cult to something more akin to a trade guild with religious tendencies.
They were the first to harvest the carcoline and carcolite, processing it into food and dyes. Eventually, the were divested entirely from the cult at large and it basically disbanded. Instead, the now thoroughly secular traders overseeing the Carcole mines managed the Opaline Corps based on traditions that were passed down from the old religion.

Type

Infantry

Founding

Before 98

Overall training Level

Professional

Assumed Veterancy

Trained