The vizier's soldiers
These are soldiers and guards in the service of Vizier Ilyas ibn Umar of Udyn. They appear in green uniforms when performing official duties at the citadel, but can be encountered in plain clothes on the streets of the city.
The soldiers are armed with sabres, but those on official duty carry spears and shields. The leader of the soldiers on the street wore lamellar armor. Possibly these same soldiers later appeared at the docks in order to watch Yaakov, and to arrest people he interacted with who looked like they were heading across the river. They failed to identify Lokan and Alden, however, because these two were disguised as monks.
The soldiers tailed the party through the city to the docks, where they confronted and arrested them. Then, they brought them before the vizier at the citadel. Two also dragged out Alden, who had been taken earlier, in a drunken state.
Two more guards were stationed outside the door leading to the cells where Yuri is confined, two entered the cell block to feed the prisoners, and to accompany the vizier when he came to question them. More guards were posted by each of the main gates after Yuri escaped, outside of Yaakov's compound, and searching for Yuri in the streets. Some still appeared in plain clothes, possibly tailing Lokan and Alden dressed as beggars.
The two guards outside of the cell block were subdued by Yuri and Karim when they escaped. They were stripped of armor and weapons, and locked inside the cells. It was not clear whether they survived that encounter or not.
Later, more of the vizier's soldiers are encountered by Augusta de Urbino, at the nomad encampment outside Udyn, where they rode in with him to interrogate the captive Anatoly; at the city docks, where they seemed to be watching for Anatoly's allies to be crossing the river; and again, on the opposite sides of the river, where they were patrolling the bank. Subsequently, four mounted soldiers charged Alden and Lokan in the gulley at the bottom of Yaqub's hill. They nearly killed Alden, but one of their number fell as well, before being stripped of his belongings by the party. Later the same day, six of them rode out to try to capture the party, but were driven back by Alden's howling. One of their number was captured, and he revealed that a total of 12 riders had been blocking access to Yaqub's hill, and 6 more were supporting them from the river. The soldier indicated that they did not know the way in, and were not in any way working with the serpent, but were under orders to keep the party from finding a way in, so as not to provoke the monster. He also said that they expected it to return after nightfall, and planned to be gone before that happened. Shortly thereafter, the remaining soldiers did leave by raft, and the captive was released, so he could join them.
The soldiers returned to confront the party, along with the vizier, after Yaqub's serpent wife destroyed the city of Udyn in the wake of his demise. They were tricked by the party into entering the organ room, and many of them were either incapacitated, or killed by the poison gas that issued from the organ pipes. The vizier then negotiated a settlement, which allowed the party and Yaqub's captives to return home. Some of the solders were assigned to row them back to Ladeisk, after which they presumably returned home.
The soldiers are encountered in Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 22, and 23.
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