The Imperial Legion

The Imperial Legion is the The Pearl Empire military, an army comprised of hundreds of thousands of soldiers split into different garrisoned divisions. The Legion's foot infantry - or legionnaires - are disciplined, well-armed and sworn to uphold the keep the Emperor's peace and dispense his justice. 

The Legion in Illium

In frontier provinces such as Illium the Legion is tasked with protecting borders and and patrolling the larger towns. Illium is host to three primary garrisons, one in the capital Marmella, and two at the borderland strongholds of Fort Cradyn and Vertamont. Other towns and trading posts have much smaller garrisons, whose main purpose is to relay messages or break up tavern brawls. This is in stark contrast to the Imperial Heartland which hosts a much larger and more powerful Legionary presence, where high generals play at politics with dukes and justiciars.
Each of the primary garrisons in Illium has a commander, all under the auspice of the Duke of Illium. In recent days Duke Orchus has been recalled to the Heartland to fight the Emperor's enemies, and has taken the cream of Illium's Legion with him. 

Reputation

The Legion has a checkered past but many of its armies have fought incredible battles in frontier wars against the last enclaves of elves and dwarves, and against the heretic human nations of the west. They are the splendid stuff of legend, the great steel blade that protects the faithful from the enemies of the Empire. Or so it is told in the Heartland. 
In the provincial countryside and cobbled towns of Illium the stories sung around fireplaces are of humble folk heroes and roguish highwaymen. The general population have a disdain for the Legion, which is considered ineffective, under-resourced and of a low calibre of men. The Empire has a policy of assigning its legionnaires to garrisons far from home, in order to curb the risk of mutiny. As such the army protecting Illium is largely foreign to their shores, and generally speaking promising legionnaires aren't assigned to this eastern backwater. The Legion's men are thought of as corrupt brutes, happy to turn a blind eye for a cut of silver, and happier still to make a public display of a criminal.

Type

Military, Army