Earldom of Amicalis

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The Earldom of Amicalis was a nation consisting of mostly Humans, Maliekt, and Byn'makha located in eastern extreme of Obreidhion in Khyorgan, founded following a rebellion against a series of brutal emperors in the now-destroyed Empire of the Red Tower.

In adition to Humans, Maliekt, and Byn'makha, other races, such as dwarves and elves, were allowed citizenship, but the general populace retained a negative view of elven culture well into the diesel age. Amicalis was located in Eastern Obreidhion, within southern Khyorgan. The Amicalians were notable for their bright blue Zezaridium architecture and their production of Amicalis Bronze, an iron-copper alloy which is used for tools and armor.

Government

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Amicalis was a federation of nine semi-autonomous regions, which were ruled over by their respective high councils, and presided over by either a count (in the case of the six countship), king (in the case of Gricsyn), or high commissioner (in the case of the Cloudfield Frontier). The regional leaders convened octennially to elect an earl to rule over the country, though it was considered an upset from the early period well into the Steam Era for the moot to go against the assumed line of succession. Earls traditionally ruled in hereditary dynasties, with regional leaders opting to put an outsider in power only in rare cases. The central government was responsible for regulating the military, foreign affairs, and laws & taxes, while the regional governments were responsible for overseeing public works and law enforcement.

Administrative Divisions

The Capital Countship was home to the capital city of Amicalis, Erythia. Most of the largest and oldest cities in Amicalis were located in the Capital Countship, and the area was the main target for archaeological and anthropological study of the Adonbaxi civilization.

The Oceanhead Countship was the smallest province as well as the least mountainous. There were a number of bogs and marshes here, and the majority of the province's revenue came from fishing.

The Bezard Countship was a large, richly forested region that exported large amounts of wood to the other provinces.

The Cloudfield Frontier was a very high-elevation, mountainous region, home to some of the highest peaks in Khyorgan. The Cloudfield Frontier's mountains were home to Ekati reserves, though mining operations in the region targeted at these deposits were expensive and did not yield adequate profits.

The Amacata Countship was an arid region within the Amacata Desert. The western half of the region was largely uninhabited, while the eastern half had scattered villages sustained by a small but adequate agricultural industry.

The Lerrnahank Countship was a Countship covered by highveld and savanna terrain and dominated by the mining industry. Vast amounts of coal, iron, and copper, among other materials, have been extracted from this region over the years.

The Phaber Countship had a rich agriculture-based economy, exporting meat, grains, vegetables, fruits, wool, and leather to the rest of Amicalis, and was known for its large wetlands and flood meadows.

Gricsyn was the homeland of the Maliekt, who governed the region.

The Southern Peaks Countship was a large region extending from the south of the rest of Amicalis along the coast, separating the western savannas and eastern forests. Fishing and whaling were the main industries of this countship, and it was the homeland of the Byn'makha.

Atonicka was a large island to the east of the Southern Peaks Countship and Gricsyn, it was covered by large jungles and hosted giant creatures and deadly diseases. As a result of its hostile nature, Atonicka was not thoroughly explored until the Diesel Age.

Technology and magic

Amicalis had been a technologically forward nation since its creation, as the races comprising its main support base could not match their elven oppressors in magical skill. Slave rebels invented primitive dry docks to repair ships, and simple gunpowder weapons for use in combat.

During the Khyorganese Renaissance, Amicalis became one of the most forward nations in terms of steam technology, most notably utilizing steam engines to power ships, including powerful casemate ironclad warships. Amicalis' steam technology also enabled the use of trains, steam wagons, and traction engines to move cargo and passengers, as well as steam shovels and steam hammers for industrial applications.

Amicalis remained a world leader in technology during the Diesel Revolution, as petroleum-based combustion engines replaced steam engines in industrial, transport, and military usage. Automobile transport became more popular and replaced camels and buggies following the popularization of Diesel.

Amicalis has used gunpowder for infantry and cannons, and has made use of hot shot, carcass shot, chain shot, canister shot, and grape shot.

Though Amicalis had access to comparatively advanced sublunary technology, the nation's prowess in the arts of magic and magitek remained lacking throughout its existence. While spellcasters certainly existed within Amicalis, the military employed few mages, and implementation of magic in industrial fields was practically nonexistent compared to steam, and later diesel, technology.

Unique Weaponry and Equipment

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  • Amicalis Seax - A large seax usually inscribed with poems or other verses with religious or personal significance, often carried as a backup weapon complimenting a more specialized implement.
  • Headhunter's Lance - A jagged lance made of sharp, pyramidal segments, usually made of hepatizon, giving it a dark purple color in age. Being able to be used both in mounted combat and on foot, as well as handled with either one hand or two hands, the headhunter's lance is a very versatile weapon.
  • Mororage Howdah Pistol - A boxy howdah pistol with two vertically aligned barrels from the Mororage Archipelago off the coast of the Capital Countship.
  • Rose Mace - A mace with a rose-shaped head, and a spiky, green bronze haft; The mace's head is iron or amicalis bronze, but is usually gilded to take on a rose-like color.
  • Bezard Backsword - A long backsword with an elaborate guard, developed for vastly superior piercing capability over the seax, allowing for better performance against armored opponents.
  • Halberdier's Sword - A sword with it's design derived from halberd blades, combining one spear-like spike suitable for stabbing with a separate axe blade enabling slashing attacks. The halberdier's sword was not regularly used by halberdiers, as the name may suggest, but was instead favored by adventurers and messengers in remote areas as it's axe blade could be used for slashing through foliage or cutting up wood if other tools were lost.
  • Roughman's Sword - Also known as the roughsword, this weapon has a "wavy" blade, ostensibly to focus more energy into a smaller point of impact when the sword is used for slashing. This weapon has a reputation of being used mostly by monster hunters, criminals, and other rugged individuals, hence it's name.

Agriculture and Husbandry

Amicalis, surrounded by infertile desert, had a significant agricultural industry, both for its own population and for export (historically being forced to export large amounts food to the Empire of the Red Tower); As such, Amicalis benefited from numerous technological advancements relating to farming and ranching.

The most frequent crops grown on Amicalis farms were maize, apples, and radishes for food, and cotton and abaca for textile purposes. In terms of ranching, several varieties of poultry and hogs were cultivated for meat, while a handful of bovine species provided not only meat, but also milk and leather, to the nation.

In addition to animals intended for slaughter, more utilitarian camels, donkeys, and fearsome deinotheriate pachyderms were raised as beasts of burden and war. Though the advent of powerful motorized steam machines such as trains, steam shovels, and traction engines largely expelled the aforementioned animals from industrial applications, they remained popular as personal transport and, in some cases, as war animals, until diesel engines outmoded both competitors in industrial, military, and transport fields.

While technological advancement diminished the usefulness of some aspects of agriculture, it was overall immensely beneficial: Traction engines, cotton gins, steel plows, and the discovery of Mendelian Inheritance shaped renaissance-era Amicalian agriculture to be radically distinct, and far more efficient & productive, than before their implementation. Following the renaissance, combustion engines allowed farmers more powerful diesel-fueled tractors for plowing their fields and reliable transport for themselves and their supplies in the form of automobiles.

Culture

Amicalis' people and culture evolved throughout the years, with strong influences coming from their historical struggle against the Empire of the Red Tower, their Krizovist faith, the influences of various dynasties and rulers, and technological advents. Amicalis had Krizovist public holidays, as well as a day of celebration aligning with Amicalis' independence from the Empire of the Red Tower known as Tower Day, in which a red-painted tower made out of weak materials built the previous day was destroyed yearly.

Human men of Amicalis usually sported short hair, sometimes with cut-back hairlines, often in combination with unshaven stubbles or beards; Men in Amicalis with long hair almost always sported beards. Human women in Amicalis generally had a more diverse lineup of hair styles and lengths then men, but typically kept their hair much longer then their male counterparts.

Apparel

In terms of apparel, inland men and women alike often wore durable belted trousers made from woven cotton, originally made for the purpose of protecting the wearer from thorns and burs during travel through wooded areas and grasslands, though the styles of weave changed throughout time, with older clothing being plain woven canvas and renaissance-era and post-renaissance trousers were more tightly woven duck cotton. Collared shirts were frequently worn in the warmer months when a jacket is not required, but are diminish in number compared to plain, collarless shirts in cold conditions, as jackets often sported collars of their own. For footwear, tough leather boots ending in a square toe never fell out of favor with Amicalis' human population in the lower elevation inland areas, though more mountainous people sported fur-lined iron, steel, or bronze boots instead; In contrast, humans and other miscellaneous races of man living close to the coast usually wore open sandals due to the sandy beaches.

As far as headwear goes, slouch hats, brimmed to protect against the sun and with one side pinned up to allow the user to carry a weapon or tool over their shoulder, became popular after the Grand Amicalis Army equipped their musketeers with them during the med renaissance. In hotter desert regions, lighter straw hats were preferable, as they were less prone to overheating the wearer's head.

In more formal situations, a hot-colored (red/gold/orange), grey, or black silk Justacorps coat in combination with silk breeches and formal footwear was the most acceptable garb in Amicalis for the races of man, though navy sailors and army soldiers often wore their assigned uniforms to formal events instead, and mages officially employed by the government of Amicalis or any of its countships could wear traditional robes to such gatherings. During the Diesel Age, the Justacorps became a common garb even for everyday wear out in public, especially among businessmen.

The women of human-esque races typically wore dresses or long, flowing robes reaching down to their legs, both in casual and formal settings, with only activities or situations calling for specific activewear as common exemptions to this rule. Some women specifically chose to intentionally shirk this norm, especially those female politicians who hoped to project power by adopting more masculine clothing.

In Red Tower culture, women and men generally dressed identically, and as such, cultural perceptions of elven women who wore masculine garb and of Tarrbuskan or Alraithian women who did the same were quite different in Amicalis (though more effeminately-dressed males were not generally perceived with the same dynamic).

As industrialization and business increased during the Khyorganese renaissance, traditions were liberalized as working women often needed to wear more work-ready attire. Public officials continued to make political implications using fashion, hinting that they were strong traditionalists by wearing (or having their female family members wear) more orthodox robes, while those hoping to show support for workers and laborers might sport more modern, liberalized outfits.

Maliekt, as a result of having an exoskeleton, typically wore no conventional clothes, but did oftentimes don at least one belt or sash for utility, sometimes having several rows and columns of diversely colored and styled sashes and belts. For byn'makha, their natural scales provided protection against the elements, but they often sported belted shorts to be able to carry equipment; Byn'Makha who had served in the army or navy of Amicalis wore uniform shirts for the purpose of displaying medals awarded during their service, and a black or blue silk garment was often worn by byn'makha to formal events, but the byn'makha had more social leeway in their dress than the races of man.

Sailors, both military and civilian, developed a noticeable subculture in coastal areas during the renaissance era, wearing white trousers, shirts, and sometimes hats, with contrasting black leather boots, belts, and collared jackets, usually sporting a belt buckle prominently featuring intricately-carved maritime imagery. Sailors could be sighted carry metal belaying pins ashore with them, sometimes accompanied by more covert rigging knives, especially when docked in rough ports.

Another notable subculture was that of the swamp-dwellers of the Oceanhead Countship and Bezard Countship, who traditionally wore all brown clothing and replaced traditionally leather wear with reptile skin from the giant snakes and crocodilians living in the swampy regions in and near Boegaden.

Race and Culture

Humans

The humans of Amicalis were largely made up of two ethnic groups:

  • The Tarrbuskans were a fair-skinned, dark-haired ethnicity, traditionally large and strong in nature. They were native to "Tarrbusk", an area in northeastern Amicalis consisting of the Capital, Oceanhead, Bezard, and Phaber countships and the Cloudfield Frontier, though Tarrbuskans also made up the majority of humans in Gricsyn and Atonicka.
  • The second group, the Alraithians, were native to Alraith, a region in the west made up of the Amacata, Lerrnahank, and Southern Peaks countships. The Alraithians were pale people with wooly, platinum blond hair. The Alraithians were generally shorter in appearance, with broad noses and short foreheads.

Humans usually constituted a majority population of Amicalis, though on occasion only held plurality status. Humans were known for their technological innovations and engineering feats. Tarrbuskans were stereotypically shipbuilders, stonemasons, carpenters, and inventors, and later mechanics and engineers. Alraithians were often painted as farmers, ranchers, and hunters, having tamed the vesonts (a type of pachyderm native to Alraith), but they were, by extension of being human, often associated with machinery and technological advancement. Though these were stereotypes, human cities were indeed quick to embrace technology, especially compared to elven communities.

Elves

In Amicalis, the vulcan elves, who once ruled Amicalis under the Empire of the Red Tower, traditionally lived mostly in self-segregated communities, separate and isolated from non-elven society. Vulcan elf communities usually fought to maintain their own municipal government even as towns grew into great cities and engulfed elven communities on all sides. The separation between vulcan elves and non-elves grew as humans, maliekt, and byn'makha embraced new technological innovations such as gunpowder, steam power, assembly lines, and the automobile, while the traditionalist elves largely rejected such inventions.

Vulcan elves and non-elves, at least the byn'makha, maliekt, and humans, often viewed eachother with mutual distrust and suspicion when outside of their own mutually exclusive communities. The strange looks and suspicion of the non-elven population often fell upon other elven subraces as well, though the vulcan elves tolerance of other elven subraces was inconsistent.

Sand elves, native to the Amacata Desert, were exceptional, and were typically treated the same as non-elves both in elven and non-elven communities, at least in Amicalis' more western regions.

Byn'makha

The byn'makha mostly lived in the eastern half of the Southern Peaks Countship. Being a semi-aquatic race, they were strongly associated with the sea and traditionally lived in coastal or wetland areas. Byn'makha sailors were frequently seen sailing up and down the coast of Amicalis, and became associated with the sea and related professions (fishermen, whalers, sailors) in Tarrbusk and Alraith.

Byn'makha cities substituting roads with waterways and canals were a common sight in the Southern Peaks Countship, but the byn'makha could also integrate into human society fairly easily. Byn'makha typically became a more and more rare minority the further inland one went into Amicalis, due to their general affinity for swimming and being in close proximity to water, two things the harsh deserts and savannas of Alraith usually did not offer.

Like humans and maliekt, the byn'makha were often at odds with the vulcan elves, due to their bloody history of slavery and war.

Maliekt

The maliekt lived in their own constituent country, Gricsyn. The maliekt, like byn'makha, Tarrbuskans, and Alraithians, were seldom tolerated in elven communities, but easily integrated into human or byn'makha villages. Many maliekt found work outside of their homeland as miners and quarry workers, thanks to their natural adaptations allowing them to operate easily underground.

Though the maliekt lived throughout Gricsyn, Alraith, the Southern Peaks Jarldom, and most of Tarrbusk, they rarely lived in the Oceanhead Jarldom, where the swampy, wet ground was disadvantageous to their burrowing lifestyle. Elsewhere, hotels often offered basement-level rooms for maliekt guests, and maliekt homeowners and tenants in non-maliekt towns usually used the ground-floor level of their homes as storage, and lived in their basements and sub-basements.

Other groups

Dwarfs were a small minority and rarely seen in Amicalis, but could easily be mistaken for short humans due to the similar appearances of the two races, making it rather easy for them to integrate into Amicalis. As dwarfs typically tended to be more technologically inclined and less magically inclined, they had much in common with the Tarrbuskans. The same largely applied to halflings, who were even rarer than dwarves.

Orcs lived in Amicalis in small numbers when the Empire of the Red Tower arrived to Amicalis, isolated from the main Orcish migration to the Desert of Lexighor. Instead of enslaving orcs, the Red Tower simply attempted to exterminate them all. After the Red Tower's rule came to an end, the orcs continued to live in small tribes in the Bezard Countship, traditionally relying on subsistence hunting and foraging to survive. Orc shamans rarely came into Tarrbuskan or vulcan elf villages to trade for supplies they could not obtain in the winter, but generally did not like to rely on others.


Environment

Geography

Amicalis was a mountainous nation, with the Eastern Range being responsible for much of the geography of the nation; The mountainous nature of the region was exemplified by the Cloudfield Frontier, a very high-elevation region consisting almost entirely of fierce mountains known for their dangerous conditions, especially in the winter. The barren stone geography gave way to more benign terrain going east into the forested Bezard Countship and Capital Countship, the Phaber Countship, which was covered in wide open grasslands and serene wetland areas.

Also in the eastern area of the country lied the less-hospitable Oceanhead Countship, covered in dense, overgrown swamplands and bayous, and home to a variety of dangerous wildlife, and the rocky, barren constituent nation of Gricsyn, home to the Maliekt people.


The Eastern Range separated the fertile regions of Amicalis from the veld terrain making up most of the Lerrnahank Countship and Southern Peaks Countship, and the arid and hostile Amacata Desert making up almost all of the Amacata Countship. Both the Lerrnahank and Southern Peaks Countship were covered largely by savanna areas and were home to large pachyderms and other impressive wildlife, though the Southern Peaks Countship was moreso known as the home of the Byn'makha people who lived along its coast.


Several of Amicalis' territories also bordered the Nautilus Ocean, with cliff-laden beaches in the southernmost region giving way to sandy shores in Gricsyn. The coast of the Oceanhead Countship, and the very small coastal area of the Bezard Countship, were largely covered in bayous and swamps. Amicalis' coasts gave it access to a myriad of maritime plunder, and the island chains to the east of Gricsyn, the Phaber Countship, and Capital Countship provided a barrier against the sea's dangerous seasonal storms.

The island of Atonicka, separated from contiguous Amicalis by a wide ocean, was ecologically distinct, and covered by thick jungles. Atonicka served as a hurricane barrier to the Southern Peaks Countship, and its eastern zones were ravaged by tropical storms.

Thunderhead Sea

The Thunderhead Sea was a region situated within the Bezard Countship, Cloudfield Frontier, Lerrnahank Countship, and Phaber Countship. A constant, slow-moving cyclone is anchored to the sea, and covers the region in a thick, permanent cloud cover. Floating islands, and a few very large floating landmasses, hung suspended between the lower and upper layers of clouds, rarely catching glimpses of the blue waters below or blue skies above.

The Thunderhead Sea had distinctive, grey stone brick architecture, often of truly elephantine proportion, built as a stronghold to resist attacks from the Empire of the Red Tower.

Ecosystem

Flora

Western veld and desert

  • Titan Baobab - The Titan Baobab was one of the largest baobab trees found throughout Erudite.
  • Orange Creosote - A creosote bush with orange flowers.
  • Starry Cottonwood - A cottonwood tree with black bark speckled with white, giving it an appearance similar to the night sky.

Eastern forests and wetlands

  • Vloedwood - This tree is built to survive underwater in regions that flood, even if completely submerged. These trees would persist in reservoirs created by dam construction.
  • Doenwood - A tall, wide tree that produces a black resin, its heavy wood is sometimes used for construction.
  • Spier Cedar - A tree used frequently for construction due to its resistance to rot and the effects of its cedar oil against insects.
  • Versian Elm - A hardwood tree used for keel and frames in boatbuilding.

Fauna

Western veld and desert:

  • Alleghor: A close relative of the Werewyrm, the Alleghor is a serpentine predator found in the Amacata Desert and historically across much of Khyorgan's deserts. It tunneled in the sand and sprayed poison at its prey. It could also fatally electrocute animals.
  • Buffalox - A common ranch animal known for its hide and meat.
  • Common Swiftrunner - A gliding, herbivorous biped found south of the Gomchar Sea, they fed on grass, trees and shrubs, though in a drought they would eat almost anything.
  • Oxtaur - A subspecies of Buffalox. Oxtaur have larger horns and are far more aggressive.
  • Pentacorn - A massive beast similar to a cross between a rhinoceros and a ceratopsian dinosaur, the Pentacorn is a large herbivore found mainly in the savanna. Though generally a peaceful grazer, but its deadly head of horns has been the last thing many an overconfident Jaëger ever saw.
  • Savannah Thaurogont - A large herbivore comparable in size to an Eidynese Elephant.
  • Thoach - A nocturnal hippopotamus known to charge people, and capable of swift charges despite its semiaquatic nature.
  • Tonittor - A gigantic turtle that preyed on all but the largest of pachyderms, and relied on its armored shell to protect it from their hooves, tusks, and teeth. The Tonittor's shell protected it from swords, maces, axes, arrows, and low caliber gunfire, but its immense weight obligated the Tonittor to be an ambush predator.
  • Vesont - A large deinotheriate terrible beast pachyderm, used as a war animal by Amicalis prior to the Diesel Age.
  • Werewyrm - Found in deserts to the east, these huge, serpent-like beasts are known to be very similar to the Sentinels. Whether or not they're related or the product of convergent evolution is unknown.

Eastern forests and wetlands:

  • Burbarst - Large hogs, some of which were domesticated into Amicalis Pigs.
    • King Burbarst - An especially large, but rare subspecies that could grow to a maximum of 1,100 lbs (500 kg) and 5 feet tall (1.65 meters) at the shoulder.
  • Entherd - A large gavialid crocodilian, between 3.5 and 5 meters (11.5 and 16.5 ft) in length and with a green coloration, only found in the northern bogs of the Oceanhead and Bezard countship.
  • Hinust - Occupying the same spot in the ecosystem as the Jaëger did in Lexighor and Andavronia, the Hinust was a furry, somewhat canine-esque predator with facial features similar to a mole, which hunted in packs. Hinust were a light brown color, with a white underbelly and black stripe across their back, and weighed around 60-75 lbs, or 27 to 34 kg.
  • Blomoros - A crustacean with a somewhat irregular pentagon shell, colored pink and white, the Blomoros would sunbathe in the day and then submerge itself in the cooler depths, attracting leeches to eat with its false body heat.

Mountains

  • Climber Bear - A human-sized tan bear adapted to climb rocks.
  • Gomlid - A red, bipedal amphibian with opposable thumbs.
  • Tonacer - A metallic, chrome creature, whos carapace reflected the harmful rays from the sun and snow. The Tonacer had a square body and four legs, with five eyes.


Atonickan Jungles

  • Dyncha - A poisonous frog that often stood on two legs, and can grow to considerable size.
  • Serther - A titanic serpent, that can grow to 35 feet in length.
  • Tanage - A brilliantly colored Casuariidaen bird.

Cave Dwellers

  • Phoaldilt - A large, fast, dark brown scorpion creature with a legspan of around 2 feet (0.65 meters), its trail curves under its body instead of above it, to allow it to sting shelled prey. The Phoaldilt had only one cyclopean eye.
  • Etelmit - Three feet (one meter) long from head to tail, the Etelmit was a eurypterid that inhabited flooded cave systems.


Economy

Amicalis' economy was largely based on agriculture, mining, and maritime pursuits.

The Lerrnahank Countship took advantage of copper, iron, gold, and stone mining, as do the Southern Peaks Countship and Gricsyn to lesser extents, though Gricsyn also mines up Zezaridium. The advent of steam shovel excavation machines and later combustion engine-powered excavation machines improved efficiency and economic output from these regions when they came into popularity.

The Phaber Countship and Amacata Countship both primarily exported agricultural goods, though very different ones. While the Phaber Countship was home to large cotton plantations, maize farms, and bovine ranches, the Amacata Countship instead relied on nut orchards and Agavaceae farms. The Bezard Countship provided lumber to the other regions from its numerous coniferous forests.

The Oceanhead Countship, Southern Peaks Countship, Gricsyn, and Capital Countship all took advantage of the Nautilus Ocean's natural resources to varying degrees. The Capital and Oceanhead Countship both housed large fishing industries, while the Oceanhead Countship also brought in bounties of shellfish. The Southern Peaks Countship had a smaller fishing industry, but occasional whaling expeditions were advantageous; Gricsyn's island territories provided an excellent opportunity to merchants, who often sold their wares to traveling sailors who passed between the islands and the mainland, as the archipelago acted as a buffer against seasonal storms.

The island of Atonicka had little economy up until the Diesel Age, when planes and off-road automobiles allowed explorers to navigate its deadly jungles, and its bounties of gemstones and petroleum were discovered.

Military

Grand Amicalis Army

The Grand Amicalis Army provided the ground troops of Amicalis' military, and it became one of the first armies in the world to rely primarily on gunpowder troops after they replaced its reliance on spearmen in the early to med renaissance. As muskets became prominent, plate armor fell out of favor, and Amicalis musketeers instead adopted distinctive orange greatcoats and later military tunics, leather boots, and a brimmed hat which had one side pinned up to allow them to carry their musket over their shoulder; When the rifle replaced the musket during the Diesel Age, several army divisions adopted a consistent tan color for their uniforms to blend in to their surroundings in desert, savanna, and mountain areas, but as this color was already popular among civilians, the uniform received some white stripes along the sides, and a white hat band to distinguish it as military regimentals.

The army once used Donkeys, Mules, Camels, and Vesonts as beasts of war, but diesel technology replaced their usefulness following the Khyorganese Renaissance. Ballistae, catapults, and trebuchets were dominant siege weapons prior to the renaissance, but canons later challenged their dominance, and by the steam age has procured a monopoly on siege warfare.

Amicalic Navy

The Amicalic Navy, thanks to technological advantage, was one of the most powerful navies in existence from the renaissance onwards. Amicalis was one of the first nations to harness the power of steam to propel warships, creating formidable casemate ironclads even before the official beginning of the Steam Age.

Like the rest of the military, and the nation in general, the Amicalic Navy largely lacked magicians and wizards; Ekati users could help ships navigate through storms, create protective barriers, and even launch attacks against opponent's ships and crew using their supernatural crafts, so their absence put Amicalis at a disadvantage. Amicalis equipped many of its ships with large ballistae, fashioned to the ship's bow (a style already in use by civilian whalers) and armed with bolts tipped with Parean Ekati, a form of Ekati that absorbs magic it comes into contact with.


Unlike the soldiers of the Grand Amicalis Army, the sailors of the Amicalic Navy had no need for camouflage, and continued to sport bright orange uniforms long after the army had adopted tan uniforms that allowed them to blend in to sandy and dusty terrain. Sailors would often be equipped with swords in addition to a pistol or musket in case of boarding well into the Steam Age, as guns took too long to reload and the close-quarters of a ship's deck left reloading troops vulnerable to hand-to-hand attack.

Ships

(note that broadside cannons count the number on each side, not the total number of side-mounted cannons) Steam-powered:

  • Powerhouse-class Casemate Ironclad (5 broadside cannons, 2 fore cannons, 2 aft cannons 6" wrought iron armor)
  • Campaign-class paddle steamer (4 broadside cannons, 1 fore cannon, 1 aft cannon, 3" wrought iron armor)

Steam/Sail Combination:

  • Aurniznia-class fully-rigged ship/sidewheel steamer (17 broadside cannons)

Sail-powered:

  • Pinnacle-class Ship of the line (90 broadside cannons)
  • Lantern-class Man-of-war (68 broadside cannons)
  • Castellum-class Brig of war (32 broadside cannons)
  • Headhunter-class Brig (18 broadside guns)
  • Mountaineer-class Bermuda-rigged sloop (8 broadside cannons)

Amicalis Balloon Force

The Amicalis Balloon Force specialized in the use of aerostats, including hot air balloons and airships, and was only founded fairly recently during the Demon Wars. The Balloon Force's main purpose was initially to provide reconnaissance, but the Balloon Force's paratroops could much more easily cross over the mountainous terrain than the army soldiers.