“Good? It’s great! The average level of soldiers in other armies is Level 8. Eight. They have low-level [Conscripts] or [Militia] who don’t see battles. Ours are veterans. Get it?”
“Two hundred thousand soldiers. That’s a powerful army, but it would deceive to just count it by numbers as well. Veltras has brought [Knights], [Mages], and most importantly, a host of [Lords] and [Ladies] and their personal retinues. That puts this army head-and-shoulders above an army of the same size comprised mainly of low-level [Militia]. And the Goblin Lord’s army is certainly no idle force either. If past Goblin Lords are any example, he would have Hobs by the thousand and powerful [Shamans] of his own. This one even has an undead army, although reports indicate it was mostly eradicated. Still, faced with all that, would any of you consider defending Liscor?”
“I learned to speak because I thought it would make the Humans listen. That if only they knew I could talk, they would stop hunting us. They knew we were in the sewers. Just not how many. One day they swept the sewers with every adventurer they could muster. [Guards] and [Mercenaries] too. Even [Militia]. Trying to kill us for good.”
Calanfer sent many levied, newly-minted [Soldiers] or [Militia], to the tune of nearly twenty thousand, led by one of their lesser [Generals]. If that seemed paltry compared to the four hundred Griffins and armored foot in the thousands that Kaliv added to the low-level soldiery—Calanfer’s largest contribution was symbolic and meant to be one of the striking hammers against Ailendamus.
The [Guards] were more vigilant than most cities. They were former [Militia] who’d become regular [Soldiers], [Warriors], [Sentries], [Watchwomen], and so on.
It wasn’t…bad. In fact, it was actually a cut above what a [Militia] or [Guardsman] might get. They had actual instructors who taught the new prisoners and gladiators how to fight. Showily, some of them, but most had simple advice they delivered in bored monotones.
It was a decent group to Gna. They’d form one of the better groups in an army, not some hastily-thrown-together unit that was little better than a [Militia].
“Strike a spark. Light a fire. Do you know, Embria? This tactic was used once before. Just once, and the [Lady] who told me it said that it was one of the bitterest blazes she ever saw. It wasn’t Antinium. The regular [Soldiers]—they weren’t even [Soldiers], some were [Militia] or conscripted. They would have mutinied, but the [Lords] and [Ladies] went right with them. They were butchered, but a few embers caught. And the Goblin King never took the north.”
“What’s all that about? We’re [Militia], not [Guards]! Most Watch don’t have [Guards] classes. You get that after a few months if you’re good. I was a Watch member in a town before this.”
“He’s just looking out for himself. It’s classic politics. If he marched his army down, everyone’d call him a hero, but he’d lose two-thirds of his army even if he won. Gorne doesn’t have that many [Knights]; he’s got low-level [Soldiers]. [Militia], even. And if he did march, no one’d help.”
A very nervous Watch Captain and a local military commander who looked to be in his mid-forties halted, and there was a flurry as low-level [Soldiers], possibly even [Militia], came to a scattered halt.
