Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
Armour:
Guns:
Sidearms:
Heavy Weapons (only a few)
Explosives:
Melee Weapons
Vehicles:
COMBAT INFORMATION
It is a truism that power comes out of the barrel of a gun – or at the tip of a sword. It has certainly been true amongst the Eldorai, whose history is steeped with blood and whose annals are filled with stories of Byzantine intrigue, palace revolutions and wars. The royal family has the Angelii and the Eldorai army to protect its rule and defend the Eldorai Matriarchy. Usually these two duties overlap, though not always.
The noble families have their house guards. In the old days, when royal authority was weaker and Eldorai society more feudal, the great houses could muster their own armies. There were times when these were able to seriously challenge the authority of the Star Queen. However, for obvious reasons in this day and age the matriarchs are forbidden from marshalling large armies, though many of the officers in the regular army are still drawn from the scions of the great houses.
The Draconian Guard serves as the personal bodyguard detachment of the Great and Noble House of the Daughters of the Dragon – House Cadalthor. It has existed since the foundation of the great house, protected its matriarchs and fought its battles, battling Kar’zun, pirates and the warriors of rival noble houses in the constant game of stars. More recently, some of the Guards participated in the battle for Kaeshana, accompanying Tarissa Cadalrthor. For a long time, House Cadalthor also possessed an unofficial paramilitary force in form of the Legion of the Faithful.
While officially it was just a part-time militia composed of Ashiran believers, it was an open secret that in actual fact the Legion was funded by and loyal to the Dragon. Both the Legion and the Guard played a leading role in the failed Cadalthor Insurrection following the Kaeshana Rebellion, fighting loyalist Eldorai soldiers and Firemane troops in New Santaissa, the Eldorai’s capital on Tygara. Both units were decimated and ultimately the Cadalthor compound was seized by loyalists.
The exposure of the Cadalthor’s treasonous plot to usurp power and purge all foreigners and nonbelievers had significant consequences for both units. While the Legion was disbanded, the Guard was downsized and a number of officers were put on trial before Eldorai military courts. Some were banished, others incarcerated in an Angelii prison and a few were executed by firing squad. With Tarissa Cadalthor dead by the hand of Siobhan Kerrigan, leadership of the house – and by extension the Guard – fell to the most unlikeliest candidate, Vaena Askari. Now known as Vaena Cadalthor, the new Duchess set to work to rebuild her broken house.
Alas, her job was not an easy one. She had been born a bastard, raised by the church and spent most of her life as a soldier. Moreover, most of her relatives loathed her, believing that she’d stolen what was rightfully theirs. Moreover, House Cadalthor had many rivals, who obviously sought to profit from the noble family’s humiliation. It was obvious that she needed a reliable personal guard or else her time as matriarch would be a short one.
Vaena was new to courtly life, but she understood battle. Some of her relatives ‘advised’ her to reconstitute the Legion in secret, but she dismissed that idea as foolish. She reached out to former comrades in the Eldorai army, offering them positions. Moreover, she took the controversial step of hiring members of the Forsaken. These were the Eldorai who had been left behind on Kaeshana during the Exodus. Many of them belonged to the lower castes or were considered dissidents. A significant number had fled with the Firemane and Eldorai fleets when the First Order conquered the planet. Needless to say Vaena, being a devout believer, expected those who joined the Guard to believe in the Goddess. Secular revolutionaries and atheists were a step too far for her. Finally, because she was not done with giving her reactionary relatives an aneurysm, she announced that henceforth Tygaran natives would be allowed to join the unit. Provided they passed a thorough training programme and proved themselves, they would be allowed to serve as equals alongside their Eldorai cousins.
This was anathema to Cadalthor conservatives, who were quite adamant in their beliefs that the natives were inferior to the superior Eldorai. It is said that one of the family’s old crones almost had a heart attack when she heard the news. By and large, the native recruits are drawn from the Qadiri. In terms of culture and traditions, they are the natives most similar to the Eldorai. Moreover, they have a strong martial ethos. It helped that Askari had established a rapport with Nawab Bharria of Surani and helped train the Qadiri fiefdom’s soldiers during her time as an Angelii.
The Qadiri ‘Sepoys’ have no attachment to other Eldorai nobles, especially not racist Cadalthors, which means the Duchess can rely on them to be loyal. Many members of the Qadiri contingent are freed slaves. Others are professional soldiers attracted by the promise of adventure, a chance to see the stars and earn some coin. In some cases, their families have been settled on Cadalthor lands. Of course, integrating them has caused issues, especially related to language, which is why language courses are mandatory. Ironically, this makes the Draconian Guard more progressive than Firemane’s Sepoys. Then again, the unit is a lot smaller since it numbers less than two hundred warriors, so the comparison is a bit unfair. Vaena is rather fond of ‘her’ Sepoys. Suffice to say she favours them and reacts poorly when Eldorai soldiers or her family members treat them in a demeaning way.
The Draconian Guard is a pure infantry unit. Its members are capable warriors, able to protect their leader against assassins and other attackers. They serve as the personal bodyguards of the Daughter of the Dragon, swearing an oath of loyalty to her. They also have some ceremonial duties as retainers and acclaimers, and perform some police duties in the Cadalthor lands, especially in cases of treason and conspiracy. Mundane police work is left to the militia. With military training, discipline and equipment, they can hold their own in the field. However, they would be at a big disadvantage if they had to go up against enemies with heavy armour or aircraft because heavy weapons are very rare.
While ranged weapons such as bolters and blasters are in use, there is a strong preference for melee attacks, which is why their rifles tend to have bayonets, even though these are rather impractical in modern combat. Furthermore, they favour weapons such as pikes, Sarzmigar polearms, Sarix blades and so on. The bond with their leader and religious indoctrination gives them a fanatical loyalty. While Askari differs from her relatives in many ways, she is just as devout, believing that those who fall in battle in service of the faith will go to heaven and sit at the Goddess’ side.
The Draconian Guard has always been stepped in faith and this has not changed, though the faith it practices is rather syncretic. This gives them a high morale, makes them more resistant to fear and gives them the ability to fight on when others might quit, but can also manifest in extreme stubbornness and irrational acts of bravery. Soldiers often decorate their armour with runes that display the image of the Dragon. This does not give them any special benefits, but strengthens cohesion and gives them another means of identification. In addition to being taught how to wield melee and ranged weapons, the warriors also receive training in various martial arts. One of them is the combat discipline of Teräs Käsi, which is particularly useful against Force-users and grants the Guards greater resistance against mental attacks.
In short, though its numbers are thin, the Guard is a diligent guardian of its liege and serves as protection against all possible threats. Undoubtedly it will have plenty of opportunity to terminate threats to its mistress in the days to come.
- Intent: To codify the personal guard of House Cadalthor. In terms of function, it can be compared to the Imperial Royal Guard.
- Image Credit: How to properly source your images
- Links: Vaena Askari, Eldorai, Qadiri.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Unit Name: Draconian Guard
- Affiliation: Vaena Askari, House Cadalthor
- Classification: Elite infantry
- Equipment:
Armour:
Guns:
Sidearms:
Heavy Weapons (only a few)
Explosives:
Melee Weapons
Vehicles:
- Speeders and swoopbikes.
COMBAT INFORMATION
- Availability: Unique
- Deployment: Limited
- Strengths & Weaknesses:
The warriors of the Dragon are elite soldiers. They are very skilled, resourceful and loyal. Though the few Force-users in the unit have only a limited command of the Force, they are still dangerous foes. The combat abilities of the Guards make them able to take on the average Jedi or Sith Knight and other Force-users of the same rank.
The Guards are extremely loyal to their liege. Only the most reliable are allowed to join the Guard, after undergoing a thorough screening process. Coercion, torture and bribes don’t work. While not immune, they are very resistant to attempts to influence them via mind tricks and other mentalist techniques. Religious indoctrination does its part to affirm their loyalty to their leader.
The Guards are at a strong disadvantage when they have to go up against foes with armoured vehicles, aircraft and so on. They are infantry at heart and their main job is to protect House Cadalthor in general and the chief matriarch in particular. While they can engage in frontline combat, they’d require support and possibly additional gear.
It takes a lot of time to train a single Guard. As a whole, the unit is very small. Prospective Guards must be selected, vetted, trained and so on. Obviously the process is less time-consuming for experienced veterans, say former soldiers from the Eldorai army. But many of the Guards are Qadiri, who first need to get used to modern weapons, a new language and so on. As a result, the Guards’ numbers are terribly small and mass deployment on a battlefield is pretty much impossible. Bottom line, the Guards’ main duty is protective instead of storming the trenches. Should the entire unit be deployed on a battlefield it would be a very big deal.
Their fanaticism makes them loyal, but could also be used against them. Guards would rather fight to the last drop of blood than surrender, for they view capitulating to the enemy as dishonourable. They are also loath to retreat from a battlefield. Such zealous devotion is a powerful force, but could be turned against them.
It is a truism that power comes out of the barrel of a gun – or at the tip of a sword. It has certainly been true amongst the Eldorai, whose history is steeped with blood and whose annals are filled with stories of Byzantine intrigue, palace revolutions and wars. The royal family has the Angelii and the Eldorai army to protect its rule and defend the Eldorai Matriarchy. Usually these two duties overlap, though not always.
The noble families have their house guards. In the old days, when royal authority was weaker and Eldorai society more feudal, the great houses could muster their own armies. There were times when these were able to seriously challenge the authority of the Star Queen. However, for obvious reasons in this day and age the matriarchs are forbidden from marshalling large armies, though many of the officers in the regular army are still drawn from the scions of the great houses.
The Draconian Guard serves as the personal bodyguard detachment of the Great and Noble House of the Daughters of the Dragon – House Cadalthor. It has existed since the foundation of the great house, protected its matriarchs and fought its battles, battling Kar’zun, pirates and the warriors of rival noble houses in the constant game of stars. More recently, some of the Guards participated in the battle for Kaeshana, accompanying Tarissa Cadalrthor. For a long time, House Cadalthor also possessed an unofficial paramilitary force in form of the Legion of the Faithful.
While officially it was just a part-time militia composed of Ashiran believers, it was an open secret that in actual fact the Legion was funded by and loyal to the Dragon. Both the Legion and the Guard played a leading role in the failed Cadalthor Insurrection following the Kaeshana Rebellion, fighting loyalist Eldorai soldiers and Firemane troops in New Santaissa, the Eldorai’s capital on Tygara. Both units were decimated and ultimately the Cadalthor compound was seized by loyalists.
The exposure of the Cadalthor’s treasonous plot to usurp power and purge all foreigners and nonbelievers had significant consequences for both units. While the Legion was disbanded, the Guard was downsized and a number of officers were put on trial before Eldorai military courts. Some were banished, others incarcerated in an Angelii prison and a few were executed by firing squad. With Tarissa Cadalthor dead by the hand of Siobhan Kerrigan, leadership of the house – and by extension the Guard – fell to the most unlikeliest candidate, Vaena Askari. Now known as Vaena Cadalthor, the new Duchess set to work to rebuild her broken house.
Alas, her job was not an easy one. She had been born a bastard, raised by the church and spent most of her life as a soldier. Moreover, most of her relatives loathed her, believing that she’d stolen what was rightfully theirs. Moreover, House Cadalthor had many rivals, who obviously sought to profit from the noble family’s humiliation. It was obvious that she needed a reliable personal guard or else her time as matriarch would be a short one.
Vaena was new to courtly life, but she understood battle. Some of her relatives ‘advised’ her to reconstitute the Legion in secret, but she dismissed that idea as foolish. She reached out to former comrades in the Eldorai army, offering them positions. Moreover, she took the controversial step of hiring members of the Forsaken. These were the Eldorai who had been left behind on Kaeshana during the Exodus. Many of them belonged to the lower castes or were considered dissidents. A significant number had fled with the Firemane and Eldorai fleets when the First Order conquered the planet. Needless to say Vaena, being a devout believer, expected those who joined the Guard to believe in the Goddess. Secular revolutionaries and atheists were a step too far for her. Finally, because she was not done with giving her reactionary relatives an aneurysm, she announced that henceforth Tygaran natives would be allowed to join the unit. Provided they passed a thorough training programme and proved themselves, they would be allowed to serve as equals alongside their Eldorai cousins.
This was anathema to Cadalthor conservatives, who were quite adamant in their beliefs that the natives were inferior to the superior Eldorai. It is said that one of the family’s old crones almost had a heart attack when she heard the news. By and large, the native recruits are drawn from the Qadiri. In terms of culture and traditions, they are the natives most similar to the Eldorai. Moreover, they have a strong martial ethos. It helped that Askari had established a rapport with Nawab Bharria of Surani and helped train the Qadiri fiefdom’s soldiers during her time as an Angelii.
The Qadiri ‘Sepoys’ have no attachment to other Eldorai nobles, especially not racist Cadalthors, which means the Duchess can rely on them to be loyal. Many members of the Qadiri contingent are freed slaves. Others are professional soldiers attracted by the promise of adventure, a chance to see the stars and earn some coin. In some cases, their families have been settled on Cadalthor lands. Of course, integrating them has caused issues, especially related to language, which is why language courses are mandatory. Ironically, this makes the Draconian Guard more progressive than Firemane’s Sepoys. Then again, the unit is a lot smaller since it numbers less than two hundred warriors, so the comparison is a bit unfair. Vaena is rather fond of ‘her’ Sepoys. Suffice to say she favours them and reacts poorly when Eldorai soldiers or her family members treat them in a demeaning way.
The Draconian Guard is a pure infantry unit. Its members are capable warriors, able to protect their leader against assassins and other attackers. They serve as the personal bodyguards of the Daughter of the Dragon, swearing an oath of loyalty to her. They also have some ceremonial duties as retainers and acclaimers, and perform some police duties in the Cadalthor lands, especially in cases of treason and conspiracy. Mundane police work is left to the militia. With military training, discipline and equipment, they can hold their own in the field. However, they would be at a big disadvantage if they had to go up against enemies with heavy armour or aircraft because heavy weapons are very rare.
While ranged weapons such as bolters and blasters are in use, there is a strong preference for melee attacks, which is why their rifles tend to have bayonets, even though these are rather impractical in modern combat. Furthermore, they favour weapons such as pikes, Sarzmigar polearms, Sarix blades and so on. The bond with their leader and religious indoctrination gives them a fanatical loyalty. While Askari differs from her relatives in many ways, she is just as devout, believing that those who fall in battle in service of the faith will go to heaven and sit at the Goddess’ side.
The Draconian Guard has always been stepped in faith and this has not changed, though the faith it practices is rather syncretic. This gives them a high morale, makes them more resistant to fear and gives them the ability to fight on when others might quit, but can also manifest in extreme stubbornness and irrational acts of bravery. Soldiers often decorate their armour with runes that display the image of the Dragon. This does not give them any special benefits, but strengthens cohesion and gives them another means of identification. In addition to being taught how to wield melee and ranged weapons, the warriors also receive training in various martial arts. One of them is the combat discipline of Teräs Käsi, which is particularly useful against Force-users and grants the Guards greater resistance against mental attacks.
In short, though its numbers are thin, the Guard is a diligent guardian of its liege and serves as protection against all possible threats. Undoubtedly it will have plenty of opportunity to terminate threats to its mistress in the days to come.
