Army and other organisations

When the Orasareni ancestors of the Videssians first landed on the unknown southern coast & founded the first cities they were simply pitiful survivors of the wrath of Mir. As a result of it, when the Orasareni first met the warlike forest natives they were accepted as brothers. However with the rise of the first kingdoms in the Arand valley the situation completely changed. The Orasareni began to look jealously on the native fertile land & military conflicts following the assignations of the land were the common thing. Through the battles with the native tribes the Orasareni gained their first military experiences. The army of the ancient Orasareni was in fact no more than a home guard. They had no cavalry at all, infantry consisted of warriors who wore scale armor, cone helmets & small shields. Soldiers were equipped with halberd-like pikes & short swords for close melee. It was no surprise that they were crushed by the power of Mir. However, such army organization was enough to slay the natives who were very brave defending their homeland but lacked basic military technology. After destroying the natives & driving the survivors to the forests of the east the settlements began to compete with each other for dominance in the Arand valley & the terrible war known as "The war of the thousands cities" broke out.

The Videssians massacre Onagir villagers near the Celoa settlement

Over 120 years no city could defeat the others, since their military power was more or less equal & they lacked the military genius of a leader. However such a leader & a reformatory came, when 18 year old Onarius Larkon (lightning) succeeded the throne of the small coastal city-state of Videss. Using his superior strategic genius he was able to conquer some medium-sized cities but also suffered some defeats. He understood that without a breakthrough in warfare & military technology he would never be able to completely win the war for dominance. Larkon invented a special regiment of heavy infantry called the phalanx, which would serve as a base for the new Videssian army. These were elite soldiers who were recruited from the most powerful (physically) Videssians, who were able to wear plate mail & carry a huge lance. Close to every warrior who had a lance stood a soldier who was equipped with a giant shield which covered both warriors from head to foot. The shield-bearer was also equipped with a short sword in case of close melee within the phalanx (when the lances were useless), if the enemy was able to break the first line of the phalanx (the were only 2 such cases in history). The innovation brought a legendary success - it was totally unstoppable on the open plain of coastal Videssia, no army could resist the slow, measured attack of the moving wall. The wall was completely impenetrable for range weapons as well as for the standard ones. In a record short time Larkon crushed all his opponents & become the master of the land. However the enemy troops found shelter under the protection of the mighty fortification of their cities. From there they made a raids on the Videssians. Against the raids the phalanx was uselessl, so Larkon came to the conclusion that he needed to invent a unique & powerful weapon in order to conquer the remaining rivals. After a year of experiments & preparations Videssian army were equipped with primitive siege weapons that gave Larkon the final victory.

Videssian infantry

However, though the phalanx proved to be unbeatable on the open field, it was easily defeated by the forest people, since Videssians were not able to keep the wall-like order in the forest. Under these circumstances, Agatius Fossern the ruler of the new Videssian Republic invented the special mobile units. There are two types: Ranalonians - after Ranalon - a Videssian name for the medium double-edged sword & skirmishers. Ranalonians wear scale mail & half plate, cone helmet & are equipped with medium shields, ranalon & throwing spear. Skirmishers (skirmish was adopted from the natives) wear leather armor, helm, skirmish & a short sword. There is also another type of troops in the Videssian army called Labrigands (after Labru, the videssian name for double-bladed axe) - the military suffet elite guards. They are recruited from the most powerful & experienced warriors (videssians & mercenaries). Labrigands consist of 300 warriors, they wear half plate & a huge double-bladed axes. Their power is outstanding in battle & they receive commands only from the military suffet itself.

A Ranaloan

Based on these innovations made by Agatius Fossern, the Videssian army become one of the most powerful among the other city states & the Videssian infantry, at least in the Republic, is considered the best infantry in whole world.