The Book Of Water/Beast

Seven-Beast Army

It began with an incursion into Creation by the Fair Folk. Astride multiple Behemoths, the mad fae dared to test the boundaries of the world in a manner unseen since the Contagion. The Silver Pact responded first and fastest, sending a large grouping of young Packs, supervised by Lunar Elders. They repulsed the Raksha, but with a heavy price: along with many of the young ones, some of the old ones had also laid down their lives to preserve the sanity of the world. After all due honors were given them, their belongings were distributed among the Pact, mostly to the Packs that they were training. Included in these belongings were the Beastmen and Barbarians that saw the Elders as their gods...

As has happened many a time, these followers now found themselves upon new patronage. But this time, something new occured. Instead of going their separate ways (as a gathering of Elders certainly would have), the young ones, still awed by the might of the battle they had just survived, stayed and talked. Realizing that this could not be the last such invasion, and that there was no shame and greater chance of success in larger numbers, they agreed to form a new Pack: The World-Shielding Cadre.

While analyzing the Fae tactics, they noticed that their Beastmen were barely fodder to the rampaging hobgoblins of the Fae, which made them the weakest link of an otherwise strong chain. The No-Moons among the Cadre began devising ways to streghten their followers, while the Full Moons began training them to higher levels of ability, and the Changing Moons found new ways to use their natural abilities. The Beastmen themselves were the most difficult part of this regimine, as their primal instincts often led to many battles among them. In time, their new Lunar patrons were able to weed out these reactions, and by the time the next generation was born, they saw little difference among themselves.

The Beastmen now represented a sizable, though still small, army. What they lacked in size, however, they made up in with pure ferocity and the utter devotion they showed to their Lunar gods, who directed them throughout their engagements. The Cadre, meanwhile, won much acclaim and renown for their efforts, although some tradition-bound Elders made no secret of their dislike for how the Cadre choose to use their inheritance. Still, they could not argue with the results, which were promising.

It is now the current day, and the Seven-Beast Army has doubled in size and mastered its tactics. Although created for the express purpose of defending against the Fae, the lack of any such further occurances has led to its being used against frontier towns and other mortal armies; an unused sword quickly grows rusty, after all. The Cadre is most looking forward to testing their invention out on the troops of the Bull of the North...

The Seven-Beast Army is now over a thousand-strong, due to aggressive breeding with both each other and with Barbarians as well as civilized slaves. Also, the Army has a policy of allowing any Beastman who has lost their patron to join, providing they can adapt their instincts to unity. In addition, a few admiring Lunars have donated a few Fangs-worth of their Beastmen, perhaps hoping to gain insight into crafting their own alliances.

Through extensive use of Lore-Speaking Method and Divining the Hidden Truth, the Cadre have recovered and applied 1st Age training methods and military tactics, adapted to current circumstances. Over the years, the Army has also captured intact some of the armaments and artillery used by their enemies and have learned how to use them. These are mostly maintained and operated by human support teams, to free up the Beastmen from such menial labor.

Trelias Mooneyes, an Owl-totem No Moon, has devised sacred rites to teach Barbarians and Beastmen with the aptitude to awaken their Essence and power Thaumaturgical spells and rituals. These crews work throughout the day in shifts, using Alchemy to brew droughts and potions to aid their warriors in fighting and healing, Enchantment to produce large amounts of Exceptional arms and armor, and Warding to safeguard the Army's conquered territories.

Runs-Foes-Down, a Panther-totem Full Moon, is a wandering martial artist. He has selected a small group of the hardiest Beastmen capable of awakening their Essence and is initiating them in Terrestrial Martial Arts. Each of these few will teach a hundred; that hundred will teach thousands. Until then, they serve as the Cadre's Honor Guard, and are gifted with Perfect arms and armor, blessed with the Ritual of Elemental Empowerment by Mooneyes himself.

Lara the Farleaper, a Rabbit-totem Changing Moon, is in many ways the brains of the Army. The most cunning and trickiest of the Cadre, she also is its main organizer and strategist. It is her use of Sense-Borrowing Method (often on Mooneyes, hovering above the battle) and River of Words that enables her to see changes on the battlefield and give new orders, giving the Army its incredible flexibility. She personally trained the Army's smallest Units, commando squads adept at stealthy infiltration and ambush. Her Rabbitmen children are almost the fewest of the Beastmen in the Army and serve as her bodyguard, except when she sends them into the fray to act as high-speed, maneuverable "cavalry".

In Power Combat terms, the Seven-Beast Army as a whole looks like this:

Magnitude: 6
Drill: 3
Might: 2
Order: Relaxed or Skirmish

Infantry Units: The bulk of the Army, largely consisting of Bull, Rhino, and Bear Beastmen. They generally engage the main mass of whatever army they are opposing.

Flanking Units: Mostly Wolf and Big Cat Beastmen. These small teams use high-speed, stealth and pack tactics to strike from nowhere during an engagement, often from behind the troops marching against the Army's Infantry, and sow panic and disorder.

Stealth Units: Largely Rat, Snake, and Rabbit Beastmen. They perform long-range reconaissance, set traps for marching enemies and assassinate enemy leaders.

Flying Units: Bird Beastmen of various sorts, Owl, Raven, Hawk, etc. They rarely attempt Fly-By attacks, except to cover a retreat of their grounded brethern. They provide up-to-date battlefield recon, as well as air support, in the form of firing long range weaponry from above (ideally out-of-range of return fire), and by dropping firedust and smoke grenades among the enemy.