SaltLotus/KagiMercenaries
The Kagi Mercenaries originally comprised the household guard of a Delzahn noble in Chiaroscuro. Unfortunately for his family, a scion became involved in an altercation with one of the Tri-Kahn’s many sons. The resulting duel left Tri-Kahn’s offspring with a scar and a limp, and it was soon made clear that victor was to remove himself from the city and surrounding lands for the indefinite future. Seeking to salvage the situation, the family sent the son abroad with a third of the household guard for service as mercenaries.
The unit soon distinguished itself in Calin during a bloody siege at the Kagi castle. Fending off the attacking force while simultaneously putting down a sudden insurrection amongst the stronghold’s garrison left the Chiaroscuro soldiers barely able to muster two talons. However, their hard-fought victory also guaranteed them a place in local legend where they are honored as the Three-Hundred-Fold Desert-Spear Devils. The exhilaration of victory against five-to-one odds was soon washed away by news of the complete destruction of the commander’s family in Chiaroscuro. The slighted son of the city’s sovereign had arranged for a sneak attack by foreign mercenaries, and anxious to avoid future strife, the Tri-Kahn had declared all survivors of the bloodline banished.
Adrift in Calin’s world of machinations and scheming houses, the commander declared his dedication to the Way of the Sword Saint and took the name Kagi to replace that of his lost family’s — claiming that at least this was a title he could wear with honor. This pronouncement not only impressed the local lords, but their Dragon-Blooded, 7th Legion advisors as well. It was not long after that the Kagis were invited into the city of Lookshy, and a semi-formal relationship was established between the mercenaries and the Legion’s General Staff.
The current generation of Kagi’s has grown up wholly in the Confederation of Rivers. While its children and soldiers have adapted to Riverspeak, they use Firetongue in private. The current leader, Aric Kagi, has demonstrated enough financial skill to successfully add an additional talon of soldiers, brining the unit back up dragon strength for the first time in thirty years. Before the troubles that have accompanied the approach of the Time of Tumult, the elder Kagi had hoped to begin adding specialized archers and cavalry to the ranks in order to create a true combined-arms formation. Now the exaltation of his youngest son (Holvic Kagi) as a Solar Exalted has not only called into question the unit’s future garrison privileges in Lookshy, but threatens to pit those who worship the miraculous sword saint who saved them on the battlefields of Thorns against those who remain true to the 7th Legion’s version of the Immaculate faith.
Description: The Kagi Mercenaries are a heavy-infantry dragon comprised of three talons, named the Northern Troop, Eastern Troop, and Southern Troop. While their primary specialty is field operations against other infantry formations, necessity dictates that the Kagi take peace-keeping work as well as occupation and police duty in order to sustain the unit financially. This means that the soldiers are neither as well drilled nor as fit as their commanders might wish, though Northern Troop possesses the highest concentration of veteran personnel. On the battlefield, the real strength of the Kagis are their officers and general staff. Unit maneuvers are well coordinated, the ranks triple serried and dressage is maintained under close supervision. Unit commanders are generally possessed of good tactical sense, and their experience grants them a feel for the dynamics of the battlefield.
Commanding Officer: Aric Kagi
Armor Color: Dark red lamellar
Motto: Dauntless!
General Makeup: Three talons of heavy infantry. While the unit possess no specialized missile troops, its soldiers often carry javelins, giving the formations a limited ability to engage in ranged combat. Scouts are volunteers drawn from within the ranks, and combat-engineering problems are met with ingenuity of the officers and NCOs, as well as the few tools carried in the trains. The unit rarely maneuvers as dragon except during overland marches.
Overall Quality: Northern Troop is of excellent quality, the other two are good.
Magnitude: Three magnitude three talons.
Drill: Northern troop 4, Eastern and Southern Troops 3
Close Combat Attack: 4 Close Combat Damage: 3
Ranged Attack: 2 Ranged Damage: 2
Endurance: 6 Might: 0 Armor: 2
Moral: 4
Formation: Normally only one or two talons are deployed at a time during the summer campaign season, though it is not unknown for the entire unit to be afield at the same time.
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