Avesian line Janissary By Imperator-Zor Watch

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Though House del'Liberium has never had pronounced expansionist ambitions it is familiar with violence. The pirates, privateers and mercenaries which often come to the Porta Liberium can be fairly rowdy and sometimes get it into their mind to attempt a takeover, occasionally their are spats between the slave owning minor houses or attempts at usurping the thrown of the island and of course their is the ever present risk of servile revolt. There is also the matter of rooting out packs of runaways and their have been occasions in which the Kingdom of Avesia has dispatched troops elsewhere. As such the entire free male population is required to keep and train with weapons. As a standing force of the royal government the Avesian Islands has an army mostly composed of slave soldiers.



Inspired in part by Drow Janissaries Avesian Janissaries are generally drawn from the ranks of young field hands and stevedores usually born into bondage who are bought off the various lords and are then branded with the year they were inducted into the Janissary force. After which they are trained in arms and basic soldiery in various ways. Many of them are employed as artillerymen manning guns in fortresses, though most of them are also effective riflemen and skilled in the brawling close quarters fighting of marines with picks, hatchets and more recently bayonets. Before the rise of infrastructure crossbows, matchlock muskets and boarding pikes were their usual weapons. The typical janissary uniform is a basic helmet with faceguard, a cheap white brigandine (usually with a skirt of plated strips built in), a pair of manacles and a pair of loose blue trousers. Avesian janissaries forces are overseen by free officers, most of whom are simply volunteers from the island's free populace but some are former Janissaries.



As Avesian Janissaries enjoy a better standard of living that is considerably better than that of the typical plantation slave Janissaries and they enjoy a measure of status in their society the Janissary force is as a rule loyal to their king, even if punishments can be quite draconian. As a default Avesian Janissaries have 20 year terms of service at the conclusion of which they are set free. However some Janissary are freed earlier, usually for exceptional service. Many of these continue to serve in their old regiments without their manicles and become NCOs and officers. Others are set free after their freedom is bought by by pirate captains and mercenary companies who want to quickly pad out their ranks with capable fighting men. In the instances in which Janissaries have been sent abroad it's been remarked that Avesian Janissaries are a reasonably capable fighting force with the weak link being their freeborn officers, who while being better equipped were typically seen as amateurish and unprofessional.

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