Meiax Riders
Supposedly established around 753 B.I.C by the king of Pearlhal, it consisted of a cavalry regiment of around 300 men, their task was to act as the king's personal bodyguard and escort. Each district of the nation was supposed to supply a number of riders. Later under King Aleron, the unit was expanded to 600 riders, later on during the king's reign the king according to ancient sources increased the number of riders to 1900. Still, these numbers are disputed as it would have made the unit implausibly large compared to the standard infantry army of 4000 men. It has been theories that the unit never reached more than 600 riders as during the time of the Pearlhals time as a Republic, cavalry normally never made up more than 8% of the city field army, this claim is based on the fact that during the time of the Dercian Republic and second kingdom, the number of cavalry never reached over 600 riders.
The name Meiax is derived from the Elven word for riding and as the ancient human and elven tribe that united to make the Crienia people, words from both languages were adopted and as the role of the Meiax Riders was to be nimble and aware of their surroundings, King Aleron decided to name the unit after the elven word for riding.
Composition
Manpower
Around 300 riders when the unit were established and later expanded to 600
Weaponry
The Meiax Riders standard weaponry would be a cavalry spear and a sword, slightly longer than the one the infantry were equipped with.
Logistics
Recruitment
The original recruitment for the Meiax Riders was the young nobility, the nobles saw it as a way for their family to get closer to the king, through the centuries, the pool of recruitment were expanded to soldiers from the infantry as a reward for achievements in battle.
I really like the detail that no one knows just how many there actually were, that there are just theories. That's fun.
Explore Etrea | March of 31 Tales
One of the many details lost over time xD