the mages of the Great Circle

Describe a military unit in your world that is famous for its unique ranged weapon.
The Great Circle is not a military unit, as the Great White Mage likes to remind both Chrenada's Council and the generals, and it is rarely involved in traditional conflict against other countries, but it is a critical part of Chrenada's defense against the Ryuven .
The Great Circle is a group of state mages employed by the king for the defense of the kingdom of Chrenada and for research into practical applications of magic. There are fifteen mages in the Great Circle, ranked in hierarchy by color. Progression is nearly always sequential with the exception of the Great White Mage, the highest of the Circle, who is elected by the others.
The Great Circle lends its mages, who are then attached to military units along with grey mages to lend magical aid against the magical and physical attacks of the Ryuven. These may range from providing shields (directly over human troops, or in the air as barriers to Ryuven flight) or magical wells to absorb an attack's energy and dispel it safely into the ground instead of into a soldier.
The Chrenadan military's weaponry has been adapted for use against the Ryuven as well, and a soldier's gear when going to fight Ryuven raiders will look different than when he or she moves against another nation. As noted in the Ryuven entry:
One of the most terrifying aspects of the Ryuven is their ability to heal many injuries. While tales of their instant healing without ill effect are exaggerated, a human soldier learns early that incapacitating blows to a Ryuven are often not as incapacitating as one thought. Weapons against Ryuven raiders thus include features to slow Ryuven healing (such as heavy barbed arrows, to be more difficult to withdraw and to deal more damage requiring more time to heal, or polearms with crossbars to keep an impaled Ryuven at a distance).
This Ryuven trait, however, inspired human mages to experiment with magically accelerated healing, and this was the origin of mage healing. The human version looks nothing at all like the inherent Ryuven ability, and it is more limited than popular imagination often renders it, but it has saved the lives of many soldiers.

Type

Magic