The Disfavored
The Disfavored are one of Kyros' many armies and the embodiment of discipline and warfighting. Where the Scarlet Chorus is primal and unrestrained, the elite few of the Disfavored are stoic, obedient, and ruthlessly efficient.
Structure
See the Disfavored Legion.
Recruitment
The Disfavored are an elite unit that recruits only Northerners. The underlying idea is to ensure that every member of the legion is tied to each other not just through their oaths of fealty, but also blood. Families that stood beside Ashe as he faced Kyros and bent knee together with him are highly respected, although their members are expected to hold their own.Laws
While the Disfavored don't have codified laws, there are three principles all are expected to follow:- Honor the legion in thought and deed. Ashe does not allow atrocity or heinous crimes to drag respectable Northmen into shame. He expects his soldiers to follow Kyros' mandates and conduct themselves respectably.
- Honor all oaths with your life. This respects the vows made to Ashe as Archon and Kyros as Overlord. There can be no formal marriage for the Disfavored ranks - to prevent any obligations higher than the military. However, soldiers can pair up and sire offspring as they wish. The North needs sons and daughters, and Ashe would not force his countrymen to choose between family and loyalty.
- Honor your shield and weapon. The maintenance and care of arms and armor are critical to a soldier's success on the field.
Units and Structure
Aegis
The Archon of War is capable of shielding his soldiers from injury and fatigue. This protective influence exerts itself even from far away or as he sleeps (if he sleeps - rumors disagree). Few understand how this arcane power works, but all who have faced the Disfavored in battle will attest that Ashe's soldiers can survive serious harm and shrug off the fatigue of starvation or long marches in heavy armor. When the Disfavored are wounded, Ashe's Aegis (as some refer to the Archon's unique power) appears to help the soldiers swiftly recuperate and return to battle.Public Agenda
Graven Ashe and his legion consider themselves to be the defenders of civilization fighting against barbaric hordes, believing that the end justifies the means. As a result, the Disfavored are ruthless in their conduct towards the enemy and conquered populations, giving no quarter. Prisoners of war are conscripted as working slaves or put to the sword, villages are put under martial law with capital punishment being common, and any defiance is punished by collective reprisals and destruction of property - up to and including destroying entire towns.
History
As Kyros conquered the Northern Empire under a single banner, there were those who resisted the onslaught. Ashe was a young bannerman at the time, petulant and inflated by pride by his own admission. He rallied the sons and daughters of the North to stand against Kyros. While Imperial armies could not stand against the forces of the Overlord, with battles routinely turning to slaughter, Ashe gathered what troops he had and retreated to the mountains. Their adaptive, pragmatic tactics and full use of advantageous terrain made them a killing shadow cast over the offensive. The uncanny resilience of Ashe's forces, including the ability to stand against the Archons of Entropy and Sorrow, fighting with sticks when their iron broke and countering sorrow with the proud songs of the North, were the first signs of Ashe's nascent power as an Archon. The women and men of his legion trained harder, marched farther, and endured more the longer he led them. His soldiers credited him with this new advantage: Ashe had given them total commitment, and they felt protected and strengthened by his presence. Ashe attributed the performance of the legion to their training and breeding, but soon it became clear that something greater was afoot.
Kyros finally noticed that Ashe's influence over the troops was a demonstrable threat when Ashe slew Blood Ruin in a battle described as the greatest of the Age. Though Ashe ultimately emerged triumphant – claiming the mantle of Archon of War – he and his army were weakened by the battle. A relentless offensive by the Overlord, consisting of every army they could spare was sent after Ashe and his legion - all but sacrificing the Scarlet Chorus in the process. Ashe was apprehended eventually, but not until his army lay broken, captured by other Archons loyal to Kyros. They brought him in chains before Tunon. He said that enemies of Kyros would all be put to the sword unless he took that one opportunity to surrender and join the fold. Ashe seized the opportunity, pragmatically believing that life and service to the Overlord, and the lives of the men and women who survived the onslaught, were more important than his pride. So he bent the knee and swore obedience, which led to his name from then on to be known as Graven Ashe - a joke at his expense by the other Archons. Perhaps as a result of his humbling experiences, Ashe is a realist, a pragmatist, and his ego is only slightly inflated - a rare trait in Archons. He listens to the Court and the advice of his Iron Guard, making him a rare kind of leader indeed.
As a result, the remnants of his army were granted the rights of Kyros' Peace, and lived on as servants of the Overlord. Ashe reformed the remnants of his legion into an elite troop representing all that the North holds dear: Perfect training, rigid discipline, respect for the law, and family. However, since they had transgressed and rebelled against the offering of Kyros' protection, his elite legion was stripped of their decorated name and dubbed 'Disfavored,' a mocking reminder of past crimes. Despite a century of fighting, Kyros' favor is still elusive and Ashe and his men continue to labor to win it.
"Graven Ashe Protects."
Type
Military, Army
Formation Type
Training Level
Professional
Veterancy Level
Veteran
Demonym
Disfavored
Leader
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
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