Agrikan Fighting Orders

Hierarchy

The Command Structure: Like their parent clerical organizations, the fighting orders are composed of a hierarchal command structure as follows.

Akarata (Grandmaster)

"The commander in chief of a fighting order. Although he is not a priest, he has far more command of rituals than do most laymen. He deals with the clerical grandmaster and organizes his command in any manner he sees fit. He may be assisted by a number of Tenakas (deputies). If the order wishes to ingratiate itself with local government it may appoint the king (etc.) to the office. In such cases he would be invited to preside over certain ceremonies, but the running of the order would be done by a deputy. The Akarata is usually appointed by his clerical grandmaster, on the advice of the ranking officers."

Tenaka (Deputy)

"A senior member of the order who reports directly to the Akarata. His duties can be extremely varied depending on the order's organization and mission."

Meketa (High Commander)

"The commander of an independent chapterhouse or temple guard. He takes orders from the head of his order. If he commands a temple garrison, he is also subject to the authority of the High Priest and the Master of the Middle Discipline."

Telmen (Commander)

"A knight-commander of an order. Telmen are subordinate to the Meketa, perhaps commanding a small unit of the order's forces or taking responsibility for duties to do with the running of the chapter (quartermaster, etc)."

Dotelen (Sub-Commander)

"A deputy Telmen. These officers are appointed over small units and assist the Telmen."

Haragki (Knight)

"A noble member of the order. These knights rank below the preceding officers and above any commonality."

Laumak (Soldier)

"A member of the commonality of the order; these are warriors of low social status. There may be corporals (Ainlaumaka) and sergeants (T'kelans), but officers in Agrikan fighting orders are always noble."

Honorary Status

"Any of the four preceding ranks may have their titles prefixed with the term "Anas-", indicative of an honorary or part time status. "Anasi" can be regarded as a kind of reserve. They have the right to occasional accommodation at the order's houses and may use them as social clubs."

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Structure of an Order's Properties: The clerical orders have their temples, abbeys and supporting manors and likewise the fighting orders also have their own landed endowments.

Castles

A large fortified building or group of buildings with thick walls, usually dominating the surrounding country; it served the twofold function of residence and fortress. Most castles will have a square donjon, or keep, was set against the strong outer walls of masonry; the entrance was protected by a double gate, two flanking round towers, and advanced earthworks. The place enclosed by the outer circuit of walls was usually divided into two courts, or baileys, by a palisade. Subterranean passages made detection of underground forays easy.

In general, the castle was planned for security; the living quarters were rude, poorly lighted, and without provisions for comfort. Typically, the keep contained the living quarters of the lord and his family, the rooms of state, and the prison cells. Two independent systems of walls, each a fortress in itself, extended around the keep; the sections of the walls were flanked by towers, usually round, and the principal entrance was protected by strong gate towers, the massive gateway, with its portcullis and drawbridge, and the barbican, or advanced outwork. The defenders operated from galleries at the tops of walls and from the flat roofs of towers, whose battlements were provided with recesses with flaring sides, called embrasures, and openings, or machicolations, for shooting and dropping missiles on the attackers. The fully developed castle was thus marked by successive series of defenses; the fall of the outer works did not necessarily mean the loss of the entire castle.

Since a castle is extremely expensive to build they are normally constructed in regions where unrest may be expected, such as frontiers or rebellious provinces, although the conditions prompting their construction may have long vanished. Since a castle is such a strong symbol of strength most lords would be hesitant to hand one over to anyone but the most trusted or retainers. Therefore, few orders hold such a structure; however, the ones that do, have been awarded castles guarding regions prone to constant incursions and hostile attacks. Most keeps will be supported by 10-20 manors. The role of these manors being to supply the garrison with supplies and additional man-power. Castles belonging to an order will have a normal garrison of two full chapters; a castle guarding a hostile region may have double this.

Keeps

This is the same kind of fortified tower found in the castle above, however it is surrounded by a less substantial curtain wall containing a gatehouse but no supplementary towers. The supplemental features mentioned for the castle above are minimal at best or nonexistent. Orders were awarded existing structures within frontier or border regions for the explicit purpose of defending the region from outside aggression. Most keeps will be supported by 5-10 manors and have a normal garrison of one full chapter; a keep guarding a hostile region may have double this.

Priories

All order are broken into numerous chapters which in turn are based at chapter houses called priories. Priories have the rural manor as their model. or a keep if the order has one under its control. The priory is the command center for all members of the order within a specific area and also acts as a collection point for proceeds gathered from outlying subordinate manors and/or annexes. The priory is normally commanded by a senior Meketa and houses a full chapter of troops. The troops assigned to these chapters patrol trade and or pilgrim routes, provide protection for religious and/or political leaders, and act as concentration points for local defense or raids. Some of these establishments may even have training facilities for new recruits.

Annexes

Like the above priory, these are founded upon rural manors but are subordinate to the priories above. They are often commanded by a Telmen and house a half-strength chapter. Their mission is very similar to that of the full chapter giving the order additional manpower in regions where they have the lands but not enough brothers to fill a full chapter.

In addition, they also fulfill the mission of a grange, which tends to be absent in lands controlled by the Agrikan orders. In this capacity they have two primary functions: one is to provide their mother houses with provisions and the other is to act as a revenue generator for the order.

The Manor

A manor is the basic economic unit within the feudal and fighting order hierarchy. A manor might contain a manorhouse, at least one village of 10-20 families, Rethemi manors held by fighting orders tend to be substantially larger and have up to 50 or 60 households, and one mill. A manorhouse controlled by a fighting order would be a fortified house constructed of wood or stone; its central feature being a great hall. In addition, their would be outbuilding to support the military and agricultural needs of the manor. Manors that function as a chapterhouse would have far more outbuildings to support the large garrison housed their in comparison to manors that are subordinate to the chapterhouse. These smaller manors would be more like a secular knight's manor and concern themselves with supplying their superior chaterhouses with supplies.

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