Private Armies on Zaria
Free companies, mercenaries, and Private Military Companies are all terms for a rather simple concept: a group of people (typically former military, but not always) who fight for money, without having allegiance to any cause or nation.
According to my research, these groups started in the early medieval period (the 12th century) and have evolved since then. But the basic concept is always the same.
In the nations of Zaria, this concept exists as well.
The Legions of Rhon
Perhaps the most well-known mercenaries in the world are the Legions of Rhon.
After many of the tribes of the Rhonish plains moved into the XX Basin and settled what would become the first of the Rhonish city-states, they needed a source of revenue. So the first Legions were formed as independent entities only loosely affiliated with their host city.
Originally, they found each other for land and resources, but as the city-states grew and evolved, the influence of the Legions spread and they began finding work in Welos and Istivan.
The success of the Orcish Legions inspired the Elvish tribe of Sidori to follow suit and shortly after the human cities of Venosh and Demosh also incentivized the formation of their own free companies.
Although they have continued a tradition of success and lucrative contracts, most of the Rhonish city-states have recently begun discouraging their support of the Legions. Increased taxes and regulation have lead to the collapse of nearly half of the Legions and the rest are either on their way out, or have sought homes elsewhere.
The Tribes of Galten and Thayer
Less wide-ranging, but no less intimidating, the city-states of Galten and Thayer separated from the nation of Franta nearly a millenia ago over the Hordes they offered up as raiders to the highest bidder and took a cut of the lucrative treasure.
Because of their proximity to western Ansgar, the neighbor was nearly always the target and the diplomatic pressure was mounting on the Frantan government to stop the raids.
As firearms developed and raids became less lucrative and the resistance by their targets became more fierce, the Hordes have largely dropped off, though a few have reformed themselves as Mercenary Companies and offer their services as guards and escorts.
Largely speaking, the world of Zaria frowns on the use of mercenaries, but they exist for the moment and have their ardent supporters.
What Have I Been Up To?
Hello readers!
Again a major gap in time since my last post, but I think this one will stick. I’ve found a new, better job and I’ve completed a full rewrite of Cerberus, a re-plot of Hydra and I am 23k words into that rewrite.
After much soul-searching and rereading the current iterations, I realized that they weren’t the best they could be, so I decided to rewrite them. I have a plan for re-publishing and including physical copies this time. I want to reward the readers of my current versions, so I will have some methods of compensating you all for the current versions once they are deprecated — more on that when we get closer to the event.
I want to know what you, the readers, want to know about the world of Zaria. Comment what part of my world you’d like to see me explore and I will get working on a list. Until then, stay tuned for more content as I hope to post weekly and return to full form as a novelist. I have so many ideas for Zaria and I believe they could be great!
Using History as Inspiration
Many of the best sci-fi and fantasy writers find a way to work history into their works. J.R.R. Tolkien used his experiences in World War I to write The Lord of the Rings, George RR Martin has used the War of the Roses as inspiration for Game of Thrones, and the list goes on.
As someone with a lifelong passion for the American Civil War and the resulting drive to minor in History alongside my English major, I find a great amount of satisfaction in using history to inform my writing. Sometimes it’s a very obvious inspiration and often more of a feel or sense of history.
Such is the impact of the American Civil War, and to a lesser degree the American Revolution, on my Gunpowder Fantasy. One of the first major conflicts with muskets and rifles, the first ironclad battle and one of the first major conflicts where railroads played a part, the American Civil War has had an obvious impact.
The world of Zaria is in a similar position to our own in the 19th Century. Railroads and rifles are a recent innovation and no major wars have been fought since their development. But all of that changes throughout the different series ilve been working on.
The rapid redeployment of troops swings battles, as it did in the battle of First Bull Run/Manassas, rifling and the accuracy and distance that it imparts result in casualties unimaginable before and maybe ever the first clash of ironclads are all events in Zaria that draw heavily from my research and knowledge of history.
With so many wars and technological innovations in our world, if your story involved conflict there is likely some historical event or battle that you can draw inspiration from. So read up on your history and you might just find something useful!
The Soldiers of Andivar
The world of Zaria is full of different militaries and tactics.
In the nation of Andivar, these tactics have resulted in a refined structure to the army and different roles to fill.
Infantry divisions can be easily divided into three primary combat roles: Skirmishers, Grenadiers, Regulars.
As in our own world in the 18th and 19th centuries, Skirmishers are primarily scouting parties and sharpshooters. Trained to work in pairs, typically separate from the main body of the army, Skirmishers move out on the flanks and forward of the main body to find the enemy and harass them with accurate fire and guerilla tactics.
Skirmishers are not trained to stand and fight in line formation and do poorly when pressed into service in such a role.
Typically armed with the most accurate and advanced firearms available, Andivari Skirmishers go to battle with long rifles and, occasionally, new looking glass equipped rifles for farther, more accurate shots.
Nearly exactly the opposite of Skirmishers are the Grenadiers. Drawn from those of the biggest stock, Grenadiers are best equipped for urban and trench warfare. They are the bruisers of the army.
Andivari Grenadiers are typically armed with carbines, their shorter length being more manageable in tight quarters. Though they can also be provided standard issue rifles.
The real power of the Grenadiers comes in the form of the grenades they are trained to hurl great distances and to devastating effect.
Finally, the regulars. These line infantry are what you imagine when you think of the average American Civil War soldier. Trained to use their rifles in concert with the rest of their company, they are the prototypical cannon fodder of the Andivari army. Less trained than the specialists Grenadiers and Skirmishers, they are the direct descendants of the levies of more primative times.
Mobility and Knowledge is the creed of the Andivari Cavalry. Once relegated to those wealthy enough to furnish their own steeds, the modern Andivari cavalry is more diverse both in their makeup and tactics.
The Gendarme are the most obvious holdouts of the efforts to make the cavalry a more equal group. Mostly consisting of nobility, the Gendarme are the shock troopers of the Andivari cavalry.
Armed with sabres and revolvers, they are not equipped or trained to fight at distance. Rather they close the distance with the enemy quickly and crash into unprepared infantry or cavalry and wreak as much havoc as they are able.
Lancers are the counter to enemy cavalry. They are trained to charge enemy cavalry units in formation and use their lances to break up the enemy clusters. Also provided with revolvers, in case of a melee, they are not suited to charging fortified positions or prepared enemy lines.
Hussars are the skirmishes of the cavalry divisions. Armed with carbines and trained for hit and run attacks, the Hussars do not get bogged down in the melee, instead relying on their speed and flexibility to harass enemy flanks.
Finally, the dragons of the Andivari Cavalry are better labeled as mounted infantry. Trained in both mounted and foot combat, they are armed with long guns for fighting in foot and carbines for acting more like hussars.
Dragoons are largely used to ride out ahead of the main body, dismount and occupy a position long enough for regular infantry to arrive, then mount back up and move to the next advanced position. When it does come to a fight, they behave similarly to skirmishers in small group engagements and delaying actions against the enemy.
The Andivari Army has spent hundreds of years perfecting their tactics and every Marshal knows exactly how to use each element of their force to subdue the enemy and claim victory for their nation.
Personal Struggles
If you’re just finding this blog recently, you might notice a major gap on between my last couple of blog posts. Almost 3 years in fact.
Well, there’s a reason for that. Without going into too much detail, my life for the last few years has been a bit Topsy Turvy. But the creative spurt has finally returned and I should be posting more frequently as well as working on my world more.
I hope you stick around, check out my books and look for my future endeavors!
#AmQuerying
With the first couple passes of edits completed for Loyalty Betrayed, I’ve begun the arduous process of querying agents.
I’m currently building a list of agents and agencies who are interested in Fantasy and should get the ball rolling soon.
If any of my readers are agented authors who have agents open to queries, please drop me a line if you’d be willing to refer me, the help would be appreciated!
Otherwise it’s into the query trenches I go!
A “Novel Web”
Over the last couple of years I’ve been jotting down random ideas for stories and just letting them sit while I work on other stuff. Occasionally I’ll go back and add some stuff to them, but for the most part they just sit and wait.
Recently, I’ve decided to take several of those ideas and blend them together. While I’m working on edits for Loyalty Betrayed, I’m taking the time to plot out what I describe as a Web of Novels.
These stories are set on Zaria, a few years after Loyalty Betrayed. The basic idea is that there are 6 different threads of independent stories, but they’ll weave into each other and impact the events of the other threads.
Sometimes this will be direct interaction and sometimes it will be a “knock-on” effect of an action in one thread causing a reaction on another thread. It will be interesting plotting this as I want to make sure that everything is lined up. Which means I’ll be writing about 250,000 words of outline total. Should be fun!
Loyalty Betrayed Draft 2 Complete
At just shy of 91,000 words, the second draft of Loyalty Betrayed is complete.
There are still some story lines I need to beef up in editing, but I’m working on my next project while I let it rest for a little while. Ideally, I’d love to be able to get it edited and cleaned up in time for PitchWars at the end of September, but we’ll see how it goes. The prologue and first chapter have already been heavily edited, so I have a head-start on that.
My next project, the “Web” of novels planned to take place 8 years after Loyalty Betrayed, is in the high level outline process right now. Twenty-five Novels spread across 6 Independent but Interconnected threads. I’ll make a post on that soon.
If anyone would like to Beta Read Loyalty Betrayed, feel free to drop me a line!
Flying Through Rewrites!
As I mentioned in my last post, I threw out almost all of Loyalty Betrayed.
The story was stilted and felt like I had forced it into a box. I kept the Prologue and Chapter 1, but the rest of it got the ax.
Over the course of the last week I wrote an entirely new chapter-by-chapter outline, which clocked in at about 7,500 words, and I’ve been working on my second draft.
And let me tell you, having written the story once and then refocused it with a new outline, I’ve been tearing through the words. I’m currently sitting at approximate 45,000 words and I’ve run through about 1/3 of the outline.
The focus I’ve had is incredible. This is the first time I’ve ever trashed a “complete” draft, rebuilt and restarted and I’m really enjoying the pace. I’ve veered off a little from the outline here and there, but then I do that regularly. It’s the 10% or so of my brain that’s a “pantser”.
I’m on vacation starting today so I have about 8 days of no work with which I hope to really lay into this draft. I’m looking forward to finishing it and getting back into edits. I’ll update more as I go along!
If anyone is interested in Beta-Reading when I get this draft complete, let me know!
Gunpowder Fantasy 