Navarr military concerns

Film: Centurion

War is not a game, it is a life-and-death conflict. Most Navarr warriors have little interest in forming battle lines and engaging their enemies in honourable battle. They are pragmatic, and favour war through ambush, skirmish and guile. They disdain heroic charges and single combat with enemy leaders - better to fade back and draw the enemy into a trap than face them in one-on-one combat.

Donning warpaint – often embellished with a stylised thorn motif – is an important pre-battle ritual and warrior bands work together to paint each other. By donning warpaint, the Navarr warriors display their commitment to the coming fight. Members of a Steading or Striding will often use similar themes, colours or designs to give themselves a clear battlefield identity as a unit, in the same way that other nations use livery or heraldry.

Leather and chain mail are favoured along with the ubiquitous barbed spear, which honours the original spears wielded by the Navarr forebears. Shields, when used, are narrow and fluted, barely wider than the wielder and often heavily decorated with the thorn motif.

Those Navarr who devote themselves to war are called Thorns.

“You can’t betray your enemies.”

The warriors of the Navarr have two primary areas of interest. They are concerned with the defence of the Steadings and Stridings against bandits and barbarians. They also take responsibility for fighting the forces of the Vallorn. The Vallorn represents a hostile environment, replete with dangerous plants and monstrous insects. These creatures make infrequent incursions into Imperial territory, and the Navarr are at the forefront of driving them back. They also prepare for the day when they will be able to assault their enemy directly, both by scouting the areas of Vallorn influence, and by locating areas that might serve as bases of operation, or recruiting allies to help in the inevitable challenge of defeating the Vallorn's progeny.