Category:Imperial Navy

Overview

Despite the existence of the Imperial Manse, the War Manses, and the Imperial Legions on the Blessed Isle, it is the Imperial Navy that some consider the main line of the Realm's defense. The Isle is, after all, surrounded by the sea, and any attack against the Realm can be thwarted on the open waters before it ever reaches the shores of the Realm itself.

Recruitment

As with the Imperial Legions, nearly every Dynastic House can claim scions as Navy officers, but the largest concentration of Dynasts in the Navy come from House Peleps, which was tasked by the Scarlet Empress with sponsoring the Navy much as other Houses sponsored Legions or manses. These Dynasts, as well as mortals and Outcastes, crew the thousands of vessels within the Navy’s fleets, including modern wooden craft both great and small, and truly ancient artifact-vessels from the First Age, which move across the oceans free of sail or rowers and bear their own deadly essence weaponry. However, despite the price of commissions being lower than the Legions, the Navy has long been less popular as a career option for the Dynasty due to its reputation (akin to that of House Peleps itself), for cutthroat competition to secure advancement and harsh consequences for failure. Some in the Dynasty consider a Navy commission the equivalent for adults to the Palace of Tamed Storms for children: if they survive their service, they will have been properly cured of lazy or effete tendencies.

For regular noncommissioned crew, the Imperial Navy recruits from the population of the Blessed Isle, merchant sailors and fishermen finding a career in the Navy appealing for its stability and as a source of pride. Even those who have never taken to sea can be drawn to the mystique of the Imperial Navy, though civil vessels and the Merchant Marine are filled with sailors who learned enough to be passable, but not enough to maintan Navy standards. The temptation of the Navy extends past the Isle to the Threshold, for every sailor knows of the power of the Imperial Navy and its promise of security and reward for the best skilled sailors. As with most shipping and naval organizations, the Navy also makes use of Press Ganging, and at times Dragonblooded officers have visited Immaculate Temples in port towns to promise advance on the road of enlightenment in exchange for joining a crew which has suffered significant losses. Though some naval powers make use of slaves (particularly as rowers), the Imperial Navy does not do so: when voyages are long and supplies limited, every member of the crew must be relied upon to work hard and fight hard in the name of their vessel and the Realm.

Promotion in the Navy follows the same pattern as that of the Thousand Scales... it is, as a general rule, a meritocracy. Regular crew who prove themselves have a chance at advancement in rank. To encourage this, House Peleps had a longstanding policy of payment to the Throne in exchange for granting commoner officers patrician rank in the Shield clan... this was, however, abandoned in RY709, in the aftermath of the merchant marine's transfer from House Peleps to House V'neef.

The Navy values sorcerers, due to their potent abilities in naval combat, and thaumaturges are also vital members of most crews undertaking ocean voyages. For negotiation with spirits, and to prevent heretical invocation of gods to grant a ship fair weather or safety from storms, the Immaculate Order appoints numerous monks to serve as chaplains for most Navy vessels. These monks, while their duty is religious, do not shirk from employing their potent martial arts when their vessels become embroiled in boarding actions.

Mission

The Navy’s mission is broad, both in terms of geography and scope. It must patrol and protect the coasts of the Blessed Isle from attackers and lawbreakers (such as pirates or smugglers), it must carry the might of the Realm’s armies and the voices of its diplomats across the seas so it can reach its grasp into the Threshold, it must defend the trade routes and shipping lanes which feed the economy of the Scarlet Empire and coffers of the Great Houses, and it must destroy the great dangers such as the Fair Folk and the Anathema which threaten Creation itself, proving that the Scarlet Empire and the Dragonblooded are the Princes of the Earth, righteous rulers over all Creation.

Funding

Acting righteously is, of course, very expensive… indeed, from ships to crews to ports to supplies, the Navy is VERY expensive, and while the Imperial Treasury and Great Houses bore much of the cost for the Imperial Legions, House Peleps was alone sponsor of the Navy, though the Realm and Houses would be called on to commission its ships and maintain its manses. For a long time, this was not an issue for House Peleps: the Navy demanded much attention, much manpower, much jade, but along with those costs came the great benefit of the Imperial Merchant Marine: the ships owned directly by the Scarlet Empress and her government. As ships are costly, and can only be purchased with jade currency not available in quantity to the common classes of the Realm (not to mention the connections required to license their construction, crew them, insure them, and the like), most of the shipping carried out by the Realm’s merchants and patricians, as well as its Dynasts, takes place on Imperial ships rented for the purpose. Additionally, the merchant marine’s vessels included their military arm, the Imperial Merchant Navy, which operated a number of vessels for customs duty along the coasts of the Blessed Isle, collecting cargo tariffs and docking fees and lighthouse tithes and renting out (mandatory) pilots to navigate into harbours or through shoals. The jade and scrip generated by the merchant fleet and Merchant Navy were immense, sufficient to cover the costs of the Navy and feed a set sum back into the Imperial Treasury, though with little left over. Unsatisfied with this, House Peleps used its dominance of the Navy and competitive approach to, over many years, increase the efficiency of the merchant marine and the Merchant Navy, purging captains and crews who could not make voyages profitable, eliminating corruption and excess bureaucracy, and enforcing strict (some Thresholders might justifiably say piratical) enforcement of tariffs and fees. There was great advantage in this: not only was the Realm’s merchant fleet becoming more efficient, but every extra obol House Peleps could squeeze out flowed into its coffers.

Until RY708, when the Scarlet Empress declared a gift to the new-founded House V’neef: sponsorship of the merchant marine and Imperial Merchant Navy. House Peleps, still bound to bear the Navy’s expenses, was now without the income that had kept that burden at bay.

The Imperial Navy was thus the first Imperial institution to begin to suffer from neglect and reduction, long before the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress. Offered lucrative deals by House V’neef, many skilled captains and crew (particuilarly those seeking to escape harsh discipline and competition) left the fleets of the Imperial Navy to join the Merchant Navy. House Peleps could not shirk its responsibilities, but now needed cost-effective solutions. A number of vessels were confined to port rather than repaired when they suffered damage, and patrols were required to prove merit rather than merely demonstrating Realm power. The Navy also took to aggressively boarding ships to search for ‘contraband’ and to levy ‘taxes’, actions which had been carried out before but now became necessary. In the Deliberative, the once-powerful Peleps caucus suffered greatly from having to trade its support for the motions of other Houses in exchange for grants of Treasury funds to the Navy.

The disappearance of the Empress has, however opened new opportunities. With the V’neef charging exorbitant costs for use of merchant marine ships to supply the Navy, the Empty Throne allowed House Peleps to pursue an alternate course: ships not fit for the battle line could be sold for a pittance directly to House Peleps, which could use them to forge a supply fleet which would not bill the Navy for its services. New warships constructed in the years since have also not been granted to the Navy itself but rather leased from the Peleps households and manned with Navy crews, and transfers of vessels from the Air and Water fleets to the more profitable Fire and Wood fleets has taken place on a larger scale than the Empress would likely have allowed. Navy warships have even seen use hauling cargo, the military vessels promising security from pirates and foreign powers far greater than that the merchant marine or independent shipping companies can provide.

Uniforms

The uniforms of the Imperial Navy are varied. While sailors typically wear loose shirts and pantaloons, officers dress in elaborate naval jackets, whose cuffs and shoulders are decorated with gilded braids or chains to denote rank. Each also bears a decorative gorget denoting the source of their position: those whose commissions have been purchased by the Great Houses bear the House mon in appropriate colour of Jade, while those promoted from the ranks bear the bronze pentagram of the Realm. Officers who accomplish great things or acts of heroism have this mon replaced by a golden pentagram, the sight of which can strengthen the dedication of crews under the officer's command. Though most go into service with land forces rather than those of the sea, graduates of the major secondary schools and Pasiap's Stair are marked by small trinkets hanging from the gorget.

Fleets

The Imperial Navy is divided into four fleets, each responsible for a quadrant of Creation. While the fleets each have a host of small vessels for river operations within the Blessed Isle, the bulk of military vessels in the Isle's rivers and lakes belong to the Guardians of the Realm, the Imperial Merchant Navy, or the various House Guard elements serving as auxiliaries to the Navy or Imperial Legions.

Though House Peleps sponsors the Navy and has significant control over promotions and acceptance of commissions within it, Peleps scions do not control the admiralty posts in all of the Navy's fleets. House Peleps and the Navy reward ambition and ability, and so each of the admirals, regardless of their family connections, has a good reputation for their skill.

The overall commander of the Imperial Navy is Meganavarchos Peleps Eralin (the 'Sea Witch'). A sorcerer and effective military leader, though not reputed for her skill in personal combat. Eralin was the wife of former Archinavarchos Peleps Sorugan, who died in RY760 when a large number of Fool's Webcap Mushrooms were mistakenly added to his favourite dish, a pastry tart of thyme and Farmer's Webcap Mushrooms. Sorugan himself assumed command of the Navy in RY707, replacing Peleps Guansho (the 'Keel-Hauler') when the latter was appointed to the Deliberative Senate by writ of the Scarlet Empress, to replace his wife senator Peleps Ierana who had perished of a 'wasting of the spirit' due to her sorrow after the Battle of Infernal Fire some months before.

Below the grand admiral of the Imperial Navy serve four fleet admirals, each commanding a directional fleet.

Archinavarchos Peleps Lundaer commands the Fire Fleet which is headquartered in Noble and is assigned to patrol the southern quadrant of the Inland Sea. The Fire Fleet, while not as profitable as the Wood Fleet, has been developing its ability to haul cargo across the Inner Sea, a source of much income for the Navy.

Archinavarchos Ledaal Calin commands the Water Fleet which is headquartered at Port Wavehold and guards the western quadrant.

Archinavarchos Ragara Feria commands the Air Fleet which is headquartered at Chanos and operates in the northern quadrant.

Archinavarchos Peleps Polin (the 'Prancing Dragon') commands the Wood Fleet, headquartered in Sdoia, guards the eastern quadrant, and has advanced its reach and patrols deep along the rivers of the Scavenger Lands. Polin has managed to make his fleet extremely profitable, levying tariffs on the merchants of the River Province in exchange for the protection of his fleet from pirates and raiders.

Due to his continued influence over Peleps-owned ships on the rivers of the Blessed Isle, and his ownership of an artifact-vessel capable of sailing land as if it were water, senator and former grand admiral Peleps Guansho is sometimes (mockingly) referred to as admiral of the 'Earth Fleet', though no such fleet has ever existed.

Technically the Imperial Merchant Navy, based out of Arjuf, also answers to the meganavarchos of the Imperial Navy, though they have not acknowledged that authority since RY708. That fleet, and overall control of the Realm's merchant marine, is held by archinavarchos V'neef Ririon (formerly Peleps Ririon). He took the post in RY709, following his adoption into House V'neef, succeeding former archinavarchos Peleps Danan who was appointed to the Deliberative by the Scarlet Empress as thanks for his many years of service.

Ships

The Imperial Navy controls thousands of ships amongst its fleets, and these are varied in design and capability. The Navy classifies its own (and enemy) vessels according to their own classification system.