Military of Dyria

Organisation
The first obligation of a Dyrian is to their town or city, with the fealty owed to others beyond there only being the second-highest priority. All Dyrians are expected to be involved in the defence of their homes if they have means of substance. This has a visible impact on the structure of Dyrian armies. While they retain a core of professional soldiers, militia are common. Nobility have the greatest obligation, but wealthier commoners in a town are also expected to own arms and armour and to present themselves for service if their home is threatened. These militias, though often well equipped, are rarely well drilled or disciplined, but they present a formidable deterrent to pirates landing on the coast or raiders coming from the wilderness of eastern Dyria.

Commoners fulfilling such obligations to be available for militia service pay less tax, and the funding available to nobility to employ professional soldiers is accordingly diminished. Only larger houses, with county-sized or larger domains, really have the means to employ enough soldiers to do more than garrison their fortifications. These bodies of professional soldiers often have a core of minor nobility from the region, supplemented by common soldiers.

Much of Dyria is either on islands or in hilly countryside and its military adapts accordingly. Wealthy Dyrian island houses keep navies, which, although a lavish expense, are core to their security. Dyrian warships are excellent and the expertise of Dyrian mariners is widely sought after in the empire. On land, the core of an army is well armed infantry, with lightly equipped common soldiers to operate in rough terrain. Cavalry are relatively uncommon in a Dyrian army, being limited to light scouts or, in rare cases, fast-moving shock cavalry. Professionals are properly drilled and disciplined; militia soldiers are not.

Doctrine
Dyrian military doctrine is starkly different depending on whether they are defending their home or not. In defence of the local region of a town or city, a Dyrian house can rely on substantial, well equipped and mostly undrilled militia. This makes direct attacks on Dyrian settlements an unfavourable proposition for most enemies. In cases where the Dyrians must march out from their town, they usually try to use available professional soldiers to hold the enemy in place for long enough for the militia to join battle. There is rarely any great organisation to such battles. Simply getting a militia to form a line and march forward is as much as even good commanders can hope for.

When Dyrians are far from home, or a house has simply opted not to raise its militia, then they rely on their small core of professionals. These soldiers are far better drilled. Dyrians are well used to the hilly countryside of their home. They seek strong positions for their heavy infantry to hold, while their light infantry, suited to the rough terrain, harry the foe.