Stonewall Phalanxes

[M Helsdon]

The Dara Happans are obsessed with the number ten and consider it and its multiples to be the perfect number. There were once ten fabled Dara Happa elite regiments known as the Stonewall Phalanxes. All were active since the time of the Gods War.

 

Most of the Stonewall Phalanxes worship Polaris as their founder. They are each guarded by a star up in the Celestial City, one of the officers of Polaris.

 

• The Basalt Phalanx of the city of Iothaka rebelled against Emperor Erzanestyu in the early Second Age. Both the regiment and the city were destroyed, leaving only haunted ruins.
• The Beryl Phalanx of the city of Darleep has special magic for fighting against the Ram People of Talastar and Brolia. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Granite Phalanx of Melsorkorth has special magic for fighting against trolls. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Jasper Phalanx of Kalvostos. This phalanx defeated the Bird People of Rinliddi for the Dara Happan Empire. It has special magic for fighting against the people of First Blessed. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Marble Phalanx of Mesavos has special magic for fighting against Darkness. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Quartz Phalanx of the city of Katchpidi conquered Rinliddi for Emperor Urvairinus in the Gods War. The phalanx was entirely consumed by the Crimson Bat at the First Battle of Chaos.

 

Now, I know there are some (possibly non-canonical) sources for the missing four Stonewall Phalanxes, but is there any canonical source?

Edited April 10, 2016 by M Helsdon

[metcalph]

In a series of articles that were once published on glorantha.com, the missing phalanxes were

• Diamond Phalanx of Yuthuppa, destroyed by the Mad Sultannate.
• Slate Phalanx, destroyed by the Carmanians
• Onyx Phalanx, devoured by the Dragons.
• Emerald(ite) Phalanz, destroyed by Sheng Seleris.

Because the article has been removed and that much information elsewhere in the series has since been made non-canonical, I don't considere the above names to be canon.

EDIT: Just did a search.  Emeraldite appears to be an obscure name for Green Tourmaline..

Edited April 10, 2016 by metcalph

[Stew Stansfield]

Some bits of info could be deliberately vague or left open. When I asked Greg who the 'Sokastori'--the enemies of the Basalt Phalanx--were, for something I was doing, he said he had no idea and told me to make something up. (I plumbed for sorcerers--specifically Logicians/'Wicked Philosophers'--incidentally.)

[David Scott]

I made near complete copies of the websites in 1998, 2003, 2006, 2013 using some simple site scraping software so I could access the info offline.

The Ten Stonewall Phalanxes page from 2001 is near identical to an unpublished and incomplete work from 1997 called "The Lunar Army".

Greg wrote:

The Ten Stonewall Phalanxes  The Stonewall regiments were some of the first of the Hightlight Regiments. Unlike most other (later) units, these all shared two characteristics rather than being different. These magic effects were:  Ability to stand against an impacting charge and take much less damage than a normal infantry unit. Ability to be unbeatable if with other 9 similar units. Each also had a traditional foe, against whom they were especially effective in melee.  The military units, which were later called the Ten Traditional Phalanxes, were all extant in the time of Khordavu, and helped that great Emperor to hold his throne. At that time they all had their own mythic connections with other war gods which gave them their great durability and fervor. They served in peace and war and through the Arkat Wars. For this whole time, whenever all ten fought side by side, they were invincible. This perfection was not to last as units were slowly eliminated forever, beyond resurrection.  The first one destroyed, the Basalt Phalanx, was destroyed by "the Toga-man's pet" (ie- Emperor Anirinelm, c. 500, under the commands/influence of Ordanestyu) as traitors in the Enestool Rebellion. The second, the Onyx, was destroyed by Dragons, swallowed whole. [This is also called the Belly-boys, and can still be magically contacted, but cannot be found. It figures largely in common soldierly tales, whenever they fart, but it is beyond me how the regiment got transferred from the belly of the dragon to the belly of the storytellers.] The Slate Phalanx was the third, destroyed by the Carmanians, specifically Cartavar the Conquerer, who recalled the regimental god's human form, then beheaded the god and mounted it atop his own fortress. The Quartz Phalanx was fourth, destroyed in fighting against the Red Goddess and Yanafal Tarnils. Its destruction was one of the deciding issues for the other Traditional Regiments to acknowledge Yanafal Tarnils as their newest God of War. Fifth destroyed was the Diamond Phalanx, crushed and mangled by the Mad Sultanate on one of its invasions.  Those of the Ten Traditionals are: (The format used is:) 0. Name; war god; special foe; Headquarters; fate 1. Granite Phalanx; Polaris; digijelm; Melsorkoth; extant 2. Beryl Phalanx; Urvairinus; Ram People; Darleep; extant 3. Marble Phalanx; Polaris; Darkness Camp of War; Mesavos (Naveria); extant 4. Jasper Phalanx; Polaris; bird people; Kalvostos (Naveria); extant 5. Basalt; Deity*; hates sokastori [no idea what this is]; Iothaka; traitors, destroyed by Erzanestyu 6. Diamond; Deity*; enemy*; Yuthuppa; destroyed by Mad Sultanate 7. Quartz; Urvairinus; bird people; Katchpidi; destroyed by Lunar Army 8. Slate; Deksdeddius[local war god]; matti Kukur, or Hilltop Bandit People; HQ*; destroyed by Carmanians 9. Emeraldite; Deity*; enemy*; HQ*; destroyed by Sheng Seleris 10. Onyx; Deity*; enemy*; *; swallowed by dragon The Flint and Lavic Legions, despite their mineral-names, are not among these, despite some ill-informed writers attempts to make it so. It is worth noting here that these ancient Stonewall units generally survived the vast slaughter of the Dragonkill. This was due to their having been assigned to the Home Garrison Army by Elmexdros, along with most of the other Traditional Units. They, considered old and inferior, were left behind to guard the women when the Golden Horde marched south to their destruction.

 Latest revision: 2 Apr 2001, new

[M Helsdon]

Thank you all: that's very useful.

[M Helsdon]

Probably non-canonical.

The Dara Happans are obsessed with the number ten and consider it and its multiples to be the perfect number. There were once ten fabled Dara Happa elite regiments known as the Stonewall Phalanxes. All were active since the time of the Gods War.

Unlike later regiments, the Wall Phalanxes all shared two characteristic magical effects: Their ability to stand against an impacting charge and take much less damage than a normal infantry unit and their ability to be unbeatable if with the other nine Wall Phalanxes. Each also had a traditional foe, against whom they were especially effective in melee.

These regiments, later called the Ten Traditional Phalanxes, were all extant in the time of Khordavu, and helped that great Emperor to hold his throne. At that time they all had their own mythic connections with other war gods which gave them their great durability and fervor. They served in peace and war and throughout the Arkat Wars. For this whole time, whenever all ten fought side by side, they were invincible.

This perfection was not to last as regiments were slowly eliminated forever, beyond resurrection. 

The ancient Stonewall units generally survived the vast slaughter of the Dragonkill because they had been assigned to the Home Garrison Army by Emperor Elmexdros, along with most of the other Traditional Units. They, considered old and inferior, were left behind to guard the women when the Golden Horde marched south to their destruction. 

Most of the Stonewall Phalanxes worship Polaris as their founder. They are each guarded by a star up in the Celestial City, one of the officers of Polaris.

• The legendary Basalt Phalanx of the city of Iothaka was the first to be destroyed when it rebelled against Emperor Erzanestyu in the early Second Age. Both the regiment and the city were destroyed, leaving only haunted ruins. It had special magic for fighting the sokastori but no one recalls what they were.
• The Beryl Phalanx of the city of Darleep has special magic for fighting against the Ram People of Talastar and Brolia. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Diamond Phalanx of Yuthuppa was the fifth to be destroyed, crushed and mangled by the Mad Sultanate during one of its invasions.
• The Emeraldite Phalanx, destroyed by Sheng Seleris.
• The Granite Phalanx of Melsorkorth has special magic for fighting against trolls. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army. Apocryphal sources indicate that at least some elements of the phalanx were destroyed at Pavis in 1625.
• The Jasper Phalanx of Kalvostos in Naveria. This phalanx defeated the Bird People of Rinliddi for the Dara Happan Empire. It has special magic for fighting against the people of First Blessed. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Marble Phalanx of Mesavo in Naverias has special magic for fighting against Darkness. It now serves in the Heartland Corps of the Lunar Army.
• The Onyx Phalanx was the second to be destroyed, swallowed whole by Dragons.
• The Quartz Phalanx of the city of Katchpidi conquered Rinliddi for Emperor Urvairinus in the Gods War. The phalanx was the fourth to be destroyed when it was entirely consumed by the Crimson Bat at the First Battle of Chaos. Its destruction was one of the deciding issues for the other Traditional Regiments to acknowledge Yanafal Tarnils as their newest God of War.
• The Slate Phalanx was the third to be destroyed, defeated by the Carmanians. CarTavar the Conquerer, who recalled the regimental guardian Deksdeddius’ human form, then beheaded the god and mounted it atop his own fortress. This regiment had special magic against the Matti Kukur, the Hilltop Bandit People.

Each phalanx is highly disciplined and well trained. When maneuvering, a phalanx is composed of ten ranks, each of which includes 100 files at six-foot intervals. This leaves room for skirmishers to pass through the ranks prior to contact with the enemy. Just before this, the five rear ranks come forward into these gaps so that the phalanx presents a solid wall of shields and weapons 200 men long and five men deep. The men in the front rank are veterans and the best soldiers in the regiment.

The phalanxes retain the organization stipulated by Urvairinus. A regiment consists of a Century of a hundred soldiers; each Century is composed of nine Tens of nine soldiers and a Monitor, and one Ten of specialists: the Centurion, his deputy, three bodyguards and five healers. A Polemarch commands the regiment.

For maximum defense, a Stonewall phalanx adopts the ancient Sunstand formation: every soldier stands shoulder to shoulder, curving around to form a circle. The soldiers are divided into four outer groups with the fifth inner group at the center. This formation presents a bristling array of spears in every direction, with no flank to turn, and is especially effective when defending against cavalry.

The Stonewall regiments are numbered among the few units capable of setting pikes to successfully withstand a charge by heavy cavalry.

Edited April 21, 2016 by M Helsdon

[Byll]

Can anybody refer me to where there is a good RG / HQ write up of the Polaris or Polestar cult / tradition? I have a reference in Trade Talk 14 that mentions Fire (light?) and Mastery runes and a 'Captain Souls' spell and the Rigsdal template in the non-canon HW1 Storm Tribe source book, but nothing more recent.

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, Byll said:

Can anybody refer me to where there is a good RG / HQ write up of the Polaris or Polestar cult / tradition? I have a reference in Trade Talk 14 that mentions Fire (light?) and Mastery runes and a 'Captain Souls' spell and the Rigsdal template in the non-canon HW1 Storm Tribe source book, but nothing more recent.

No long version to my knowledge.

Rigsdal is presented as a subcult of Orlanth in SKoH p. 153.  Truth is the noted rune.  Expect that to be paired with Fire/Light for Polaris.

 

[M Helsdon]

6 hours ago, Byll said:

Can anybody refer me to where there is a good RG / HQ write up of the Polaris or Polestar cult / tradition? I have a reference in Trade Talk 14 that mentions Fire (light?) and Mastery runes and a 'Captain Souls' spell and the Rigsdal template in the non-canon HW1 Storm Tribe source book, but nothing more recent.

There's a non-canonical write up here:

http://www.nikkeffingham.com/runequest/polaris.htm

Polaris/Rigsdal features to a limited degree in the forthcoming The Coming Storm, in part because of Kallyr's relationship to the god. The Runes of Polaris seem to feature Light, Truth and possibly Stasis.

[styopa]

Quote

The Dara Happans are obsessed with the number ten and consider it and its multiples to be the perfect number. 

Well that would explain the whole bizarre universality of the metric system in Glorantha, no?

[Noita]

 

15 hours ago, styopa said:

Well that would explain the whole bizarre universality of the metric system in Glorantha, no?

We measure everything by lance length out here in the Wastes...

[Noita]

On Friday, May 13, 2016 at 5:04 PM, Byll said:

Can anybody refer me to where there is a good RG / HQ write up of the Polaris or Polestar cult / tradition? I have a reference in Trade Talk 14 that mentions Fire (light?) and Mastery runes and a 'Captain Souls' spell and the Rigsdal template in the non-canon HW1 Storm Tribe source book, but nothing more recent.

Away from my books but i think he is in the miltary section of the HQ pavis book.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Iskallor

[Tindalos]

23 hours ago, Byll said:

Can anybody refer me to where there is a good RG / HQ write up of the Polaris or Polestar cult / tradition? I have a reference in Trade Talk 14 that mentions Fire (light?) and Mastery runes and a 'Captain Souls' spell and the Rigsdal template in the non-canon HW1 Storm Tribe source book, but nothing more recent.

If you don't mind fan material, there's always this write up for HeroQuest. I can't comment on the quality though, being a little biased.

[M Helsdon]

On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 3:04 PM, Byll said:

Can anybody refer me to where there is a good RG / HQ write up of the Polaris or Polestar cult / tradition? 

There's about half a page about the cult of Polaris as a war god in Wyrms Footnotes 15.

[Byll]

Thanks chaps, I'll look into those.