[Yeah, a whole Chapter of info dump, hahaha.
Anyway, I find these Chapters really satisfying to write, but I promise there won’t be many more of them now that the army’s main structure has been established.
A supplentary Chapter has been created with a breakdown of Goldenveil’s military hierarchy. Please take a look and share your thoughts.]
The following week in Goldenveil passed in a whirlwind of work for Ethan, Tomas, and, of course, Doran.
The first thing Ethan had to tackle was, naturally, defining the foundation of the baronial army’s military hierarchy.
After much thought and reviewing countless drafts, he ended up opting for a military force based, at least in part, on the ancient Roman army.
The lowest rank was that of recruit, with a salary of thirty silver coins per month—an amount Ethan planned to set as the minimum wage across all of Goldenveil.
Considering that an ordinary peasant in the Kingdom of Burning Ice would be lucky to earn more than six or seven silver coins a month, it was extrely generous pay.
Above the recruit ca the third-, second-, and first-rank legionaries, with salaries of thirty-five, forty, and forty-five silver coins, respectively.
Just above them was the decanus, leader of a squad of ten soldiers, earning eighty silver coins a month.
Next ca the centurion, with a salary of one gold coin per month.
Above him was the centurion primus, tasked with leading a century of one hundred n, supported by two centurions and ten decanus.
The position required at least the third stage and paid five gold coins monthly.
At first glance, it seed little for a third-stage warrior. But there was a crucial difference.
Unlike the ordinary third-stage warriors scattered across the continent, a centurion primus in the Goldenveil army wouldn’t have to spend a single copper on resources to refine his own body and power.
All such resources would co directly from the army, effectively eliminating the very expense that normally justified these specialists’ high salaries.
Five gold coins purely for personal use was a simply absurd amount for most people.
The centurions primus represented the pinnacle of what an ordinary soldier could achieve, the elite of the elite at the Goldenveil military.
Above them were only the officers.
Lieutenant, at seven gold coins a month. First lieutenant, at ten. And, of course, captain, with a hefty salary of twenty gold coins a month.
A captain, in turn, would lead a cohort of five centuries, with four lieutenants and a first lieutenant under his command, the latter serving as vice captain.
Above the captain ca a high-ranking officer: the tribune.
With a salary of thirty gold coins and the requirent of being at the peak of the third stage, he would generally lead a battalion composed of two cohorts, totaling a thousand n.
Above the tribunes were the legates.
Each led a legion of five thousand n, had to be at least in the fourth stage, and commanded five tribunes beneath him, receiving one hundred gold coins for his services.
It was a ager salary for a fourth-stage specialist.
However, since they received all their resources directly from the army and didn’t need to spend a single coin to strengthen their own power, that pay ended up financing a life bathed in incomparable luxury.
Ultimately, they would earn far less than fourth-stage Awakened scattered across the rest of the continent, yet, ironically, live in far greater comfort.
Above the legates were the Dux, capable of commanding up to five legions and earning a monthly salary of one hundred and fifty gold coins.
At the very top of the pyramid sat only the generals, marshals, and grand marshals, who would serve as deputy commanders of the army, and, of course, the Lord Supre Commander.
Their salaries were two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, and five hundred gold coins, respectively.
All of this, of course, disregarded service and rit bonuses, which could even double a soldier’s salary in a single month.
In the end, most of these positions would remain vacant for quite so ti, since the Goldenveil army simply wasn’t large enough to fill even twenty percent of a single legion.
Still, Ethan was already rolling up his sleeves.
Doran was nad Lord Supre Commander, with Thalion taking the rank of Grand Marshal.
The two posts were still entirely unnecessary for the army’s current size, but Ethan decided to retain them anyway, intent on shaping the foundation of the hierarchy from the very start.
With that, everything began to fall into place.
Aerick, in turn, was granted the rank of general, even though, technically, he was just a civilian official—the noble mayor of one of Goldenveil’s cities.
The appointnt served mainly as a way to honor his service to the barony.
Soon after, another two hundred n were recruited, bringing the total up to a thousand soldiers.
These thousand soldiers were divided into two cohorts of five hundred n each, both led by a captain, two powerful third-stage warriors.
Below the captains, ten centuries were ford, commanded by other third-stage warriors from Goldenveil. And within those ten centuries, one hundred squads erged.
By the end of that entire week dedicated solely to organizing the military hierarchy, the baronial army ended up with a Lord Commander, a Marshal, two captains, ten centurions primus, twenty centurions, and one hundred decans.
Below them stood two hundred recruits and just under seven hundred legionaries, amounting to an expense of one thousand five hundred gold coins per month in salaries alone.
It was an absurd price to pay for such a small army, but the burden ca mainly from the weight of the high command.
The army could still grow considerably before the high command needed to be expanded.
And when that mont ca, the expense would be spread far more thinly across the shoulders of a much larger force, with the cost of officers amounting to only a fraction of the total.
Of course, military salaries wouldn’t be the only expense.
There were logistical services, blacksmiths, and Doran had even been granted permission to use his annual military budget to make direct purchases from Ron, acquiring whatever he deed necessary for the army.
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