Warrior House
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The Capellan Warrior Houses are semi-religious military orders within the Capellan Confederation, independent from the regular Capellan Confederation Armed Forces. They are a unique feature of the Capellan military, and well known and feared throughout the Inner Sphere. They are typically abbreviated "WH".
Contents
Description
Sworn "to the Chancellor and to the Confederation" and fanatically loyal to House Liao, the Warrior Houses are autonomous monastic organizations operating as combined arms regiments, typically pairing highly trained infantry with one or two battalions of 'Mechs, and occasionally armor elements. They operate under traditional House laws based on the Warrior House guidelines, which were created by Colonel Hiritza Hikaru from a somewhat revised concept of the Lorix Order, modeled along the Korvin Doctrine.
The first Warrior House, House Imarra, was formed by the Chancellor's Decree of Martial Unity in 2864.
The Warrior Houses played an important role in Maximilian Liao's reach for power in 2990, and he authorized an increase of established Warrior House regiments from four to eight the following year.
Owing to their structure, the Warrior Houses are mainly used as special forces rather than frontline troops, and have access to the best equipment that the Capellan Confederation has to offer. For this preferential treatment, they have a strained relationship with the regular Capellan military most of the time.
Membership in a Warrior House is regarded as a great honor. Members wear long Katana blades (at least with their ceremonial uniforms) and are trained experts in a wide variety of martial skills, including piloting a BattleMech, infantry training, infiltration, espionage and specialist training.
Each Warrior House is led by a House Master with subordinate Mentors. Suitable membership candidates are chosen at the age of 12 by the House Master, and then educated and trained by the House for a lifetime of service. It is very rare, although not unheard of, for a House member to leave the order. Warrior House pupils lead a life apart from normal society; each House strives to inculcate basic martial philosophy and discipline, and each member is required to take various House Vows.
There is no formal ranking among the Warrior House Orders, although House Imarra is considered the first among equals.
Training
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Enrollment
The applicants usually entered a Warrior House between ages ten and twelve. The Warrior House granted only an interview to potential cadets and make an decision later. Every individual warrior house had its own recruitment procedures, but the baselines were as follows: Capellan citizenship, loyalty to the state (Chancellor) and belief in the state philosophies (Lorix Order for example). The entrance to the Warrior House is the own free wish of the applicants.
Curriculum
New applicants had a mentor (Sifu) to guide them through their entire training. The basics were taught in the first two years. After that time the recruits began to learn their future MOS. The Sifu decided in most cases for which roll the aspirant was suitable. Advanced training began at age fourteen and lasted two years.
Atmosphere
The orders were a community. Every member was to regard the others with respect and honor. The House provided support in hard times, but also expected total devotion to the order from the students.
Graduation
At sixteen years of age, the cadet could enter service with the active WH unit as a warrior.
The "classic" Warrior Houses
The eight major Houses, in order of seniority, are as follows:
- Warrior House Imarra
- Entrusted with the defence of Sian, the Capellan capital world, and permanently stationed there. The other Warrior House battalions rotate to Sian periodically for special training. The Imarra House Master is the accepted spokesman for all the Warrior Houses together.
- Warrior House Kamata
- Based on Betelgeuse and tasked with defending the factories there. Buddhistic outlook and strong belief in Karma. One of only two Warrior Houses that deploy their own Aerospace assets.
- Warrior House Hiritsu
- Moved their stronghold to Randar. House Hiritsu is notable for strongly following the philosophy of K'ung-fu-tzu (Confucius), having incorporated his teachings into their House Vows, with courtesy a major element.
- Warrior House Lu Sann
- Also spelled LuSann. Based on Grand Base, but often sent to fight elsewhere. Believes in applying the Lorix Order at all levels of Capellan society. This has led them to criticize Chancellors in the past. Their loyalty to House Liao is therefore not rated as high as other Warrior Houses.
- Warrior House Dai Da Chi
- Also spelled Daidachi. The most bellicose of all Warrior Houses, they strive towards martial excellence and are noted for hard training and high attrition rates. They are the only Warrior House to field two 'Mech battalions, and one of only two maintaining their own aerospace assets.
- Warrior House Fujita
- Moved their stronghold to Hunan. Founded on principles borrowed from bushido.
- Warrior House Ma-Tsu Kai
- Also spelled Matsukai. The only Warrior House founded by a non-military scholar.
- Warrior House Ijori
- Based on Han philosophies including Confucianism, Taoism and the Lorix Order. The only Warrior House to field two infantry battalions.
Other Houses
There may be minor Warrior Houses in existence in addition to the aforementioned eight Houses which are frequently referred to as the "major" Warrior Houses. The Capellan Chancellor can create or disband Warrior Houses at any time.
Thuggee Warrior Houses
Kali Liao created two additional "Warrior Houses" in the late 3060s from her Thuggee cult members who were cyberneticlly enhanced using Word of Blake technology obtained through her affair with Cameron St. Jamais. The existence of these two units came as a surprise to the Capellan Confederation. They appeared during the Word of Blake assault on Sian in 3074 where the White Tigers turned on their fellow House Raksasha and they destroyed each other.[1]
- Warrior House White Tiger
- Marched with the Word of Blake on Sian but turned against them on Kali Liao's command, wiping out House Rakshasa and sowing chaos among the Word of Blake forces. Only a handful members are said to have survived.
- Warrior House Rakshasa
- Wiped out to the last man on Sian by House White Tiger.
Although they are colloquially referred to as such, it remains arguable whether or not Houses White Tiger and Rakshasa could be regarded as Warrior Houses in the strictest sense, because Kali Liao technically was in no legal position to raise additional Warrior Houses.
New Capellan Warrior House
- Warrior House Tsang Xiao
- After the first Word of Blake attack on Sian, Aiguo Yang privately raised a regiment of forces to defend the Capellan homeworld and nearby systems. Once the situation had calmed down Mandrinn Yang assembled the best survivors of the regiment into a formation based on that used by the classic Warrior Houses. He then gave the battalion of troops to Sun-Tzu Liao as a gift. The Chancellor incorporated them into Sian's defenses after officially granting them Warrior House status.[2]
Death Commandos
Some also consider the Capellan Death Commandos to be a Warrior House in the wider sense, or at least a related institution. However, it should be noted that, unlike Warrior Houses, the Death Commandos are part of the regular Capellan military and have a particularly strained relationship with the Warrior Houses; they are often set against the Warrior Houses in political maneuvering. Yet, they exclusively recruited (or drafted) their personnel from the Warrior Houses until they opened up for qualified personnel from regular line regiments in 3003.
Warrior House Ranking Conventions
Much like they are a rank apart from the CCAF as a whole, the Warrior Houses employ their own unique ranking convention. However, like the CCAF under the tenets of Xin Sheng, the ranks and their names have been altered:
| Old Rank | New Rank |
|---|---|
| House Master | Shiao-zhang (Lord Colonel) |
| Battalion Leader | Ying-zhang (Lieutenant Colonel [Infantry]) |
| Company Leader | Lien-zhang (Major) |
| Lance/Platoon Leader | Pai-zhang (Captain) |
| Squad Leader | Ban-zhang (Lieutenant) |
| Infantryman | Zhang-si (Lance Corporal) |