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The Resolute Battalion is the Palleseen siege army maintained before the walls of [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Eres Ffenegh|Eres Ffenegh]] throughout the events of the book, its declared purpose "returning the City on the Back of a Crab to the Palleseen Sway" - ch 4. It is the instrument through which [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pal|Pallesand]] attempts to reassert control over a city that expelled its appointed Perfector in the Defenestration, and the entire Palleseen strategic posture in the Archipelago hangs on whether the Battalion can take Eres Ffenegh before the political and necromantic compromises sustaining it unravel. Its arc is one of a force grinding through a stalemate it is too small to win by conventional means, increasingly reliant on illegal undead augmentation, subject to defection and internal investigation, and ultimately handed to a new overall commander in the final act only to be forced into a costly breach-and-retreat cycle that ends with the Pal army withdrawing before a demon legion - ch 7, ch 31, ch 41.

Under Sage-Monitor [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Brandery|Brandery]], the Battalion holds a main camp and a forward camp outside the city walls through winter, having taken four razed districts over months of fighting yet assessed as a stalemate by its own command staff - ch 4, ch 11. Its dependence on the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Dead Companies|Dead Companies]]-undead Moeribandi troops under the sole jurisdiction of [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|the Lich Queen]]-places the Battalion in direct contradiction with Palleseen military doctrine and exposes it to scrutiny from the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Commission|Temporary Commission of Ends and Means]] - ch 6, ch 18, ch 38. The Battalion's significance to the series is that it is the fixed military pressure against which the city's fractious defenders-the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Carcer|Os-Fferegh]], the sea-cult alliance, and the two opposed cults-must organise their entire survival strategy, and its eventual command transition to [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Fowlett|Fowlett]] triggers the final, decisive assault on the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pandaemonium|Pandaemonium]] - ch 31, ch 41.

== The Group ==
=== Composition ===
The Battalion is a conventional Palleseen siege force supplemented by necromantic augmentation. It fields the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Dead Companies|Dead Companies]], undead Moeribandi troops billeted in the old forward camp under [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|Prassel]], whose forces hold the ground between the forward camp and the front - ch 31. These troops fall under the "sole jurisdiction" of [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|the Lich Queen]] rather than the Battalion's own command structure, a fact Sage-Monitor [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Brandery|Brandery]] cannot countermand - ch 18. The command staff occupies a "big tent" at the shore with Brandery as commanding officer - ch 4. The Battalion has suffered at least one high-profile defection: [[The Tyrant Philosophers/the Pope of Tides|the Pope of Tides]], head of the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Fisher King|Fisher King]] cult, was "attached to Resolute Battalion in living memory" before joining the defenders - ch 18. An internal investigation by [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Mellister|Mellister]], a Fellow-Inquirer of [[The Tyrant Philosophers/the School of Correct Speech|Correct Speech]], into financial graft within the Battalion preceded the arrival of the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Hospitallers|Hospitallers]] - ch 29.

=== Purpose & Method ===
The Battalion exists to retake Eres Ffenegh for Pallesand following the Defenestration, in which two opposed cults and the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Carcer|Os-Fferegh]] allied to expel the Palleseen Perfector after a prior Pal victory over the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lor|Loruthi]] - ch 7. Its method is attritional siege: months of fighting yielding four razed districts, a "reaching claw" toward the gate and the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lighthouse|Lighthouse]], and compression of the city's population as a weapon against the defenders - ch 11, ch 29. Where conventional force fails, the command weighs accepting the Dead Companies despite their illegality under Palleseen doctrine - ch 6, ch 12. In the final act, the Battalion's method shifts to a direct breach: magical specialists chew through the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Left-city|Left-city]] to the gates of the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Gaelensreach|Gaelensreach]] and storm the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pandaemonium|Pandaemonium]] before the Pal army retreats before the demon legion - ch 41.

=== Standing ===
The Resolute Battalion answers to the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Commission|Temporary Commission of Ends and Means]], the governing military body of Pallesand, which directs its strategy, circulates the lists that exclude necromancy, and sent the Lich Queen to the Archipelago - ch 38. Against its enemies, the Battalion faces the Os-Fferegh's stone constructs, which prevent a clean Palleseen retreat, and the allied sea-cult and cultic defenders of the city - ch 11. Its standing deteriorates over the course of the book: Brandery's command is described as ending when Fowlett arrives with "official permission for the operation agreed," and Brandery is reduced to street-fighting command - ch 28, ch 31, ch 40. During the final fighting, individual soldiers such as [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lovern|Lovern]] and [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Banders|Anders]] find themselves cut off with no safe way back to the Battalion's lines - ch 33.

== Known members ==

* [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Brandery|Brandery]] - commanding officer

== History ==
=== Pretenders to the Throne Of God ===
The Resolute Battalion is the Palleseen military force besieging [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Eres Ffenegh|Eres Ffenegh]] throughout the book, its stated purpose "returning the City on the Back of a Crab to the Palleseen Sway" - ch 4. Its main camp and forward camp sit outside the city walls during winter, with Sage-Monitor [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Brandery|Brandery]] holding the "big tent" at the shore as commanding officer - ch 4. The siege's origins lie in a prior Palleseen victory over the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lor|Loruthi]] and the subsequent occupation of Eres Ffenegh; two opposed cults and the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Carcer|Os-Fferegh]] allied to expel the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Perfector|Perfector]] in the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Defenestration|Defenestration]], after which the Resolute Battalion moved to retake the city - ch 7. Months into the siege, the Battalion has taken four razed districts but the operation is assessed as a stalemate: the force is too small to take the city outright, and the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Carcer|Os-Fferegh]]'s "idiot magic toys" - stone constructs - have prevented a clean Palleseen retreat, while the Pal advance amounts to only a "reaching claw" toward the gate and the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lighthouse|Lighthouse]] - ch 11. Brandery had expected Eres Ffenegh to be a brief posting before promotion, and a "tomorrow hanging over Brandery and herself like a hammer" colours the command staff's mood - ch 6, ch 12.

The Battalion fields undead Moeribandi troops known as the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Dead Companies|Dead Companies]], a necromantic augmentation that is illegal under Palleseen doctrine and which Brandery weighs accepting for the siege - ch 6, ch 12. Jurisdiction over these troops rests not with Brandery but with [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|the Lich Queen]], who holds "sole jurisdiction over our most potent troops," a fact Brandery cannot countermand - ch 18. The Dead Companies are billeted in the old forward camp under [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|Prassel]], whose forces hold the ground between the forward camp and the front - ch 31. An open concern within the command is whether regular reinforcements or a "duty inquisitor" will arrive before the Dead Companies can be expended, exposing the Battalion's illegal necromancy - ch 11. The [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Commission|Temporary Commission of Ends and Means]], the governing military body of [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pal|Pallesand]], directs the Resolute Battalion's strategy, circulates the lists that exclude necromancy, and sent the Lich Queen to the Archipelago - ch 38.

Defection has cost the Battalion at least one high-profile member: [[The Tyrant Philosophers/the Pope of Tides|the Pope of Tides]], head of the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Fisher King|Fisher King]] cult, was "attached to Resolute Battalion in living memory" before joining the sea-cult alliance defending the city - ch 18. [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Mellister|Mellister]], a Fellow-Inquirer of [[The Tyrant Philosophers/the School of Correct Speech|Correct Speech]], had been investigating financial graft within the Resolute Battalion before the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Hospitallers|Hospitallers]] arrived; Brandery shot her when she confronted him about skimming resources - ch 29. At the surrender negotiations held in the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pandaemonium|Pandaemonium]], Brandery refuses to negotiate with traitors, confronts Mellister with a knife at his throat, and commands the room - ch 18. Brandery also compresses the city's population as a weapon against the defenders - ch 29. In one scene Brandery grants Mellister a formal, bitter licence to strike him: "I release you from this ridiculous demon's knot. I, Sage-Monitor Brandery of Resolute Battalion, give you, Fellow-Inquirer Mellister, permission to strike. Stab me, you addled witch, or shut your traitor's mouth." - ch 18.

The siege undergoes a command shift when [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Fowlett|Fowlett]] arrives to assume overall command, with "official permission for the operation agreed" - ch 31. Brandery is ordered to take the city in ten days, then is ordered to take street-fighting command - ch 31, ch 40. His command is described as ending, and he is grim-faced when delivering the message about Fowlett's arrival - ch 28. During the fighting, [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lovern|Lovern]] and [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Banders|Anders]] find themselves with no safe way back to the Resolute Battalion lines - ch 33. The final day of the siege sees the Resolute Battalion and Fowlett's magical specialists breach the square before the wall, chew through the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Left-city|Left-city]] to the gates of the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Gaelensreach|Gaelensreach]], and storm the [[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pandaemonium|Pandaemonium]], before the Pal army retreats before the demon legion - ch 41.

== Relationships ==
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Brandery|Brandery]]''' - Sage-Monitor and commanding officer of the Resolute Battalion, holding the "big tent" at the shore - ch 4. He commands the besieging force throughout the early and middle portions of the book, weighs accepting the Dead Companies, and compresses the city's population as a weapon - ch 6, ch 29. His command is described as ending when Fowlett arrives, and he is grim-faced delivering that message - ch 28. He is subsequently ordered to take the city in ten days, then reassigned to street-fighting command - ch 31, ch 40.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|the Lich Queen]]''' - holds "sole jurisdiction over our most potent troops," the Dead Companies, a fact Brandery cannot countermand - ch 18. She was sent to the Archipelago by the Temporary Commission of Ends and Means - ch 38.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Prassel|Prassel]]''' - commands the Dead Companies billeted in the old forward camp; her forces hold the ground between the forward camp and the front - ch 31.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Fowlett|Fowlett]]''' - arrives to assume overall command of the operation with "official permission for the operation agreed," superseding Brandery - ch 31.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/the Pope of Tides|the Pope of Tides]]''' - was "attached to Resolute Battalion in living memory" before defecting to the sea-cult alliance defending Eres Ffenegh - ch 18.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Mellister|Mellister]]''' - Fellow-Inquirer of Correct Speech who had been investigating financial graft within the Resolute Battalion; Brandery shot her when she confronted him about skimming resources - ch 29.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Lovern|Lovern]]''' and '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Banders|Anders]]''' - soldiers of the Battalion who, during the fighting, find themselves with no safe way back to the Resolute Battalion lines - ch 33.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Eres Ffenegh|Eres Ffenegh]]''' - the city the Battalion besieges; four razed districts taken over months of fighting - ch 4, ch 11.
* '''[[The Tyrant Philosophers/Pal|Pallesand]]''' - the state the Battalion serves; the siege's purpose is "returning the City on the Back of a Crab to the Palleseen Sway" - ch 4.

== Notable Quotes ==
:"I release you from this ridiculous demon's knot. I, Sage-Monitor Brandery of Resolute Battalion, give you, Fellow-Inquirer Mellister, permission to strike. Stab me, you addled witch, or shut your traitor's mouth." - Brandery, ch 18

== Tags ==
#military-unit · #palleseen-army · #siege

[[Category:The Tyrant Philosophers/Groups]]

The Tyrant Philosophers/Resolute Battalion - Revision history

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