The Tyrant Philosophers/Resolute Battalion

The Resolute Battalion is the Palleseen siege army maintained before the walls of 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 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 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 Dead Companies-undead Moeribandi troops under the sole jurisdiction of the Lich Queen-places the Battalion in direct contradiction with Palleseen military doctrine and exposes it to scrutiny from the 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 Os-Fferegh, the sea-cult alliance, and the two opposed cults-must organise their entire survival strategy, and its eventual command transition to Fowlett triggers the final, decisive assault on the Pandaemonium - ch 31, ch 41.

The Group

Composition

The Battalion is a conventional Palleseen siege force supplemented by necromantic augmentation. It fields the Dead Companies, undead Moeribandi troops billeted in the old forward camp under Prassel, whose forces hold the ground between the forward camp and the front - ch 31. These troops fall under the "sole jurisdiction" of the Lich Queen rather than the Battalion's own command structure, a fact Sage-Monitor 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 Pope of Tides, head of the Fisher King cult, was "attached to Resolute Battalion in living memory" before joining the defenders - ch 18. An internal investigation by Mellister, a Fellow-Inquirer of Correct Speech, into financial graft within the Battalion preceded the arrival of the Hospitallers - ch 29.

Purpose & Method

The Battalion exists to retake Eres Ffenegh for Pallesand following the Defenestration, in which two opposed cults and the Os-Fferegh allied to expel the Palleseen Perfector after a prior Pal victory over the Loruthi - ch 7. Its method is attritional siege: months of fighting yielding four razed districts, a "reaching claw" toward the gate and the 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 Left-city to the gates of the Gaelensreach and storm the Pandaemonium before the Pal army retreats before the demon legion - ch 41.

Standing

The Resolute Battalion answers to the 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 Lovern and Anders find themselves cut off with no safe way back to the Battalion's lines - ch 33.

Known members

• Brandery - commanding officer

History

Pretenders to the Throne Of God

The Resolute Battalion is the Palleseen military force besieging 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 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 Loruthi and the subsequent occupation of Eres Ffenegh; two opposed cults and the Os-Fferegh allied to expel the Perfector in the 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 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 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 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 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 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 Temporary Commission of Ends and Means, the governing military body of 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 Pope of Tides, head of the Fisher King cult, was "attached to Resolute Battalion in living memory" before joining the sea-cult alliance defending the city - ch 18. Mellister, a Fellow-Inquirer of Correct Speech, had been investigating financial graft within the Resolute Battalion before the Hospitallers arrived; Brandery shot her when she confronted him about skimming resources - ch 29. At the surrender negotiations held in the 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 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, Lovern and 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 Left-city to the gates of the Gaelensreach, and storm the Pandaemonium, before the Pal army retreats before the demon legion - ch 41.

Relationships

• 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 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.
• 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.
• Fowlett - arrives to assume overall command of the operation with "official permission for the operation agreed," superseding Brandery - ch 31.
• the Pope of Tides - was "attached to Resolute Battalion in living memory" before defecting to the sea-cult alliance defending Eres Ffenegh - ch 18.
• 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.
• Lovern and Anders - soldiers of the Battalion who, during the fighting, find themselves with no safe way back to the Resolute Battalion lines - ch 33.
• Eres Ffenegh - the city the Battalion besieges; four razed districts taken over months of fighting - ch 4, ch 11.
• 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

1. military-unit · #palleseen-army · #siege