Kirinal Garrison

On the western edge of the Pit the Fortress of Kirinal guards the Canton assigned to the Kirinal Council. The armies of the Kirinal Garrison recruit their forces from the Council's members. Dinosaur cavalry riding quetzals, tyrannosaurs, and dilophosaurs thunder in from the Red Plains. Griffon knights and hippogriff archers soar in from Cantreval. War wizards from Eniam Tal and the armaments of Arro support the Garrison with lightning and cannons.

The Garrison consists of 4,500 warriors divided into 3 battalions who rotate duty from day to day. They also have the highest ratio of flying troops. Almost half of their soldiers ride flying mounts. The Free Cities of Talinside Bay have outfitted six sea going war galleons for flight. These massive ships float above the Western Pit Wall and are capable of laying down crippling cannon fire on any hostile forces. When the Manifest is an ocean, these ships are perfectly capable of sailing on that day's "Kirinal Sea."

Kirinal Garrison at the Fortress by Chris L - Heroforge

Hunter in the Dinosaur Jungle

The smell of damp earth, deep jungle, and slight rot tells me before my eyes even sees it. The Surveyor of Worlds announces a jungle full of dinosaurs as the Manifest Prime. I sit astride my quetzal on the Wall with the rest of my squad. I'm prepared to turn back an army of invading saurials, but I have my fingers crossed for a Day of Harvesting. The Surveyor makes his Call.

Horn 1, Dinosaur Prime, No Sophonts, Population 4, Day of Harvest

— The Surveyor of Worlds

That Call releases my veteran squad from duty on the Wall. As we leave, some of my fellow vets, call out behind me. "Show the Pit-Meat how it's done Sarge!" or "You grunts watch out for Sgt. Sunder tonight, he'll be bringing back something big!"

Their banter barely registers in my head. I leave my day job behind. I heed my real calling as a Hunter Salvager. The smell of the jungle has activated memories of my childhood on the Red Plains and on the Island of Dread. My mouth already waters for the meal I'll have tonight.

I change into my gear, a mix of native garb, dinosaur leathers, and Maharlitech equipment. The legacy weapon of my family, the spear Sunder hums in my hand, hungry for the hunt.

Sgt. Yahn Sunder of the Quetzal Corps, Greatest Hunter in the Zone

Sgt. Sunder Hunting a Brontosaurus by Chris L - Midjourney

Lancers and Expert Archers

They say that the children of the Horse Lords learn to ride before they can walk and that's not far from the truth. The nomadic denizens of the Red Plains have long been considered the masters of mounted combat. They prefer swift steeds and raining arrows on their enemies before closing in with lances. The knights of the island nation of Cantreval specialize in a different type of mounted combat. The image of knighthood, they wear heavy armor and breed their mounts for size and power.

When they were given responsibility for the Western Canton, the members of the council quickly realized that horses were of little use defending a wall. They sought out new types of mounts for their troops on the Pit Wall. The Horse Lords took advantage of the appearance of dinosaurs on their land emerging from the Caves of Dread. They found that their skills as horsemen translated to the great beasts, and they have domesticated quetzals, dilophosauruses, and tyrannosaurs as mounts for the Red Lancers.

The Knights of Cantreval began breeding griffons and drakes. These heavily armored flying knights follow the Red Lancers mopping up enemies who've been peppered with arrows and artillery along with fly by attacks. Countless hostile forces have been crushed under the fangs, talons, and lances of the Island Knights.

Fisherman on an Alien Sea

Horn 1, Ocean Tékumel Prime, No Sophonts, Population 4, Day of Harvest

— The Surveyor of Worlds

Today the Pit has filled with a warm ocean full of coral reefs, fish, and a pride of large predators. The waters remind me of my lolo's islands. I have travelled there many times over the years to visit their plentiful hunting grounds.

As the galleons of the Kirinal Navy lower into the water around me, I pull on the oars of my one-man skiff. The sailors wave and call out, "Land a big one for us Sarge!" I salute and check the Surveyor's bathymetric maps. I row east towards Citadel and the transition to deep waters where the largest prey swims.

I chum the waters with trimmings and offal from the bronto that I took. I cast a net for my initial bait fish and I use those to catch a succession of larger and larger fish. Eventually, I catch one I'm satisfied with. I put it on a line and throw it back in the water. I settle in to wait for my real prey.

As the sun hangs low over the Fortress, my entire boat lurches. A dark shadow larger than my boat glides underneath me and my reel screeches as the leviathan dives. I grip my rod and I begin to pull. My long night has just begun.

Sgt. Yahn Sunder, Greatest Angler in the Zone

Sgt. Sunder Hunting a Leviathan by Chris L - Midjourney

The Kirinal Navy

When the land-locked Kirinal Pit manifests a body of water, the armies of the Concordance go into a naval footing. Of them all, the Garrison are the best prepared. Their galleon-class skyships maintain their sea-worthiness. Oceans manifest often enough for the Talinsider and Cantrevalish sailors to maintain their naval skills.

House Ionite, the prestigious manufacturers of military skyships, are among the leaders of the war wizards of Eniam Tal. They make sure that the Garrison's armada equal or exceed the forces of their friendly rivals around the Pit Wall.

Stalker of a Primal Plain

Horn 1, Shining Plains Toril Prime, Sophonts 1, Fauna Population 4, Day of Trade

— The Surveyor of Worlds

A vast savannah filled the Pit this morning. A sparsely populated Realm of Toril that we've manifested before. The guilds negotiated a Day of Trade with the isolated tribe of centaur natives. They allowed me the right to hunt on their lands for a small sack of gems and a necklace of polished bronto and leviathan teeth. I made the necklace from the spoils of my last two big hunts.

The tribe tells me of a predator that swims beneath the grass that preys on their livestock and sometimes their foals. They offer me my pick of their finest hunting falcons in exchange for the bullette's head. I agree to their price and lope out into the plains, wearing only my breeches and dino leather boots. Sunder hums in my hands, anticipating the taste of blood.

I find the bullette's last reported location, careful to walk with a disjointed rhythm. I put my head to the blood-stained earth, listening for a land shark plowing through the earth. When the faint vibrations tell me I'm close enough, I pierce the ground with a thumper that I picked up on Arrakis. I back off a few yards.

The tell tale mound of earth appears on the horizon, zeroing in on the unrelenting beat. My hands grip my spear and I slowly exhale as I prepare to jump.

Sgt. Sunder, Best Big Game Hunter in the Zone

Sgt. Sunder Hunting a Bullette by Chris L - Midj

Mercenary War Mages

War mages from the Society of Eniam Tal fill out the Garrison's forces with their arcane might. This guild of mercenary wizards found themselves on the right side of the battle during the Kirinal Catastrophes. They have made sure to maintain and strengthen their position as a power in the Concordance. Their association with the Concordance and House Ionite has brought their members wealth and prestige that their itinerant founders could never have predicted.

Eniam Tal competes with Wizard's Peak University and the Sekaran Academy for the world's best and brightest arcane minds. They teach an explosive and practical form of magecraft to those arcanists who eschew more academic and experimental forms of magic. They have a friendly rivalry with other guilds, never failing to take the chance to tease or needle their arcane peers.

The Bro-Levi-lette Feast

I've been preparing for my Year-End Charity Feast for the Children all year long. Since I've gathered my three main ingredients, I've been preparing tons of meat for the biggest barbecue of the year. I dressed out the bronto and put it in cold storage in my Salvager Guild's main warehouse in Garrison City.

Preparing the leviathan was a little more tricky. The meat spoiled quickly and it would be a few months before my post-Anamas feast. I ended up salting and smoking most of the carcass. I ended up with a rich, fatty result that I'm calling "bacon of the sea."

I took the bullete close to the end of the year and it was the easiest to handle. I simply dressed the carcass, removing the hard shell and thick skin, and stuffing the body cavity with bushels of aromatics.

I prepared a fire pit the size of a small warehouse. It took a week of burning wood to make enough charcoal to slow roast my final creation. I wrapped the bullette in my "sea bacon, then stuffed the final result into the bronto. I slow roasted it for days, sending smells throughout the Western Canton that drove the citizens mad with hunger.

Finally the day of my feast arrived, the last day of the year. My spear Sunder served one final time as the carving knife for my ultimate barbecue creation, the bro-levi-lette roast!

Sgt. Sunder, Winner of Zone's Best Barbecue

Sergeants Kill Flayer & Sunder at the Year End Feast by Chris L - Heroforge