Jihan'Rei

The Jihan'Rei are a military organisation in Ossetia that is seperate from, but works alongside, the Ossetian army. Translated as the Knights of the Prince, though almost always called the Royal Knights, the Jihan'Rei concern themselves with the protection of the Prince of Ossetia and his family, though throughout history they have had several very different roles.

They were formed by Ambrai I after he made a complete review of the armed forces of the country. Realising that the army lacked a truly heavy unit, and that without one the regular troops would be easily killed by Hylian Knights, he formed the Jihan'Rei as a heavily armoured infantry force, made up of the most experienced men. In battle, they were divided into three parts - one, the largest, would form in the centre behind the regular troops, and ensure that nobody could run from battle unless things went awry, and the other two, as smaller groups, would form slightly behind the flanks of the infantry and provide aid if needed. In the latter formation they were particularly successful in the early years, as they would close around enemy troops and attack from their sides. This was referred to from inside the army as "closing the claw".

They remained an infantry force until the reign of Ambrai III, who formed an additional cavalry unit. Up until then, Ossetia had used cavalry very sparingly, and usually only to finish off an enemy by flanking them from behind. [Ambrai III changed all this by strengthening the role of cavalry in the army, and relying increasingly on the heaviest cavalry, of which the Jihan'Rei formed. While the infantry made up the majority of the members, it was the cavalry who became famous for their actions in battle, particularly on the plains of Canzalis where Ossetia won a great war. The historic image of the heavily armoured knight on his equally armoured horse comes from this period.

The role of the Jihan'Rei did not change for centuries, however Ambrai VII formed yet another branch, this time of marine shock troops on board Ossetian naval vessels. Though at first intended to be the first troops to board an enemy ship, when both the Prince and the Crown Prince were on board ships in the Battle of the Olvosian Straits, several men were assigned to each prince to guard their person. While on land the prince would be protected by the household guard, there were no such guards in the navy and it was decided that the experienced knights of the Jihan'Rei would be best for the job. They were so successful in fact, that Ambrai VII insisted on being protected by members of the Jihan'Rei while travelling away from royal residences. The household guard would continue to protect the castles and palaces of the royal family while the prince was away, but from then on the prince would be protected by the Jihan'Rei while travelling.

Very few changes were made after this period, and they continued to serve as heavy troops in the army (both as infantry and cavalry) and as marines in the navy. With the advent of gunpowder, and the decreasing use of armour in the army, the Jihan'Rei infantry moved away from their role as heavy troops and towards the role of experienced troops in smaller numbers complementing the less experienced main infantry. The cavalry remained as armoured shock troops, and could be compared to cuirassiers in other armies of the period. As time went by, the need of the Jihan'Rei began to wane, and while they remained in the army as cavalry alone (while still retaining the marines in the navy), their role began to shift towards being guardians of the prince and his family. By the time of Ambrai IX, they were completely absent from the army and functioned solely as the protectors of the prince.

This is their role today in the modern world, with all but two hundred of the staff in active service. The two hundred are units that are rotated out of active service to march in parades as a cavalry unit, dressed in the uniforms they wore during the early years of the reign of Ambrai IX. The marines make up roughly two thousand men and women, with the rest split between actively protecting the persons of the prince and his family, members of the Ossetian Secret Service, and those on parade duty.