Plăieși

Arcilucan icon showing two saints from among the plăieși

Plăieși (Amathian: Ⱂⰾⱐⰹⰵⱎⰹ), known in Late Solarian as plagiei, were a type of soldier used by the Empire of Arciluco, an evolution of the limitanei forces of the Late Solarian armies. The tern was used to designate professional frontier soldiers which guarded the empire's border, living in agricultural fortified villages known as "castiare". In exchange for their service and for defending their respective territory, the plăieși were granted lands by the Emperor and were partially exempt from paying taxes as long as they paid for their own equipment and as long as each family owning granted land would continue to send one son in the army. This provided the Arcilucan hosts with flexible and local border forces which garrisoned fortifications, operated as border guards and served as the first defense in case of enemy attacks, often harassing and shadowing invading or raiding forces until the imperial forces could arrive to meet the threat. They also played a significant political role as they rebelled several times against usurpers in Arciluco, often opposing the military aristocracy which they believed was threatening their rights. Their last and most important role was played during the fall of the empire, as the forces of plăieși quickly adopted iconoclasm and became one of the biggest supporters of the Realm of Thorns, turning against the Emperor and against the Ecumenical Patriarch. As an institution, they were disbanded following the fall of the iconoclasts, and while their name was maintained by subsequent regular and irregular border troops of the Unio Trium Nationum and the Kingdom of Amathia, their use as light infantry was lacking the traditions and particularities of the forces during the Arcilucan realm. Today, the name is maintained as a nickname for several military units and for the Amathian Border Police Force.

Etymology

The word "plăieș" is believed to come from the word "plai", used with the sense of border. It was initially only used to designate a slope or a slant, but its use for the first plăieși troops, which defended the slopes of the Măriești mountains, led to the development of its meaning of border. The word itself is derived from the Vulgar Solarian "plagium", borrowed from the Ancient Piraean " πλάγιος" (plágios). The suffix "-eș" or "-aș" is commonly used in order to create words that are related to a profession, so "plăieș" could be understood as meaning "borderman".