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Description
While the entirety of the Dark Elvish population is trained in arms, the Dark Elven states also make use of forces of Janissary Slave Soldiers. Janissary forces are composed of three types of slaves...

1-Human Slaves which are bought by the government of a Dark Elvish state to serve in this role. These are usually, but not always, slaves who's ancestors have been in slavery for at least a few generations.
2-The stronger male children of Janissaries and Janissary veterans.
3-Orcs, a practice which is only kept up nowadays by four of the nine Drow states. Currently all Orcish slaves are either kept as Janissaries, Pit fighters or breeding stock.

Janissaries exist to pad out the numbers of Drow armies and "to be used where someone has to die". They have been mainly been trained to be melee infantry, usually spearmen, pikemen or halberdiers as well as crossbowmen and arquebusiers used in first wave attacks. They fought in tight formation under the supervision of a few Drow overseers and were trained to obey orders instantly and without question, hold ranks and to hold formation. Drow warriors would follow suit afterwards to strike the killing blow. When a castle or fortified city needed to be taken, they would send Janissaries as the first forces to go over the walls or through the breech. They are also useful for sentry and guard duties.

Janissaries are kept in line by several factors. The most visible of these is constant oversight by overseers who drive them into battle and the threats of pain and death at the hands of their masters for disobedience, failure and especially mutiny. Janissaries are given a large amount of beer, whiskey and rum to fortify their nerves. Amongst the slaves owned by the Dark Elves, Janissaries have a fair amount of prestige. Janissaries are allowed a cut of plunder and rape when going on offensive. Should they complete twenty six years of active service, they are retired and sent to special veterans communities in which they can enjoy a fairly comfortable life without work (unless there is a national emergency) and the company of a number of female servants to help them out and to create the next generation of Janissaries. They also are immersed in a specialized version of the Dark Elvish slave religion specially tailored for Janissaries. If a Janissary fights well, kills numerous foes, brings victory and either dies in battle or in a Janissary veteran's community, he will certainly be reborn as a Dark Elf in the next life.

Janissaries are armed with a variety of weapons, many of which are looted off of corpses, but a fair number are specially made for them. This is one of them, a Janissary Short Sword. These are the usual fallback weapons of a Janissary pikeman or halberdier. With a few exceptions of exceptional skill, all Janissaries are barred from wielding a Drow Scimitar. Though they are a few variations, a Janissary Short Sword is between 50 and 70cm long, is spartan in it's lack of ornamentation and has a tip off to one side and has an inwardly curving edge. While they are capable at chopping, stabbing is the main focus. It is considered traditional for their hilts to be done in bone. Sometimes the bones of slayed foes or slaves are used, but more than often as not pig bones are used for this purpose on the principle that this is cheaper and that Janissaries and most of the enemies that Janissaries go up against are not trained in Forensic Osteology. Even as firearms are coming to play a more pronounced role in warfare since the rifle wars and due to interaction with Infrastructure, these weapons remain a mainstay of the armament of Dark Elvish Janissaries by the onset of the Escort War.

Janissary Shortswords often see a lot of service and a lot of wear and tear. The Dark Elves tend to have a waste not want not attitute when it comes to equipping Janissaries. Why buy a new sword for disposable slave soldiers when you could issue them worn, but still functional weapons used by their fallen comrades? A common practice encouraged among by the Dark Elves among Jannissaries is to keep a tally of kills that have been inflicted on their swords. Even new ones are not the best weapons. Many Janissary swords are made by apprentice slave armorers as part of their training. A few of these weapons are exported and sold to Non Drow buyers, though usually with wooden grips to improve marketability.

Description
While the entirety of the Dark Elvish population is trained in arms, the Dark Elven states also make use of forces of Janissary Slave Soldiers. Janissary forces are composed of three types of slaves...

1-Human Slaves which are bought by the government of a Dark Elvish state to serve in this role. These are usually, but not always, slaves who's ancestors have been in slavery for at least a few generations.
2-The stronger male children of Janissaries and Janissary veterans.
3-Orcs, a practice which is only kept up nowadays by four of the nine Drow states. Currently all Orcish slaves are either kept as Janissaries, Pit fighters or breeding stock.

Janissaries exist to pad out the numbers of Drow armies and "to be used where someone has to die". They have been mainly been trained to be melee infantry, usually spearmen, pikemen or halberdiers as well as crossbowmen and arquebusiers used in first wave attacks. They fought in tight formation under the supervision of a few Drow overseers and were trained to obey orders instantly and without question, hold ranks and to hold formation. Drow warriors would follow suit afterwards to strike the killing blow. When a castle or fortified city needed to be taken, they would send Janissaries as the first forces to go over the walls or through the breech. They are also useful for sentry and guard duties.

Janissaries are kept in line by several factors. The most visible of these is constant oversight by overseers who drive them into battle and the threats of pain and death at the hands of their masters for disobedience, failure and especially mutiny. Janissaries are given a large amount of beer, whiskey and rum to fortify their nerves. Amongst the slaves owned by the Dark Elves, Janissaries have a fair amount of prestige. Janissaries are allowed a cut of plunder and rape when going on offensive. Should they complete twenty six years of active service, they are retired and sent to special veterans communities in which they can enjoy a fairly comfortable life without work (unless there is a national emergency) and the company of a number of female servants to help them out and to create the next generation of Janissaries. They also are immersed in a specialized version of the Dark Elvish slave religion specially tailored for Janissaries. If a Janissary fights well, kills numerous foes, brings victory and either dies in battle or in a Janissary veteran's community, he will certainly be reborn as a Dark Elf in the next life.

Janissaries are armed with a variety of weapons, many of which are looted off of corpses, but a fair number are specially made for them. This is one of them, a Janissary Short Sword. These are the usual fallback weapons of a Janissary pikeman or halberdier. With a few exceptions of exceptional skill, all Janissaries are barred from wielding a Drow Scimitar. Though they are a few variations, a Janissary Short Sword is between 50 and 70cm long, is spartan in it's lack of ornamentation and has a tip off to one side and has an inwardly curving edge. While they are capable at chopping, stabbing is the main focus. It is considered traditional for their hilts to be done in bone. Sometimes the bones of slayed foes or slaves are used, but more than often as not pig bones are used for this purpose on the principle that this is cheaper and that Janissaries and most of the enemies that Janissaries go up against are not trained in Forensic Osteology. Even as firearms are coming to play a more pronounced role in warfare since the rifle wars and due to interaction with Infrastructure, these weapons remain a mainstay of the armament of Dark Elvish Janissaries by the onset of the Escort War.

Janissary Shortswords often see a lot of service and a lot of wear and tear. The Dark Elves tend to have a waste not want not attitute when it comes to equipping Janissaries. Why buy a new sword for disposable slave soldiers when you could issue them worn, but still functional weapons used by their fallen comrades? A common practice encouraged among by the Dark Elves among Jannissaries is to keep a tally of kills that have been inflicted on their swords. Even new ones are not the best weapons. Many Janissary swords are made by apprentice slave armorers as part of their training. A few of these weapons are exported and sold to Non Drow buyers, though usually with wooden grips to improve marketability.