Drovian Highland Warriors

A lot of information has been spread around concerning the troops of Drovia (the western mountain province of Furstenburg, known for its fiercely independent tribal warriors, and the high quality of Drovian sheep).

Drovian tribal chiefs each have a quota of men they are to provide to the local hetman, which will form a regiment. There are 6 regiments spread through the mountains, one in the trading town of Katrinka, and the other five based on different valleys where sheep villages are located. The highland clans who live in the heights over the sheep valleys provide the warriors that make up these regiments. These men (the drovian highlanders) are natural fighters, given to tribal feuds and raids, and only require a modicum of training in the base martial arts. Getting them to adopt a uniform, however, and to take up ways that the rest of the Furstenburg army observes is an altogether different issue.

As the picture above shows, they wear a somewhat loose "zouave" type uniform, based on the native dress of the highland tribes.

Now for the rumors:

Rumor: Drovian warriors eat only raw sheep and drink their blood. FALSE - although there are some Drovian recipes that call for raw sheep (especially small meats) for the most part, it is cooked.

Rumor: Drovian warriors come to battle with their women, barefoot and barely civilized, following after the regiment to strip the enemy dead of any equipment or clothing they die with. FALSE - Drovian women, like the mean, wear footgear almost always when outside their croft-houses.

Rumor: Drovian officers do not rely on buglers or whistles to make their orders heard, but rather have a strange battle-language based on a sort of ocarina constructed from a sheep's femur. TRUE - the distinctive sound of ocarina playing means that Drovian warriors (always adept at hiding among rocks and forests) are afoot and they mean to do mischief.