Role: Support Unit (Scout / Messenger)
Bird: A trained Hawk, Falcon, Owl or Eagle.
Outfit: Light travel clothes and tracking boots. Falconry glove.
Skill level: Falconers are not fighters. They are experts in scouting, tracking and surveillance, often escorted by bodyguards.
Affiliation: Eagle Island, Hawkwood, Adlerfurt and Owl Valley.
Doctrine: Artemis' Way of the Huntress
Strengths: Trained birds of prey can spot enemies from very far away without giving in the falconer's location, as well as deliver messages to allies and help to coordinate incoming reinforcements.
Weaknesses: As a support unit, falconers usually carry no weapon or amour, being quite vulnerable without bodyguards.
Falconers
When used wisely, Falconers can be invaluable support units for any army! Their trained birds of prey (usually a Hawk, an Owl or an Eagle) are simply amazing at scouting the land from above, tracking enemy units and surveying key points of interest with literally an eagle's eye at that! They are also inestimable messengers, as no message can possibly be delivered over great distances any faster than by the mighty wings of a bird of prey!
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As such, either by spotting an ambush in time to avoid it, by pointing the location of an enemy concealed encampment or by delivering a timely request for allied reinforcements in a nearby city, a single Falconer can very well completely change the odds of any battle all by herself!
They are so important and highly regarded that the wisest amazon generals often assign some of their very best available soldiers to act as bodyguards of these praised bird masters, defending the "feathered asset" as if their own lives depend on that.
A single Falconer can bring along several tamed birds with her. Some of them for very specific purposes, like Scouting Hawks, Messenger Falcons, Surveillance Owls and Interceptor Eagles. Each different species of bird has their own perks and characteristics that make them better-suited in one thing or another, and the most experienced that a falconer is, the better she will be able to manage her birds.
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Usually, Hawks are better at scouting and spotting enemies, while Falcons are faster and more self-sufficient at delivering messages. Eagles are the mightiest wings on the skies, so they fly the highest and prey upon all other winged creatures, being excellent at intercepting an enemy falconer's birds to either neutralize them or take their messages.
Owls, on the other hand, are pretty useless during the daylight. They are nocturnal birds, so it is under the moonlight that they really shine! While all the other birds sleep, the owls can do anything under the cover of the darkness! They can fly stealthly to deliver messages beyond any eagle's reach, scout the land with their fine-tuned night vision, or even keep watch over their falconer's encampment so to prevent night raids.
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As anyone can see, a Falconer is unquestionably a crucial asset to have in any army or garrison! Their support can very well mean the difference in between victory and defeat, even before a battle starts!