Battlefield Role: Armoured Ultra-Heavy Cavalry
Mount: Arandolian Elephants
Weapons: Recurve bows for the Amphitritian Archers at the turret. A spear for the Mahout.
Outfit: A mix of partial plate, lamellar, chainmail and silk armour. In most cases, the beast is also thoroughly armoured.
Skill level: Expertise in pachyderm riding.
Affiliation: City-State of Darlla, in Amphitrite Bay.
Doctrine: Amphitrite's Way of the Seafarer
Strengths: A beast over 5 tons, armored to withstand the toughest projectiles and yet fast enough to trample anything on its path!
Weaknesses: Elephants are easy targets for enemy artillery.
Arandolian War Elephants
No, those elephants aren't a native species from Arandolia. The Arandolian Elephants are direct descendants of the ancient Syrian Elephants from the Seleucid Empire, which were imported to Arandolia by Darllanese Traders around 200 B.C.
Back in the old world, the Seleucid Greeks over-hunted the entire species down to its complete extinction for the sake of extracting ivory from their tusks. In Arandolia the amazons did quite the very opposite, preserving the species and making them thrive.
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With an initial population of 5 females and 1 male Elephant bought from the old world, the wealthy Amazons of the Island CIity-State of Darla admired those magnificent creatures so much that they started breeding them for perpetuating their existence. The animals started out as pets and show beasts at the hands of the elite, but as their numbers grew exponentially throughout the centuries, the Elephants began to be used in far more mundane tasks, such as in hauling merchandise, plowing fields and transporting people.
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Before long, they were so many of them that they ended up being accidentally introduced among the local wilderness, booming in numbers all the more thanks to the lack of natural predators.
Their herds spread out all over the island of Darlla, overlooking the rest of Amphitrite Bay. Hunters now actually have to hunt some of the oldest beasts just to cull down their numbers, and ivory is therefore finally being introduced as a commodity in the arandolian markets, providing yet another luxury good for the already rich Amphitritian City-States.
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However, the Arandolian Elephants aren't famous among the Amazons just for their ivory. They are also famous for their remarkable might and inherent intelligence as a tamed beast, as well as quite feared when employed in warfare.
These rather docile creatures are not very easy to train, though. Not only they demand a hell of a high upkeep cost, but it also takes over a decade of strenuous training to fully turn a lovely baby elephant into a massive hulking beast of war. The Mahouts (drivers) also have to be very bold and proficient at conducting the animal, because if it ever runs amok, an Armoured War Elephant will be very likely to crush enemy and allies alike, without any discernment or mercy. To avoid such a thing, the Mahout must always keep the creature calm by soothing its stress, and also be cold-blooded enough to sacrifice the animal is it ever loses control and threatens allied lives.
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On the other hand, the obvious advantages of riding to war upon 5 tons of sheer muscle, all covered in thick metal plating and carrying a turret with deadly archers on its back, surelly outweighs any of the aforementioned high mantainence and inherent risk problems. Just the shaking of the very ground beneath the enemy and the sheer sight of those towering behemoths approaching makes most foes drop their weapons and run, while those who are stupid enough to stay on a War Elephant's path end either torn asunder by its tusks, or trampled and crushed by its feet.