Birthright

Name Regency Gold Duration Req'd
Source Prerequisite Reference

Phalanx 10 Variable Permanent (Activation cost) 5 Animate Object Starfox's

Designed to raise a unit of armored soldiers to do the mage's bidding. Each casting of this spell creates only one such unit (regardless of the caster's level). The mage must first manufacture the bodies to be animated; this accounts for most of the spell's cost. The enspelled suits of armor become magical, ready to move when activated by the caster.

The caster activates the unit by paying a maintenance cost of 1 RP per month. When not active, they just stand as armored statues doing absolutely nothing. When the spell is cast, the caster decides how the phalanx is controlled; if only he can do it, or a special object lets anybody control it. The controller must be near the unit at all times, or it will become inactive. When inactive, the phalanx can be transported, taking 1 GB of transportation capacity.

Casting this Realm Spell enchants the armor and weapons with a motive force and the capacity to reason. They appear to be warriors of obviously inanimate substance. Each individual "soldier" has the attributes of a large-sized animated object of the appropriate material, only size is really medium and it thus has no reach. It is neither undead nor a summoned creature.

Casting the spell at the above cost creates a unit with the following War Card statistics:

Animated Phalanx
Move: 2 Melee: 5
Defense: variable Missile: 0
Morale: X O B
Immune to rout, fallback and retreat results.
1 Hit: Melee 4
2 Hits: Melee 3
3 Hits: Melee 2
4 Hits: Melee 1

The cost of casting the spell, and the defence rating of the phalanx, depends on the material the phalanx is made out of. If the caster has access to a holding of sufficient rating to manufacture the bodies of the animated soldiers, this price is reduced a lot. Each type has a "half-price holding" mentioned, if the caster has such a holding, the GB cost of casting the spell is halved.