"Fenghuang" Auxiliary Light Infantry (Battle Master Figher variant)
by Marc SaindonWhile Ochalea frowns on female adventurers in canon material, it's not like if you have a female character that she'll be content baking cakes and serving tea for the boys. So this is a quick fan-made write-up for female characters.
Long ago, General Kung-Tzu (Confucius+Sun Tzu for a quick npc name) had read several reports on "Mulan" type of incidents in which several women had joined in military units, some cross-dressing as men, others joining to be with their husbands in backwater outposts. Despite expectations, the majority of cases presented competence and it was not a way for light infantry to sneak in a concubine or a camp follower. Kung-Tzu then wrote a memorandum on the possibility of recruiting women in gendered units to form a defensive light infantry like the "Tall Grass" soldiers, effectively doubling Ochalea's recruitment potential, noting that several other armies in Mystara check the "Male&Female box" and that in ancient times, before the Ochalean unification, several important warriors had been women. Naturally, the memo made Kung-Tzu a laughing stock at the Ministry of War ("if women fight, are men going to give birth?" sort of comments), but the General had made enough enemies in his rise in rank (not to mention that his maternal grandmother was a commoner, which marked him as "weak stock" among the aristocratic "boys club" of the officers) that a few followed the logic of "give a man enough rope..." and General Kung-Tzu was granted authorization and funding. They expected it to be his fall.
General Kung-Tzu took the funding and decided to set up a camp at the village of Kaikiang Li in the Wang Province (near the Plains of the Dead, although I would change the name to "the Fields of Honor" as there is already a Marsh of the Dead in Ochalea, see map below). A thousand women were recruited and within a season, that number was cut down by 90%, and so the reports were of a major failure. Kung-Tzu, however, was hand-picking those with the most potential to become elite troops, and by the years end, he had one female regiment of level 1 Fighters on par with any "Tall Grass" unit. The Ministry of War would have still considered this a failure, but higher-ups in the entourage of the Ochalean throne greenlit the continuation of the project.
Map of Ochalea, 8 miles per hex
The Fenghuang unit (Fenghuang or "phoenix" being short-hand for women, boys being called "dragons") continued receiving training and intensive drilling. Although they still were designed as light infantry, General Kung-Tzu expected discipline and maneuvering on par with the "Crab Soldier" heavy infantry, eventually achieving this throughout the years, and making the Fenghuang soldiers a much talked about group during Beitung's annual parade for their outstanding performance (the troops became elite Level 3 Fighters). Eventually, the Fenghuang troops even produced their own female NCOs. And so, General Kung-Tzu set about the next step: allowing the unit to self-replicate, and recruited more women for a "cadet regiment" (level 1 Fighters, that would be your PC) which the Fenghuang soldiers would train without outside intervention.
In the upper echelons above General Kung-Tzu, the plan is not to ever field this unit into battle, at least not in its current form. Should a crisis such as a Thyatian or Alphatian invasion arise, the idea is to split many squadrons of Fenghuang soldiers, send them each in pre-determined communities with the authority to recruit and requistion women from these villages, and quickly train them as light infantry as back-up for the men already mobilized. Several sealed letters have already been given in advance to General Kung-Tzu to provide Fenghuang soldiers with the authority. A typical village should expect one Fenghuang soldier (level 3) and a handful of cadets (level 1), while the main camp retains 10% of the troops, to both lead and eventually reconstitute itself.
Game-wise, this can lead to "Chinese Xena and Gabrielle", with female adventurers going on a special mission in some backwater village, face threats such as brigands and the local monster, find a community to train, and perhaps lead these women in defending their village - or organize resistance after the Thyatian invasion. Fenghuaung soldiers are experienced, but in controlled situations: while they've trained in crawling in pig guts and blood (and won't shriek in fear), none of experienced loss or a direct threat to their lives. They might face criticism by men, but may also try to "girlboss" their way into leading "lesser" Tall Grass male soldiers into their bidding -- learning to cooperate might present roleplaying situations.
If not used as PCs, they can serve as a background element, with vignettes popping up during the campaign: players will see the parade and learn about the Fenghuang's existence, and how elite they are. They'll later encounter a few of them on the road, going to some unheard of village. You might see them at a town square, recruiting other women. Later, a group of ragtag recruits will be seen practicing drill in the field, using makeshift equipment. As the campaign continues, maybe there is a montage of scenes in which the militia gets better and better (or you see this improvement as time passes and you move from village to village). Eventually, Thyatis invades, and that former laughingstock militia might serve as your last hope. Severely beaten regiments might have to form amalgams, mixing in both genders, and even have some Fenghuang NCOs calling the shots on the frontline. Once the dust clears, and the enemy is pushed back, this will probably trigger social change like Rosie the Riveter in WW2.
(I didn't want to create at all the expected kit of "Courtesan" for the Ochalean female player, even if she's sugar-coated as being an "information gatherer" when the job is clearly demeaning)
(also see the case of the Fernig sisters in real life)
(image: https://www.deviantart.com/i-m-m-o/art/Chinese-Warrior-294672040)