Allegiance: Kaekana

Special Power: All troops lead by Rotica receive a 50% bonus to melee strength and a 20% bonus to morale strength.

Profile: To a devotee of the Imperial martial art of Chu Fon Shu, the Kaekanan discipline of Tapoeira looks odd indeed. It seems to consist of macho posturing as much as combat; and indeed, a Tapoeira fighter will often defer to another's superior technique without any actual exchange of blows. In Kaekanan culture, it is considered mainly a male form; but Rotica established herself as a Tapoeirana early in life, and her success in the discipline won her a commission in the Kaekanan army. Her subsequent success, and eventual appointment to the position of Marshal of All the Armies, was due to skill at suppressing banditti. But certainly no harm was done to her career by her authorship of The Tapoeiran Spirit, an analysis of military strategy that values the individual fighting spirit over order and discipline. The ethos of the book is eminently suited to Kaekana's peculiar army, which has no uniforms and nothing other nations would recognize as drill, and whose units elect their own officers.