Zealot
A zealot (Messenian: ζηλωτής zēlōtḗs, 'emulator') was a Sirian warrior of the 1st millennium CE, usually hailing from the Neokos Empire in Messenia, who committed to an almost ascetic military lifestyle dedicated to spreading Sirian doctrines or furthering the power of one's house. Zealots, being usually organised in close communities such as houses or orders, could be seen as successors of Protosirian warbands. During the Second Neokos Empire they were the backbone of the Neokos army, supplementing a much smaller cavalry retinue.
The first zealots emerged as fanatics supporting the general Theigo in establishing the Second Neokos, and in doing so they secured the dominance of Prasinian houses in that state. The many houses of the Second Neokos dispatched zealots as part of their mund to conquer, colonise, and proselytise, to spread the gospel of Nevaras as much as to increase the influence of the house itself. In Lestria, they spectacularly brought Carcharian cities and Sagan kingdoms to the heel, establishing numerous lamnearies and other Sirian institutions that survive to today (including Tisceron). In the process, they also opened up trade routes through the Medius and Messenic Seas, and the wider Great Golden Arc. Tales from the period further tell of individual or small bands of zealots courageously venturing into lands as distant as Ascesia or Outer Joriscia as adventurers or mercenaries, pursuing existential experiences that would reveal one's internal Asmedon.
At home, the zealots were closely associated with their houses, and gained a reputation as revered citizen-soldiers — their heroic feats were even considered the essence of the houses' claim to rule, and the embodied spirit of the Neokos as a Sirian polity. Accomplished zealots naturally earned front-row seats to respublican Neokos politics, and of course decision-making in their own houses. But this affiliation soon drew them into conflict between houses, beginning with the Hallegeants' War, and exacerbated by the mobilisation of members of society through mund in the Ecomachy. With the Third Great Invasions and the establishment of the Secote Dominion, houses were disarmed and zealots ceased to be a widespread phenomenon. Warrior cultures closely associated with houses, however, continued to appear in other parts of Siriandom, and in Messenia itself the zealot was looked onto as an exemplar for subsequent warrior traditions.
Militarily most zealots fought in ways characteristic of the Palthian people which they hailed from. The ideal Neokos soldier was trained in many ways of fighting, but most fought as infantrymen, the resources of their houses determining what equipment they had and consequently their tactics. As typical of Palthians, they favoured ambushes and skirmishes over formational, pitched battle, but when adequately trained and equipped zealots could flexibly switch between these modes. They were also known to fight in a state of berserk when the situation demanded it, brought about by parkuyatar, hierophany, or drug use. In Lestria and other overseas campaigns, the esprit de corps of zealots, combined with mobility and flexibility, allowed them to overcome local opponents in spite of the light equipment forced by expeditionary considerations, but in Messenia they were outmatched by the better-organised heavy infantry and cavalry fielded by the Third Sabāmani Empire, leading to Neokos military setbacks that culminated in the Occupation of Coseptra, and later their total suppression by Secote militaries.