For me, it’s the retribution field. Simple concept: a force field that absorbs the kinetic energy of incoming projectiles, then releases that energy back at the attacker in an Imma firin mah lazer style blast of concussive force.
It’s silly because I’ve already established that the yinrih can flout Newton’s laws of motion and have access to things like micro fusion reactors that could theoretically generate the energy on its own without having to absorb it externally. At one point I had a weak justification based on Claravian just war doctrine, a quantitatively literal version of the Lex Talionis where you could only use the exact same force as was used against you, but I dropped that in short order and now it’s just there because of the rule of cool.
Mechs.
Look, you so much as mention mechs and inevitably there’s someone who pops out of the woodwork with “But muh tank superiority, muh square cube law, muh vulnerable legs-”
No. Stop. Cease. Sometimes stylization beats out absolute realism, and in this case I just happen to really love big ol’ stompy boys.
I love mechs!
Across yinrih culture there is a concept similar to European knighthood, but replace horses with mechs. The commonthroat word for mech pilot
rGHqgalso means knight. There is an order of warrior monks called the knights of the sun who make heavy use of mechs and bulky powered armor (think WH40K space marines). The word for “squire” (Lmqmg) also means “mechanic”. Mechs are operated by both a knight and a squire. The knight pilots the mech and handles primary weapons, while the squire acts as an engineer managing the mech’s systems and occasionally manning secondary weapons.The twist, of course, is that since I tend to think of a mech as a vehicle that resembles its pilot, yinrih mechs have four prehensile paws and a prehensile tail. Their quadrupedal body plan makes limbed vehicles slightly more believable, and I go out of my way to mention that they use force projectors[1] on the palms of the mechs’ paws to keep them from damaging terrain underfoot.
Mechs used by knights of the sun lean a bit more into zoomorphism than is strictly practical, with heat sinks shaped to look like ears, and antenna arrays positioned like whiskers.
As for how mechs came to be in this setting, they kept making powered armor bigger and bigger until it was a vehicle being piloted rather than a suit being worn.
a device in the form of a plate that experiences a reactionless force normal to its surface when a voltage is applied across it. Force projectors also allow mechs to climb sheer vertical surfaces. ↩︎
Rideable azhdarchidae, because I think it is good and proper for regiments of mounted cavalry to ride flying lizard-giraffe beasts into battle. The flavour text is too much fun for me to ever let it go.
Singularly, [Viltmanker] cavalry use azhdarchs. This is perfect for their knights, as their reputation abroad paradoxically combines spineless high-handedness with recklessness bordering on suicidal. The sight of a flying Azhdarch regiment plucking apart a formation on the wing is a splendid sight, though often it is accompanied by a frightful number of accidental fatalities, which makes the endeavor either more impressive or quite farcical - depending on your frame of mind.
