Iron Discipline
Iron Discipline. Iron Discipline is the warlord's grip on the men and women under their direct command. While the warlord stands — on the field, in the camp, at the head of the column — those soldiers cannot be routed, cannot be bribed, cannot be turned against the warlord by any enemy. Fear slides off them. Gold holds no temptation. The enemy's heralds may ride up and offer pardon and land, and the soldiers will not waver. The discipline is not cruelty. It is certainty, radiated outward from the warlord's spine into the ranks. The soldiers do not love the warlord for it. They simply cannot imagine, in the warlord's presence, doing anything other than holding the line. The gift fails the moment the warlord falls or leaves the field. The warlord knows this. They have never left a field they intended to keep.