Imperial Fleet

The Imperial Fleet or Imperial Navy (Imperial Language: sin-Avelonä Scadriränor, s-AS) is the maritime military / administrative arm of the Imperial government. In the language of the Empire, it is known as "Scadriränor" [Skad-rir-ay-or], which is the noun fleet [Scadre] plus the pluralizing suffix [-ir-], turned into a singular collective noun by the suffix ''-än-. ''Although administered by the Lords Marshal along with the Army (the Imperial nautical and terrestrial military forces are not distinguished as separate branches), and generally considered to be the junior service to the Imperial Legions, the Fleet is a vital and important organ in the maintenance of Imperial hegemony.

History
Being inhabitants of a large peninsula, the peoples who originally constituted the Empire at its creation had a natural nautical inclination. Fishing was a primary livelihood and waterborne trade of a coastal, but primarily river-based, nature was common between the various citystates, all of which were centered on shores or waterways. The Imperial City, which would be christened Markusgräd (Markian City / City of Markus) after the death of the Founder-Emperor, was raised over what had been the wealthiest pre-Imperial Citystate, Aquilaea: a metropolis of artificial canals and maritime trade built upon a river with direct access to the ocean. Today, none of the pre-Imperial Aquilaean architecture survives and the Empire's massive capital has long since outgrown the lake it was originally constructed upon, yet these canals have been artificially expanded: the entire city is imbedded with a carefully-planned web of waterways. It is the largest, busiest and wealthiest port in the known world and one of the greatest ship foundries in the Empire.

Following Markus's death, the Empire began expanding beyond its peninsular boundries. In doing so, it came into contact with other countries, some of which were significant maritime powers. This forced the Imperials to turn their natural seamanship toward the creation of dedicated sea-going vessels of war. This led to the creation of a nautical wing of the Imperial Army, which would over time evolve into a distinct organization in its own right: the Imperial Fleet(s).

Organization
Once upon a time, the Empire maintained hundreds of massive warships in a dozen different major fleets. Now however, with the Inland Sea [Imperial Language: Jörinan-vis, literally meaning "Great Lake"]'s coastlines having fallen completely under Imperial Hegemony, the role of the Fleets has changed considerably. In the modern Empire, the vast majority of large capital warships are concentrated into one organization: the High Seas Fleet [Haljörirscadre]. The remaining forces are distributed among smaller geographically-named fleets responsible for the protection of specific sections of the Imperial coastline and Overseas Stations for the Empire's colonies.