Various Grustian Military/Sable Order HCs
All of these are born out of my reading of and notes from Bouchard’s knights encyclopedia.
The Grustian military was born out of General Ordwin’s and his allies’ need to defend their conquered lands against angry bandits hoping to take the land back. Despite the advent of ballistae (which I HC Grust itself made to better fend off Macedonian dracoknights and which spread beyond the island as a result of the wars), their mounted knights persisted due to their military society. (Also, firearms don’t exist in Fire Emblem despite primitive ones having existed during and before the Middle Ages, and it was cheap firearms that really made medieval knights ineffective.)
Grustian knights tend to prefer coursers over destriers due to the mountains running through the island’s center. Though slightly shorter (ave. 1.4 meters ≈ 4.5 feet, measuring from hoof to withers/shoulders) than Archanean destriers (ave. 1.55 meters ≈ 5.5 feet), Grustian coursers are known to be more adroit on rocky terrain. Destriers are still used in tournaments and parades. That’s not to say they didn’t use destriers--as in the real world, each knight probably maintained 2-3 horses for campaigns, luggage, and everyday (optional) respectively. It took roughly 4 years to train each one (shorter than IRL because game mechanics).
Early Grustians may well have used horses (which might’ve resembled mules or goats back then) to help them tame the harsh island. Once these were crossbred with speedier mainland (Aurelian?) breeds and knights began regularly riding them, horses became Grust’s national symbol.
Knight training proceeds as in the real world, though for fewer years per stage because Fire Emblem all games take place in or around wars, which might expedite training. As I mentioned before, page and squire training take 5 years each. Boys are knighted around the age of 12; ceremonies (if one can afford them) occur after 17. I figure Grust’s ceremonies are among the most informal, particularly for lower-ranked knights; these are the most likely to consist of an older knight giving a new knight his spurs and sword and a kiss/slap on the cheek with a few close onlookers. Pages’, squires’, and knights’ duties are outlined in my reference sheet as well as in the Medieval Life website.