Re: Seshnegi Questions

From: Jeff <richaje_at_LPZTA2KuM8Ljx_a7KbzVsOvBiU8GqkkVloR6WpQKQMzN3yiiYXXAVr3Bt_EvX1mKq1JI>
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2010 08:39:46 -0000

> Personally, I'd suspect that the Men of All did ride around
> on horses, but proper heraldry and proper lance combat were later
> developments. This was the First Age, things weren't fancy. More a
> guy on a horse with a personal insignia on his shield (not yet part
> of a formalised system of heraldry), and a big spear. Something like
> a Roman cavalry two handed contos perhaps, rather than the under arm
> couched lance of medieval Europe (I see that as more a Second Age
> development, but I could be wrong).

Possibly not even that organized. Remember, these are very small groups at the Dawn. If we say that Frowal had 1500 people at the Dawn, then we are dealing with maybe a dozen to a score of the Men of All. Of course they are fighting against equally small groups of Pendali.

As time went on, the Seshnegi population likely increased far faster than the Pendali (which still increased faster than the Hsunchen bands).

> As Jeff points out, the Dawn age Dronan were not fast when carrying a
> mounted warrior, but certainly could. I'm guessing on mounted
> warriors being pretty much always a major factor in Western armies,
> but the full on lance charging cataphract style only really emerging
> in the Second age with the breeding of Fronan horses.

Slow moving, heavy cavalry probably appeared in the late First Age (perhaps during the Silver Empire, perhaps later). These bands of the Men of All were elite shock troops that hammered their enemies in conjunction with hrolar archers. But I agree with David that the heyday of the Western cataphractoi was the Second Age with the Middle Sea Empire and their Fronan chargers.

Jeff