julianlord wrote:
>
> Trotsky :
>
> > > Anyone know when the Fronan chargers appeared exactly?
> > > /// Isn't the Fronan charger a recent creation, bred in Loskalm
> during the
> > > Isolation ? They do have special magics to raise them so they're the
> > > only horse
> > > in the world able to carry a full-armored man on their back at
> > > galloping speed ?
> > >
> >
> > No; you're thinking of a Swadal charger, which was bred from Fronans.
> >
> > The date of origin of the Fronan isn't known (at least to me), but they
> > are described as "widespread in the Middle Sea Empire", which suggests
> > to me that they were first bred in the late Dawn Age or early Imperial
> > Age, and introduced to a wider market when the Empire expanded.
>
> Typical armoured war horses are not entirely different to the modern
> cart horse, although I would personally see the Swadal as resembling
> the romantic, popular cinema imagery of the fine race horse, trained
> for battle, and at ease with several hundred lbs of armoured knight on
> its back, including during lengthy journeys through perilous
> wilderness areas ;)
>
> It's perfectly reasonable that a horse like this should be a result of
> magical breeding -- but unlike RW, there's no reason to suppose that
> the massive Fronan should be the result of any breeding programme, in
> my opinion.
>
I have to slightly disagree with you on that.
The statement I got from Greg about this (several years ago now), and
which made its way into Anaxial's Roster, was "Filipus... carefully bred
the fronans from the native daron". Now, the daron is the original
warhorse, as used in the Dawn Age, and by less wealthy knights since
that time, so it wasn't itself created by breeding - if anything, it
appears to have devolved from the more majestic Fourth Action horses -
but the fronan does seem to be something deliberately created during
Time. As does the swadal, for that matter.
YGWV.
--
Trotsky
Gamer and Skeptic
------------------------------------------------------
Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Not a Dead Communist: http://jrevell.blogspot.com/