#grust

I don’t mean to be the type to complain, but here’s something I need to get off my chest:

Where in the blazes is Camus?

No, seriously. I can’t for the life of me understand why it was a good idea to leave Camus by the wayside. He’s one of the most frequently recurring characters in the entire franchise and has established himself as one of the most notable characters from the Archanea canon, as well as being the progenitor of his own archetype. Camus is a significant character in Archanea, and I’m utterly baffled at how Navarre was chosen over him.

Consider the following, too: Camus could’ve had some interesting conversations with Xander, one of his many expies (visually the strongest expy he’s ever had). They could have discussed matters such as loyalty to one’s motherland and family, which could tie in with Camus’s own past, between fighting against Marth, joining Alm’s side as per Rudolf’s request and taking to battle alongside Marth as well.

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.