Mounted Yeomen

The Mounted Yeomen are the closest a Bretonnian peasant may come to the honour of fighting from the saddle: huntsmen, gamekeepers, and squires' servants mounted on light horses and sent ahead of the army to scout the ground, screen the knights, and harry the enemy's edges. Armed with spears, bows, and throwing weapons, they are fast and useful, ranging across the battlefield where the heavily armoured knights cannot, running down fleeing foes and giving warning of ambush. Yet they enjoy none of the glory. Bretonnian society is rigid to the bone, and a yeoman who dares outshine his betters (or worse, survives a battle in which knights fell) may find little thanks and much resentment waiting at home. They fight regardless, out of loyalty, terror, and the faint hope that valour might raise their families a single rung, sacrificing themselves to blunt the charges that would otherwise strike the knights before those knights are ready. In Bretonnia, even courage keeps to its station.