The Men of Gran March 15+ years were conscripted and server for up to 7 years. Women could join but not conscripted. The women then would be a major part of the agricultural backbone as well as business. Since the Calvary was very important to the Gran March army horse breeding would be an important agricultural industry. Woman would likely be important traders and breeders of horse let alone other businesses. I suspect though that many of the rich would not serve as long. For poor persons it would bring added income to the family and thus serve longer. The kinds of farms would likely depend on the strengths of the women running it.
Women would generally be some of the main drivers of the Gran March economy. _________________ "Its a dangerous business going out your front door." JRR Tolkien
Unless you are a Greyhawk Heretic.
I have been pondering womens roles in GM, and I have come to the conclusion that most Guilds would have women in positions of leadership, if not as guildmaster. This is for several simple reasons..
1) the men are not as advanced in the trade having taken 5 to 7 of their formative years off from work. The women would be very active in the trade at this time, and would develop considerably more skill in their chosen field.
2) The parcipation in militia companies always risks the males being pulled away.
3) The Army is hazardous, and after years of warfare in the marches, etc, the number of men is significantly less than the number of women.
We have discussed a family/female group which several hundred years ago saw the seam and filled it. They have come to dominate several industries and have significant influence. We should discuss this as a power group within the march, and find someone to help detail it.
Wouldn't the cavalry have a disproportionate number of women in their ranks?
Women are lighter, allowing a horse to carry more equipment or move faster/longer. The game doesn't take such details into account (thank you!), but it does make some sense.
Women breed, raise, and train the horses for use by cavalry. Knowing how the cavalry fights would make their job easier, and make them more effective.
Women who "raise" a horse would have more of a connection than a stranger, and would therefore tend to get a better reaction from a horse that they "imprinted" upon. Similar to modern K9 teams.
Make sense? _________________ There is no problem that cannot be resolved with the application of more firepower.
Firepower... you raise several good points. I agree and disagree. I should have been a lawyer.
Any way, I would say that of the women in the GM military, there are more proportionally in the Cavalry than in any other branch, for all the reasons you name. In particular, they would make good skirmishers and couriers.
However, the single biggest thing that keeps them from really shining in the Cavalry is numbers. The thing that keeps their nubmers low is the simple fact that female service is not mandatory. If it was, I think many units may be all female. However, as it is, they are blended in I would think, though they may well make up the courier corp, as that would have to have a strong rapport with their animals.
Agreed. IF a woman joined the military, it would most likely be in the Cavalry. So there would be a greater ratio of women in the cavalry than the infantry or special services.
Looking at Hammarr's postings on the GM military structure, I'd assume that most of the women would join the Light Cavalry. There would be exceptions, of course... _________________ There is no problem that cannot be resolved with the application of more firepower.
Not giving anything away, but women will feature most prominently in the literature of the Gran March. In fact, they will dominate it, with appropriate adventure hooks.
By way of update, I've begun writing the Literature in the Flanaess entries (a mini-series of 3 entries), one of which will be just about the Gran March.
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