The men-at-arms are given room (a rough straw mattress in a barn) and board (thin gruel and stew) and earn a wage for their faithful service. The inductees are given an extravagant bounty for joining, though this all-too-often vanishes as soon as it is given as the new recruits are expected to pay for their new livery, equipment, and even make a contribution to the temples of Shallya, which will care for them when they are sick or injured. Though the quality of these troops can be questionable outside of Bretonnia, men-at-arms are nonetheless better off than their relatives within the countryside. Upon joining, these new recruits are given benefits and opportunities that are near-non-existent within the lower classes of Bretonnian society. By dusk, the luckiest and strongest are selected and taken back to the castle where they are given basic training and outfitted in the livery of their lord. All morning and afternoon the lord's knights inspect the candidates.

The young peasants will have been guided towards this goal throughout their entire life, encouraged to stand up straighter and taller than the usual peasant 'slouch' to better improve their chances of selection. Fathers often do this as a way to bring honour to their family, and also as a means to give their sons a better life. īretonnian men-at-arms valiantly holding the line against hulking Ogres.Įach midsummer, commoners from the surrounding lands will flock to their lord's castle to present their sons in the hopes that they might have the good fortune of being chosen to become a man-at-arms. These soldiers are equipped and trained at the expense of their local lord to fight on his behalf, with recruitment often starting at a relatively young age. Men-at-arms, on the other hand, are probably the closest thing to a professional soldier a Bretonnian army can field.

In times of war, these peasants often receive no training at all and are simply rounded up and pointed at the enemy. Whilst highborn knights are the true backbone of most Bretonnian armies, the peasants form the overall bulk.

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