While the Knights of the Order of the Sunset Sword provided it's cavalry and it's officers, they only made up about 20% of the Order Militant's manpower. The rest being made up of Poor Fellows. Poor fellows were drawn from the common folk of the Charleterre's population, though occasionally noble born members of the Order's Militant would be demoted to their ranks if the caused too much trouble. Like the Knights of the Order the term of service is twenty years which could be extended. Unlike the Order's Knights (who's families often sent extra money beyond their taxes to The Order support them in their oaths of poverty) they received a much lower amount of funding per man in terms of equipment. By the 18th century armor beyond a helmet and gorgets had been abandoned by the poor fellows, leaving them with only a tabard and clothes in white and blue as acceptable.





This Poor Fellow is armed with a Flintlock blunderbuss and a Falchion. The former is an effective weapon for boarding actions and fights in towns and forests where accuracy is less important than stopping power and projecting a cone of death with each shot can be a useful asset when faced with multiple foes close up. The Falchion was simply a common variety of sword which the Orders Militant adopted in France centuries ago and retained as the prefered close combat weapon of their Poor Fellows. Even so line infantry had become more common.







Service in the Poor Fellows was voluntary and there was rarely a shortage of recruits. Life among the Poor Fellows is hard, but then again so was life as a peasant on the estates. Those families which provided a recruit for the the Poor Fellows received considerable tax breaks and one of their sons could receive an education, opening up new opportunities. Many members were also repentants who were given a choice between service to the order on the battlefield or some other punishment. Finally there was a prospect for advancement, as one could rise form peasantry into nobility through service with poor fellows being Knighted on a fairly regular basis. Though the basic individual knighthood which was handed out in such a manner was as a default non hereditary, it did open up a lot of doors for a future political career as well as making one a major marriage target by the daughters of Charleterre's merchant class or low class knightly families.