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Message: <blockquote data-quote="maddman75" data-source="post: 1997301" data-attributes="member: 2673">How common are these mounts?  If they are rare and expensive, I actually don't see them used much in combat.  The best uses for these beasts would be communication and scouting.  One of the most difficult parts of fighting a war, well, pretty much any time before the last 50 years or so is figuring out who is where and what they are doing.  With eyes in the sky, the kingdom with the fliers could make suprise attack all but impossible.  It would be easy to set up ambushes and avoid enemy armies, striking at their supply lines instead.The other is in communication.  A flying mount could travel in hours what could take a mounted rider days to traverse.  The generals would know troop movements, hear of victories and defeats, and know news from the rest of the war effort much faster than the opposition.There would be several ways to counteract this advantage of course.  The best would be to get flying mounts yourself, but that may not be possible.  I could see such a kingdom sending out units of skilled archers, looking for any flying scouts or messengers and taking them down.  Even with such countermeasures, this is a HUGE advantage.If there's enough to enter combat and aid in seige, again I would see archers becoming more valued.  The biggest danger isn't in the beasts themselves, but that they could drop someone inside who could open the gates.  Perhaps the controls to the gate would be protected by a portcullis on both sides, only opened from within the gatehouse.  Or the courtyard could be filled with large sharp stakes to prevent the mounts from landing nearby.I don't think trade would be massively affected - I don't get the impression you see these creatures as common as horses.  But they would be most useful for diplomacy, able to ferry messages and diplomats to foreign langs with unparalleled speed.  Rare or valuable items could be ferried as well if they are not too heavy, but I imagine this would be very costly.</blockquote>

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