You dont have to recruit them, as simple as thatThis is true, but I've just started playing the game and 5 out of the 5 characters I've encountered so far are female warlords. It's just dumb. Powerful queens/faction leaders, doctors, tradespeople - I can get on board with that but a female warrior (companions) would be squashed like a grape in the first 2 seconds of combat. The rest of the game is pretty realistic about the time period (geographic locations don't matter - weapons, siege equipment, trade goods, political system, etc. do).