Inquiry
What is the history of the Acacia Dragoons?
Observation
From exposition given in Chrono Cross, it is known that the Acacia Dragoons were created by a certain family named the Viper Clan, and established their presence in El Nido in 920 A.D. by building Viper Manor and helping the settling of Termina, eventually governing the isles and maintaining their own military. Some of the Devas may have fought at the Fall of Guardia in 1005 A.D. However, the Acacias (or perhaps the Viper Clan) may extend beyond 920 A.D., depending on the system used to classify Grandmasters. Specifically, a Grandmaster of the Acacia Dragoon seems to be a fit warrior; it is not a post held into old age, but is given to the mightiest fighter of the lot and retired when a new person arises after a few years or until the wearer's death. Garai was the 13th Grandmaster until circa 1005 A.D., in which he was killed by Radius. The title remained dormant until 1017 A.D., when Dario and the other new generation reached the age of manhood and the son of Garai took the mantle. After he died, the Grandmaster post was presumably vacant again. The defining role of a Grandmaster is to wield the Einlanzer in battle; this sword was forged by Dragonians and found by the Acacia Dragoons after 920 A.D.
The real question here is how long the tenure of Grandmasters usually lasts. Chrono Trigger maintains a consistent system of human generations, starting in 600 A.D. and ending in 1000 A.D. King Guardia XXI passes to King Guardia XXXIII, Yakra becomes Yakra XIII, and Toma becomes Toma XIII (who has a son by 1020 A.D. named Toma XIV). f the average span of time a Deva holds the Einlanzer is approximately as long as the average reign of a king of Guardia, then it would be about 30 to 35 years -- which is consistent with the idea that even older people like Viper and Radius can still be kicking it as active members of the Dragoons. If we allow this assumption, then that would put the first mainland-descended Grandmaster in about the 6th century A.D. (500 A.D. to 550 A.D., to be precise). That's the medieval period, which is consistent with the medieval atmosphere that surrounds the Dragoons. The Dragoons resemble the knights from 600 A.D., right down to how the high-ranking ones wear gold while the low-ranking ones wear silver, while the Porre soldiers resemble the guards from 1000 A.D.
Theory
With these considerations in mind, the history of the Acacia Dragoons would appear as thus. They were founded by the Viper Clan as a military organization within Porre around 600 A.D., perhaps banding together during the Mystic War. They survived for three hundred years in Porre before dispatching a group with other colonists in 920 A.D. to explore the recently discovered El Nido. Once the prime real estate of the El Nido mainland was discovered, the Acacia Dragoons migrated to the area and established Viper Manor, perhaps becoming exarchs over El Nido who reported to Porre. At any rate, a detachment or office of the Acacia Dragoons remained in Porre. The El Nido Acacia Dragoons helped establish Termina and assumed governership over the entire islands, pledging defense and probably driving the Demi-humans to the far islands and speeding the extinction of the Dragonians. The Dragoons then found the Einlanzer, which became part of the Grandmaster mythos. Around 1005 A.D., the four Devas (at the time, most likely Garai, Grandmaster, General Viper, Radius, and Zappa) received appointments on the Zenan mainland (as quoted by Ultimania; the only real evidence is in Radius's statement that he tore up the battlefield fifteen years ago). Here, they may have played a role in the Fall of Guardia.
Viper impressed many with his exemplary leadership, and eventually became governor of El Nido back at home. Radius meanwhile discovered the Masamune and killed Garai. As the years progressed, relations with Porre were weakened as by now, Porre was probably an established, expansionist militaristic state whose new advances in pyrotechnics did not jive with the old knight system used in El Nido. Word of the Frozen Flame reached Porre through Lynx, and plans were made to invade El Nido. This was eventually pulled off, disrupting the chain of the Acacia Dragoons' history.
But is it fact?
Notwithstanding the above outline and the possibility of a medieval origin, there is still no hard evidence to link the Acacia Dragoons with anything before 920 A.D. The flag of the Viper Clan, a dragon holding a blue orb in its mouth (most likely the Dragon Tear), strongly suggests this to be truth. Still, Guardia had a "Dragon Tank," meaning the concept of dragons existed well before El Nido and the flag does not necessarily mean the Dragoons stemmed from those islands.
Definitively, the Acacia Dragoons did come from Porre. As a wistful soldier who served in the occupation force of Viper Manor remarked...
I sense no more glory.
It was glory brought
on by Porre, anyway.
