there are Neanderthal gravesites where the remains of disabled children show they were cared for and included 500,000 years ago and Stone Age gravesites where disabled people were buried with MORE riches than the abled but keep on thinking disability inclusion is a modern invention
human brains have been functionally about the same for about 75,000 years and people always wanna act like every positive value is a modern invention? no man the recent few thousand years of rampant wealth hoarding distracting us from our values is the modern invention
Also, this is why I don't like a lot of grimdark. The idea that "gritty" somehow means "zero room for human compassion or empathy ever" is both depressing and wildly unrealistic to human experience to me.
my sister-in-law has cerebral palsy and is bedridden. She can't even operate her own wheelchair, and she lives in Peru where nobody follows the accessibility regulations. The door to her little room is more narrow than her wheelchair. The OP is asking to role-play real life, not rate civiliations
This! Also: prosthetics have been used since about 5,000 years ago. The first documented prosthetic hand was used in battle by a Roman general. It’s really not “ahistorical” to include those as well in medieval-ish fantasy settings.
Seems like being ignorant would be a real danger, too.