"With a bastard sword like that, you might as well be carrying around a log - or rather, an axe actually. A sword is, in its ideal, a fluid thing. It must move as you move, flow as you flow - that sword you have is so heavy, it is liable to command your arms, when your arms should command it."

First Swordmaster of Saldon, Filaretos of Mochthemas

Martial Apprenticeship

Martial Apprenticeships are designed at raising up the ranks of the world's professional fighting forces. The majority of feudal armies are made-up of lightly trained peasants, but the orders of knights, and the professional armies elsewhere in the world, require diligent training, often from a young age. In Halstat, archers are trained with the bow from the age of 6. In most feudal cultures, would-be-knights begin their path at the age of 8. Even the common rank-and-file of the Arissian army begin drilling at the age of 13. The goal of such training varies by type, but is almost universal in its pursuit of martial discipline.

          A career in the army is a quite respectable path for someone to take, as far as most folk are concerned. It comes with decent pay, and opportunities for promotion, which serves in some cultures as the only real way for lower orders to rise above their station. That being said, the military is often at least implicitly feared for its ability to cow a populace - while most armies are used against rival nations in wars, they can just as easily be turned inward against enemies of the state - memories of such brutal crackdowns leave indelible marks on the psyche of the population of a country, in particular on the psyche of its most vulnerable citizenry.

          Unsurprisingly, those who have gone through martial regimentation are primed to approach the problems that they face directly. Whenever there is a threat, they are likely to favor violence or at least coercion in order to get their way. Not only are the likely to see the head-on solution as the best one - they will also likely see it as the noble one. The discipline in most forms of martial training is designed to squash the ever-present desire for self-preservation, and replace it with a sense of self-sacrificing honor. This style of approach can be at times burdensome to those who employ it, but all to often in life a direct approach is the only one - having the endurance to take that option is a crucial skill in the life of an adventurer.

If you choose Martial Apprenticeship, you gain the following:

~A +1 to one of the following Ability Scores of your choice: Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution~

~A Skill Proficiency in either Athletics, Animal Handling, or Intimidation~

~Land Vehicles as a Tool Proficiency~

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