Conceptually simple, warriors are some of the best fighters known to the multiverse. Many generalize them as simple people carrying simple weapons. Warriors are far from simple, however. Their skills and techniques may take years of practice to master, arguably being as difficult to study as the arcane arts. Becoming a powerful warrior takes extreme dedication.
Many warriors become adventurers for one reason or another. Not as predictable as a priest or a marine, warriors come in all shapes, sizes, personalities, and moralities. They all share one thing in common, and that is their ability to do large amounts of damage.
It's hard to learn on your own, though. As such, many warriors have begun to pass on their skills and techniques to the younger generations. This led to the development of different Schools of warriors. Initially very restrictive, the Warrior Schools are now so widespread that many practitioners can be found in almost every city across Jaern and Cahyali.
The Rhine Rhombus has had a problem with pirates and vagabonds for generations. It is also home to the founder of the School of the Wolverine. Coral Natare, the Pirate Queen of the Rhine, led a crew named the Scabbards. The Scabbards terrorized many merchants in the Rhine Rhombus for almost forty years starting around the turn of the millennium.
Legend says she dual wielded swords and was able to cut down five people with one swing. The School of the Wolverine was founded by people attempting to recreate her legends, naming the school after her favorite pet.
On Jaern, the School of the Bear was first developed in the modern day Firehammer Hold. Its first practitioner was Delvar Firehammer, one of the strongest members of the Firehammer clan. The name for the school came from a nickname Delvar gained from his friends. It is said that Delvar once accidentally slept through an entire winter, much like a hibernating bear.
Through his prowess as a warrior and selfless, protective nature, Delvar Firehammer united several of the dwarven warrior clans in the early days of Ageron. From here, the School of the Bear developed and was taught to newer generations. Now, it can be learned all across Jaern. Delvar Firehammer is an ancestor to Thom Firehammer, the current chieftain of Firehammer Hold.
The old elven city of Lentri is a wonderful forest haven to this day. However, there was much conflict there even in recent history. In 10041, not long after the Day of Reckoning, The Great Lojem War began. While this war did not last very long, an elven general from Lentri was able to prove her capability as a leader in the war.
General Ithronel Reylen, known for fighting alongside her common infantry, rallied her people and led them against the orcs. After the war ended, Ithronel further proved her capabilities when the combined armies, now double the size of what she was used to, quickly tracked down the leader of the shadowy organization that started the war in the first place. In her retirement, Ithronel founded the School of the Wolf. Its teachings have quickly spread across Jaern, and Ithronel herself will still provide 1-on-1 training with those willing to track her down in Lentri.
Geleia is regarded as the original home for the School of the Hawk. During the founding of The Kingdom of Geleia, a warrior with a bow named Ariah MacKenzie was instrumental in deciding some battles during the Clan’s Wars. Specifically, it is said Ariah fought for the Missums as a mercenary, single handedly felling thousands of foes over the course of the war through her precise shots.
Some claimed she was so precise she could kill an ant with an arrow from a mile away. Later in life, Ariah MacKenzie founded a school to pass on her abilities to others. Over time, the knowledge of the School of the Hawk was transferred all across Jaern. While guns did not exist at that point on Jaern, they have been proven to be just as effective with the Hawk techniques as bows and crossbows.
Long ago, the globe-spanning Veiled Empire ruled over Jaern. Through their knowledge of demon binding, they were able to dramatically increase both their technological and magical prowess. During this time period, a great warrior named Draak Zmaj developed the School of the Dragon to counter the many powerful mages fueled by the demons of the Beneath.
Draak found a way to harness the elemental energies of the world around him without needing to make deals with demons. However, with the fall of the Veiled Empire at the hands of the Dark Sun, the School of the Dragon was almost lost. It wasn’t until 9724 SF when some of the first Tarusians excavated a Veiled Empire tomb that evidently belonged to Draak. It told his story and revealed his techniques to the modern age. The Tarusians kept it a close secret for a few centuries before knowledge of the School of the Dragon was allowed to the public. Now, any can follow in Draak’s footsteps by learning from ancient skills.
The militaristic city of Tasarazi in Dahabu is the original home of the Wolverine Warrior. The city of Soko had long been adopters of Seti's Wolf School. In order to strike back against the city in their eternal war, Tasarazi's military began to train its soldiers to be more erratic in movement and strike as hard as possible.
The overwhelming power and unpredictability of the Wolverine School was tailor-made to counter the Wolf School's methodical planning and reliance on teamwork. It stayed a Tasarazi secret technique for a long time. Two centuries after its creation, a traveling merchant and world-cataloger learned of the school and spread the knowledge of its techniques to the rest of Dahabu and later Cahyali, much to the chagrin of the city's sultan.
On Cahyali, the School of the Bear was created during the early days of the Lancer Knights of Shinneok. Properly utilizing their armor and defending others from attacks were not just techniques, but core principles of the Lancer Knights at their founding. The school itself was named after Dame Gwenyth, a half-human half-giantkin warrior who earned The Bear as a nickname for her glory in battle.
She contributed a lot to the school's development of its techniques in her time as a fighter, and later to its spread by writing several books for the school's curriculum. This led to the School of the Bear becoming rapidly popularized across all Cahyali, not just Shinneok.
In the days of the Great Dahabu Empire, one of the most feared and renowned generals was that of Overseer Seti. A powerful warrior and fierce commander, Seti led his people in conquest after conquest. He is thought to be the original Wolf Warrior of Cahyali, named as such for his pack-mentality to leadership and for the helmet he wore in the shape of a wolf.
Unfortunately he never taught anyone his tactics before he died. Centuries later, scholars worked together to establish Wolf school of warriors by studying Overseer Seti's tactics and what fragments remained of his training regimen. From here, the knowledge of the Wolf School of warriors began to be passed on for generations.
In the western portions of Ley'Ork, close to the border of Splint, many tales of lawless adventure have sprung up like wildflowers in spring. They tend to tell of great gunslingers, faster at quickdraws than any in the world, better shots than heat seeking missiles, and cooler than the Pthoran wastes. One of these legends is Robbie McCain, also known as “Kid Quick”.
It is said he was the first Hawk Warrior on Cahyali, teaching many a young explorer how to shoot. His teachings quickly spread across Ley'Ork and eventually the rest of Esrior. To this day, people attempt to recreate his legendary feats like making shots from a mile away or taking on hundreds of opponents in a duel.
The school of the Dragon was created in Ruefang by the College of Mages and Scholars (CMS). For centuries Ruefang had issues with magical creatures whose powers were boosted near the mystical leylines. To counteract these beasts the CMS Mata division sent scholars to study the Elemental energies pouring from the leylines.
Eventually, the scholars learned how to simulate the elements with their own skills, becoming the first warriors of the School of the Dragon. They taught the Ruefang military these new techniques to harness the elements in the face of terrors. The knowledge of this school spread out from Ruefang after some Ulosian scholars visiting the area caught wind of the school and learned the techniques themselves.
Just because a warrior starts a school does not mean the school will be successful. A warrior school may fall to catch on for a number of reasons.
On Jaern, an elven warrior named Aelfric Goodbush created what he dubbed the School of the Lizard. Unfortunately, many found this to be racially insensitive due to the other warrior schools having an animalistic theming.
The School of the Porpoise and the School of the Fire Ant both were found to cause more harm to the practitioner than to any opponent faced. The School of the Porpoise required its fighters to go into combat completely covered in water. This led to many tragic yet hilarious deaths at the hands of slips and trips. The School of the Fire Ant had a similar grisly fate as practitioners were forced to light themselves on fire mid-combat.