Barbarian
Overview
Where a Fighter may be prized for technique and skill, a Barbarian is sheer brute force on the field of battle. They often rise from frontier lands as opposed to cities, due to the wild and untamed spirit they embody. In a pinch they can unleash a dangerous rage which is their unique talent, for a time heightening their physical prowess at the cost of their reason.
Notable Orders
Barbarians, by a rule, do not organize in groups, but there are tribes who are notable for their barbarians. The Stonehill Tribe are beastkin who have embraced the rage and are feared for their prowess in battle. Then there are the dwarven Brave Helmless, so called because they wear no helmets and tend to be at the front of every battle they take part in.
Bard
Overview
A Bard is a specific type of talented individual, one who relies on the rhythm and flow of music or speech to work arcane effects. They have trained, practiced their craft, and this is what sets them apart from your average entertainer. Furthermore, Bards have no small skill with weapons to protect themselves. They often refer to themselves as 'Jacks-of-All-Trades', being able to do a little of everything at the cost of mastering none of them as well as others.
Notable Orders
The Wanderers are one of the most numerous groups of Bards, though they don't limit themselves to only Bards. They tend to meddle in many different affairs, intending to benefit the common folk. Aside from then, there is the Bardic College of Five Harmonies; if a Bard has undergone formal training, they are usually linked to this organization in some manner.
Cleric
Overview
Clerics are a different matter from priests; one can be a priest and not be a Cleric, but Clerics are almost always trained as a priest in the religious order of their God. A priest can perform all manners of rituals in the name of their God, and these rituals do have power. A Cleric can channel the divine energy of their God to perform magic, as their God wills it. They serve their God, and going against the will of their God carries repercussions.
Notable Orders
All religions have their own ordained orders, and each one carries with it a weight and authority all its own. However, there is one order which is known above others: the Guardians of the Exalted Isle. They are responsible for the safety of those on the island, and sometimes undertake special duties which are meant to benefit the Exalted Island instead of their patron. They do not follow one particular God, recruiting from all the other religions who keep temples on Exalted Isle.
Druid
Overview
Druids are those who embrace nature strongly and can work magic not by demanding the power but by asking the natural world to help them. They are often at home more in the wilderness than civilization, but that doesn't mean they are strangers to it. In most instances, they can also use magic to alter their shape to that of an animal. To be a druid requires communing with the natural world on a level which takes quite a lot of time and effort to reach the point where one can truly call on the powers of a druid.
Notable Orders
The Circle of Sun and Moon are elven druids who oversee a great many of the woods elves reside in, and meet with outsiders to discuss matters often. The Circle of Stars, on the other hand, are almost all human or half-elven druids who are very hard for outsiders to approach safely.
Fighter
Overview
The difference between a person with a naked blade and a Fighter is training, either at a formal school, with an army, or with years of training oneself. It is discipline and practice which makes a Fighter shine. There are private instructors in every major city which can teach willing (and paying) students.
Notable Orders
The Rhyliss Imperial Guard and the Imperial Legion are highly-focused groups who teach their members to fight as a unit rather than individually. Elven Sun Knights are among the most feared with blades, having had decades to hone their craft. On the other side of the continent, Knights of the Circle are known to carry magical objects to help them fight.
Paladin
Overview
Holy warriors who wield a weapon and the will of their God with fearless fervor, a Paladin in action is a wonderful and terrible thing to behold. They take to service with a conviction which matches or surpasses the Clerics who also serve their Gods. There is a code by which they live, dictated to them not by the religious orders but by their Gods themselves. Transgressions are severe, and met with either a weakening or a loss of their gifted divine powers.
Notable Orders
Standing beside Clerics of the religions, Paladins are often referred to as "Knights of the Gods", and often are part of those religious orders. The Guardians of the Exalted Isle welcome Paladins to their fold eagerly, but they often take the defensive and inactive roles as protectors.
Ranger
Overview
The wilderness comes easier to some than others, and Rangers are those who excel at surviving in it. Fierce warriors with an understanding of their chosen type of territory, they are not to be trifled with. Despite this, it is not unusual for Rangers to take up residence in cities and ply their talents in service to civilization instead of the wilderness. They often find work as hunters, trackers, survivalists, and guides through the wilderness.
Notable Orders
The Imperial Surveyors are an order of Rangers who serve the Rhyliss Emperor, traveling the lands of the Empire and investigating how things are in the various towns, cities, or villages. Elves also have an order, the Verdant Stride, who are tasked with keeping their hidden cities hidden from those who search from them - by any means.
Rogue
Overview
The Rogue is a curious person to consider, as they are rarely exactly what they seem. There are many types of Rogue, but the universal aspect which unites them is talent for things which are best left in the shadows. Some prefer sneaking and thievery, some prefer more straightforward approaches, and some hide in plain sight and none are the wiser for what they do. They are, despite what one may think, invaluable as good friends and make terrible enemies. They also tend to have a unique method of communicating with other thieves, weaving keywords or phrases into conversations to get across concepts without letting those who are not Rogues know what is going on. Or leaving symbols in plain sight which other Rogues can interpret if they are 'in the know'.
Notable Orders
Every major city in the human world has their own thieves' guilds, but there are rumors of one guild which encompasses all of these and commands respect in the underworld. The Shadows' Children do exist, and are very secretive about exactly how broad their reach is. The elves do not necessarily organize an order as readily, but elves trained to be Rogues often carry or leave bird feathers as a calling card in their own complex language.
Sorcerer
Overview
Where some must study the nature of the arcane, there are those who are born to it and can wield it as a matter of instinct. These are sorcerers, whose gifts often a matter of lineage instead of talent. This doesn't mean they are weak, far from it. Sorcerers who survive long into their life are able to call upon terrible displays of magical power.
Notable Orders
The Warmages of Zurithan accept all who wish to specialize in offensive magic use, be they Wizard or Warlock or Sorcerers. Elven Sorcerers organize very loosely, meeting each other infrequently at best but calling themselves the 'Keepers of Arcana'. They do accept non-elven members who show promise, but only after proving their gifts.
Warlock
Overview
Warlocks earn their power through making a pact with a being not of Erisdaire, and through this pact they are granted power. The Gods are not always approving of these pacts and often can try to interfere, but sometimes they forge pacts themselves. In this case, they open up a mortal to channel arcane energies in exchange for specific services; this is not the same matter as a Cleric or Paladin, as it is very much breaking the rules for deities to do this. But they do it anyway, with the secret being the price the mortal must pay for power.
Notable Orders
Along with the aforementioned Warmages of Zurithan, there are many smaller orders which exist in the world which have formed based on what powers the Warlock has seen fit to forge contracts with. But there is the feared Obsidian Eye, a group with a reputation for being dangerous and very powerful. It’s not stated openly how you join, how many members there are, or what goals they share. It is 'known', however, they cannot have good intentions for the world.
Wizard
Overview
Dusty ancient tomes, scrolls of faded script, experiments which ordinary people could never hope to understand. These are the tools of Wizards to understand the world of arcane magic, and bend it to their will. Wizards are born of rigorous study, devoted to learning their craft through experimentation and investigation of all magic which has come before them. In exchange for this devotion they wield arcane powers few can understand, or withstand.
Notable Orders
Wizards tend towards the solitary, spending so much of their time studying and investigating the nature of magic to improve their talents. However there are two major orders which persist to this day. The Sages of Myrisic exist to gather all knowledge of the arcane, of history, of anything worth knowing. The Imperial Arcanists want to investigate the use of arcane magic to benefit the Empire and hopefully revitalize it so it can last longer.
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