Apprentices

The young folk do not care for qualifications. They are satisfied to learn their craft from the mad drunk in their villages who strives for ease over perfection, and charges his customers a pittance for his time - sometimes swapping his shoddy skills for goods like milk, meat or a bottle of ale.

— An anonymous Raskvaerii observer writing during the time of the Great Conquest

An apprentice is a young person who learns the skills of their chosen trade with a master. While most apprentiships require relocation to cities, some positions can be still be found in provincial villages and towns. Apprenticeships are closely monitored by the profession's Guilds in an attempt to ensure the quality of future goods created and cap competition in any given area.

The Hubraic Era

Prior to the Raskvaerii Invasion of Kredashmi, the education and training of young people was a very informal affair. Mostly children learned their trade from their father or mother, be that as a labourer, weaver, farmer or brewer. People did send their children to larger towns or cities to be educated by tradesmen or craftsmen, but these arrangements were unregulated. The Raskvaerii believed this made them open to abuse in terms of poor training, sudden dismissal, or apprentices being treated as household servants.

An Apprentice Glazier with the Master Glazier by Caitlin Wright via Bing

In the wake of the Raskvaerii Invasion, the conquerors rapidly founded branches of their own, powerful Guilds in the capital city of Rykfontein. Any business or craftman wanting to continue operating in this new, economic environment had to submit themselves for assessment and pay a heavily discounted membership fees. Any business discovered to be operating without a Guild membership was subject to crippling fines and imprisonment.
Part of the conditions of joining a Guild concerned the training of young people. The Raskvaerii tradition of indentured apprenticeships became a requirement

for anyone wishing to enter a business or trade. It would also be a requirement that the next generation of craftsmen and businessmen would need to show proof of successfully completing an apprenticeship in order to join a Guild, which in turn would give them licence to operate their own business.

Indentures: Expectations and Requirements

An Indenture is a written legal document that sets out the terms of an agreement between a master and their prospective student. It is commonplace that most Indentures are entered into by a parent or guardian in behalf of the young person, if they are aged under 14. After that age, Indentures are undertaken by the young person themselves.
Apprenticeships tend to last between five to seven years. During this time, the young person is subject to a series of strict rules that they have to obey, on pain of them losing their position. These included:

• "Honestly and faithfully Serv[ing] his [Master]", and obeying all "lawful Commands";

• Swearing never to hurt their master, nor let them come to harm by another's hand;

• Keeping all trade and personal secrets;

• No wasting, embezzling, giving away or lending of their Master's goods without permission;

• Forgoing marriage and "fornication";

• No gambling;

• Avoiding taverns, inns and alehouses;

• Not leaving their Master's home and business without permission.

Case Study:The Training of the Six Judges

The Six Judges are an hereditary legal and judicial office held by the senior members of the Kredasene nobility, and is passed to the eldest son in the event of his father's death. These Judicial Leaders are outranked only by the König himself. Their formal apprenticeship starts at the age of fourteen. Every boy starts in his father's Office. Every eight months, his tutaledge and care is passed to another Judge. During this time, the boys shadow their Masters in their official duties both in Rykfontein and on the Judicial Circuit.

An Apprentice Judge by Caitlin Wright via Bing

At the age of eighteen, the boys enter the Santuary of Learning at the Universität of Rykfontein. They are expected to finish this law degree in three years instead of the customary four. After this, they are expected to represent their father on the Judicial Curcuit for a year. Their apprenticeship is considered complete after they can successfully try a major case in the Six Judges' Court in Rykfontein.

Criticism of Apprenticeships

Raskvaerii-style apprenticeships are often heavily criticised by social commentators. Apprentices are legally required to live and study with their master, meaning that middling and poorer families have to lose out on a child's potential-economic support. It is also frowned upon for a Master to take an immediate family-member as their apprentice. As such, families are obliged to pay for the priviledge of an apprenticeship opportunity; as Masters commonly do not pay their students for their work, families are also required to pay a yearly stipend for their child's upkeep.
Some apprenticeships also require their students to obtain a university degree, such as lawyers and surgeons. All Guilds have scholarship or loan programmes that allow under-priviledged youths to access this compulsory learning; however, it is still relatively rare for people from lower-middling to poorer families to be awarded them. Gender, religious and cultural biases also undeniably play a hand in the consideration of candidates, with female, Varsii students (first and second generation in particular) struggling to find represenation on university courses.