Rangers, The Wandering Frontiersmen
The Huntsmen of Untamed Forests
For as long as mortals can remember, the wilds have scared us. When we were naught but tribes of grunting savages, the forest invited both opportunity and terrifying horror. The early mortals would huddle and cower around their fireplaces, terrified of the beasts that howled and shrieked in the forests. Then, there were those that had less sense than their kin, and would walk into the forest anyway. Thus, the first Rangers were born, even if they didn't go by that name yet.
Hunters, trackers, scouts, and trappers all, the ranger is most at home amongst the wilds, at the very fringe of civilization. Rangers aren't just any wandering idiot waking into the forest, the ranger is someone who knows how to glide across the tree lines and forests. It is believed that the first proper rangers learned from the early elven settlements that scattered across Nilush, long before the fall of Iadiths mighty empire. They would teach these wandering frontiersmen how to properly see through the forests and how to move gracefully amongst them. Since then, most rangers either learn from experience, or from family and friends. You can imagine how many corpses of beginner rangers litter the forests and tree lines, for few survive long enough to learn what it truly means to be a ranger.
So what good do rangers do, these men and women who bow to no king or monarch? In truth, the forests wouldn't nearly have as many roadways leading from town to town without the help of the ranger. Villages that still exist do not thank them, but know that in a majority of cases, rangers help keep the wilds from invading the civilized world. Probably the biggest misconception is rangers are bizarre, tree hugging fanatics. There's a few of them, sure, but it is not worship of the wilds but respect. Respect for both the wilds beauty and its danger. They are mortals, and so cherish the cities and villages other mortals hail from, and the wilds always seek to reclaim the territory conquered by civilization. The ranger keeps the wilds at bay, and as such several "guilds" (more commonly referred to as Conclaves) exist in the forests and wilds. They reside as a safe, neutral area for adventurers and others to stay briefly, and to eventually be sent back out. These conclaves are not strict, organized bands, but instead ad-hoc, and casually banded together to keep tabs on the movements of cave dwellers, monsters, feral orcs, bugbears, goblins, and any other monster you can think of. They also regularly offer their services to local authorities if the need for trackers or scouts arise. However, the conclaves have a strict neutral policy when it comes to wars between nations and territories. It is not banned for individual rangers to join wars, but the conclaves themselves have an unspoken code of not meddling in the affairs of men, for the wilds have long since claimed their hearts, and the wild cannot govern the tame. However, they will ferociously guard their conclave if threatened, and woe betide those who think that all they need to go against them is a sturdy shield. So come then, men of the city, come into the wilds, the realm with no law, and learn from those who have never lived amongst law.
Career
Qualifications
A death wish. Little to no social life is also preferred.
Perception
Purpose
To keep the untamed, savage wilds from destroying the civilization of cities and villages, these rangers have never even seen. To hunt, and live a life free of kings, and to give service to locals not because of loyalty to a crown, but because they choose to.
Operations
Tools
Most rangers prefer to travel light, and so stick to light armor such as leathers, furs, and cloaks. Tradtionally, rangers prefer the use of the bow, but have since adopted other weapons and fighting styles. However no matter how many new inventions come out, the classic combination of a bow, quiver, and 2 swift blades at the hip has never gone out of style as the most popular gear of the ranger. Rangers either make their gear in the field or at conclaves, or also trade with caravans that have old ties to their conclaves for valuables. They have even been known to trade with druidic orders from time to time, but tend to stay away from these orders seeing them as bizzare nature fetishists.
Dangers & Hazards
Just about any horror both mundane, fathmable, and unfathamable one could imagine lurk in the wilds. Not to mention bandits, cave dwelling savages, and far worse also lurking in the wilds. Rangers only have themselves to look after each other, and so always sleep with one paranoid eye open.
