Ranger Lore

*"Rangers are hardened warriors and lawmen. They don't talk much, so don't bother asking them any questions. That thousand foot stare they have is because they have seen and survived the horrors of the forest, and they know that they are going to have to do it again, maybe the next day. You'd best respect them too. They might save your life one day, because it's on them to make sure all the rest of us get to live the life we live in the way we want to live it. Otherwise, we'd all be out there in the wood, stalking around, afraid of what's around the next tree."*

Rangers are people from the Forest Tribes who have the unlucky distinction of being the law enforcement and protectors of the villages. The life or a Ranger is all too often short and violent, but their purpose within the Tribes is of utmost importance. They are sworn to enforce the myriad laws of the Tribes. They are also the people that are summoned to track down and kill the horrors of the forest should they manifest themselves. As a result, Rangers are a sort of military arm of the Tribes, living lives dedicated to martial law. Rangers are loners by both nature and code. They do not interact much directly with Tribes and keep to themselves. When they come to a village, they can always be identified by the two axes around their belts and the thick, green cloak that adorns them.

## What are Rangers

Rangers are people from the Tribes who are pressed into service for law enforcement and to help defend the Tribes. They are part of organizations called Ranger Outfits which are pseudo-military organizations dedicated to the causes of the Rangers. Ranger Outfits are sustained by the local Tribes of the area who pay duties for their service. The primary function of Rangers is to act as law enforcement and protectors. There are many laws which govern the behavior of Tribes, especially around treaties and other negotiated agreements. Should those few but important laws be violated, it is Rangers that will arrive to enforce them and dispense justice. This type of justice is often swift and martial as Rangers do not maintain a judiciary.

Further, Rangers also have the important job of dispatching any dangers of the forest that are plaguing a Tribe. Should a particularly violent monster be in the nearby forest, the Rangers will be summoned to hunt the creature and execute it. Sadly, Rangers are also responsible for hunting down and removing those villagers who have become possessed by the The Wild and are out of control. It is for this ignominious job, along with other reasons, that Rangers are often kept at arm's length from the regular Tribesfolk. Any of them know that one day, that person being hunted could be them or someone in their family.

Beyond their purpose as Rangers, the people that are Rangers all hail from one village or another. They are regular Tribesfolk who have been pressed into service with a Ranger Outfit for one reason or another. Often those reasons are because the person is an undesirable. They are criminals or people who have caused trouble for a Tribe. They are exiles who often face the choice of either becoming a Ranger or death. As such, at some deep level, Rangers are not usually the best or most friendly people to be around. These inglorious beginning creates a since of brotherhood among Rangers but also serves to alienate them from the Tribes in many ways.

Because of their roles and training, Rangers are strong warriors and the epitome of survivalists. They are expected to travel for weeks in the Great Forest while on a mission, and to do so requires high training, survival skills, and cunning. Above all, Rangers have learned the value of pragmatism, and it is rare that a Ranger lingers or dwells on much beyond his own survival. You will only rarely find a Ranger who is also an artist, poet, or craftsman. They simply do not have time nor will to focus on those things. Instead, you will find many Rangers who are dedicated pragmatists and only interested in the here and now of the day to day. They are utilitarian, highly skilled in working with their hands, and highly skilled in survival.

All Rangers carry the signature, two axes. Those two axes are generally high quality metal weapons that the Tribes don't have a lot of access to, and they are very important tools for the rangers. Those axes can not only be used for self defense, but they are the most required tool for survival in the forest. Axes can be used to dig holes, chop trees, skin animals, or cut through underbrush. They can be thrown in defense or as tools for hunting. They can be used as tools to make traps or prepare camps. A Ranger is taught that her two axes are her key to survival, and they often sleep with them still attached to their belts. Beyond those axes, Rangers are also issued stock, green cloaks which they all wear. These cloaks are simple fabric, but their primary function is to keep the Ranger warm and to provide a blanket for him to sleep in. Rangers take excellent care of their cloaks, and they often decorate them according to their personnel tastes when they have time with symbols or drawings.

## Elk Riders

Rangers are trained to ride the mighty Elk of the Great Forest. Elk are very large deer, similar in size to a horse. They are raised in Outfit Stations, and they are assigned to Rangers who need them for travel purposes. The great Elk is a mighty beast, fast, and useful as a weapon. They can have great antlers which can be used in battle. Primarily, though, Elk are a mode of transportation for Rangers. They also train to fight from their backs, using javelins or their throwing axes. When Rangers travel from place to place, it is often together as a group of Elk riders.

## Hunters, Trackers, and Trappers

Rangers are all trained in the requisite skills of hunting, tracking, and trapping. It is nearly impossible to hide in the woods from a Ranger Outfit. Their best trackers are known for being able to find anyone or anything given enough time. They can often ride into an area and find the scantest sign of a creature and follow it back to its den. This skill is of utmost importance both as a survival need to be able to find prey but also a job function in the need to hunt down dangerous creatures or fugitives from the law.

Rangers are also master trap makers, able to trap an area of the Great Forest either with crudely crafted designs or by simply using their surroundings to make spike pits, log swings, or branch traps. Rangers often have a great need for traps as fighting many monsters head on is suicide. It is often much easier to lure them to a heavily trapped area to injure them and then to finish them off with their axes. Rangers are first and foremost pragmatists of survival, and as such, whatever they can do to finish the job without injuring themselves comes naturally. This also makes Rangers consummate ambush fighters.

## Lawmen

Rangers abide by a very simple code as defined by ancient law. One of those codes is as lawmen and protectors of the Tribes. Rangers can be called upon to enforce Tribal law in a variety of ways. Should, for example, a Chieftain or village violate a negotiated pact or the rites of the Gathering, the Rangers will be summoned to dispense justice. This may involve anything from forcing their way into a village to capture a fugitive up to tracking down a person who has fled into the Great Forest to bring to justice. The most common punishment for crimes is either execution or forced induction into the Ranger Outfit.

## Service to the Ranger Outfit

Rangers are expected to serve their Outfit until they age out at around 45. Most Rangers do not make it that long. However, those that do are free to retire, and by code, they are are welcome to make their home in any village that the Ranger Outfit serves. Any past crimes must be forgiven. Still, any retired Ranger won't choose the village from which he was banished to retire in.

Rangers are expected to bear no children. They are expected to not build any relations with the Tribes which would otherwise interfere with their duties including friendships and love relations. Most Rangers spend their time at the Outfit Station rather than in a village, anyways. While serving, and due to these codes, they build very strong bonds among themselves, and many Rangers often choose to stay with their Outfit even after they age out simply because that Outfit has become their family.

Fleeing service with a Ranger Outfit is punishable by death. Trying to escape from an organization full of expert trackers is full of folly, and as a result, abandonment of station is very rare.

## Stalkers

Some Rangers who have shown a unique ability for survival and hunting become Stalkers. These special individuals are highly trusted and veterans of a Ranger Outfit. They are long past any concern of running away from the Outfit. Stalkers are perhaps the deadliest and most cunning of all Rangers. One becomes a Stalker simply because a Head Ranger nominates you for a mission that is often solo. Stalkers are given the most dangerous and toughest missions of all Rangers. They are expected to hunt down the most elusive and dangerous prey, oftentimes prey that cannot be located by a pack of Rangers on Elk. Stalkers can spend weeks or even months alone in the Great Forest, surviving off the land. They will mercilessly hunt they quarry, using ambush, traps, and great skill to find and kill them. Stalkers are known for hiding for days in a tree, waiting on their prey to come by, to ambush them with a myriad of throwing axes, javelins, or even stones.

Stalkers are by their very nature, loners. It takes a special person to be able to disappear into the Great Forest for long periods of time only to return silently with a completed kill.

Return to Forest Tribes Back Story

--Neil (talk) 17:07, 24 October 2016 (AST)