Ephebus

Ephebus are members of the Veridian State that have yet to take the Ephebic Oath and officially join the ranks of the State.

## General Information

Adults who join the rank go through an express style of the training after completing a short skill assessment. Depending on their capabilities, their training can take as little as three months to as long as three years.

Younger members that grew up within the State often are prompted into the rank at the age of four months at the **absolute** earliest and one year at the **absolute** latest. The general age for them to be prompted is six months and they then stay in the rank for about two to three years. They are often considered to be the equivalent of teenagers in age.

*Ephebus* often study under all eligible ranks within the State to find their niche. Once ready, they take the Ephebic Oath, from which their rank is named, and join their intended field of study under either the title of Oikos, Taxiarch, or Kyrios depending on which position better fits their general interests.

Mentors to an Ephebus do not have a name to their rank, and generally are a mix of one to four felines that want to help the Ephebus in question find their placement within the State. They are not initially assigned and as such do not have a duty to be with the Ephebus at all times. If an Ephebus does not choose a mentor within their first few weeks of promotion, three mentors (one from each rank) are forced upon them to ensure that they learn the ways of their respective positions. Eventually it is expected for an Ephebus to only have one mentor once they have settled on which rank they wish to become so that their training becomes more specialized.

Felines who do not fit with the program in the first three months are removed from training and after a hearing with the Heliasts and Dikasts, are either cast out into the maze or are put through a more rigorous training program to prove their loyalty.

## Guidelines

Ephebus do not start in their rank as incompetent or completely fresh out of the nest. As a Moro, their parents would have, more like than not, shown their children basic fighting moves and commands to ensure that if anything happened to them, they have some way of protecting themselves and feeding themselves.

It is expected that some felines may take longer than others to complete their training. Nobody cares if somebody takes a long time to rank up, as it's expected that not everybody knows what they want to do right away. It isn't uncommon for a trainee to flip back and forth between duties before finding the right fit.

As is normal with some felines, it may also take an Ephebus time to find the right kind of mentor for them. They are not assigned one from the get go and often have to try learning from a few felines before finding out what style works best for them. Some felines are better a thinkers while others are better as doers.

It is not common for felines who just aren't motivated to get put on trial to be removed. This is considered an extreme measure either put into place because of disruptive behavior or suspicions that the feline in question isn't loyal to the State. **Do not make this a common backstory for maze lurkers.**

## Training

Because an Ephebus can range anywhere from preteen to adult in age, training for the position varies from feline to feline and mentor to mentor. A lot of the baseline requirements revolve around the feline studying and learning more about the group at large and the ranks at large before finding a field of special interest that they can further pursue after taking the Ephebic Oath. The Veridian State prioritizes knowledge over that of utility in this stage, as it is expected they will learn more in the actual position after their base training is complete. Think of it as being similar to that of college / university where you learn a lot but don't exactly have all the practical uses for that knowledge until you get out into the field and even then, you might still have questions, and that's okay.

**More Ephebus interactions must be completed before this section is filled out further.**

## Ephebus Rank Prompts

Each Prompt that is completed earns an additional 5AK, can be completed regardless of character's rank. This means that feline characters that joined as a fully realized member of the State may complete them to earn extra AK and show how their character got to the position they are in now. Each prompt can be completed whether you were born in the state or joined later on. All prompts are written in past tense.

You do not have to complete any prompts to be promoted. These exist solely to allow members to gain more AK.

#### Introduction Prompts

**A singular prompt from this list must be completed before a member can choose from the training prompt list. The submission must equal 1 DD of work minimum to be accepted**. **If all seven prompts are completed, tag InTheDappledRain in the prompts section for a special reward**.

* Who was your mentor
	+ If the character(s) are NPCs, you may opt to fill out a character sheet and submit them to the group to complete this task
* How did you become an Ephebus
	+ promotion vs. joining later in life
* Did you know what you wanted to be right away?
* Did you ever doubt your abilities when you first started out?
* When did you join the rank?
	+ age based, though you can also take it as what year did you join
* Do you remember anything special about your promotion?
* What was the hardest part about joining?

#### General Training Prompts

**Three prompts must be completed from this list before a member can choose from the advanced prompt list. The submission must equal 3 DD of work at a minimum to be accepted**. **If all of the prompts are completed, tag InTheDappledRain in the prompts section for a special reward**.

* What was the hardest thing for you to learn?
* How closely did your mentor work with you?
* What worked best for you during your training?
* When did things "fall into place" for you?
* What fighting moves did you learn?
* What herbs came in handy for you?
* Did you enjoy working with the moro?