Ranger

### Skills

Choose three from Animal Handling, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, and Survival

**Rangers** are warriors who live at the fringes of civilisation where the beasts of the wild and the various peoples of the city clash. They excel at surviving and exploring in the wilderness. To aid them in their outback treks, Rangers train in a number of combat techniques, survival skills, and even a small dose of magic. Some rangers are even known to train wild animals as their companion.

## Abilities

Trained to be nimble and deadly, rangers are experts in the art of survival, both on their own and with company. They can move swiftly through rough terrain, evade natural hazards, and disguise their tracks or camouflage themselves to blend in with their surroundings, hiding themselves from their enemies. Rangers train their senses to an extremely keen level, allowing them to focus their awareness on the area around them to notice if any deadly creatures are close by. With additional experience, rangers can even see through magical invisibility.

All rangers are proficient to some degree in light or medium armour and most military-grade weapons as well as shields. Generally, rangers prefer to be lightly armoured, as it allows them to be more agility then those wearing heavier armour. In addition to their general proficiency with martial and simple weapons, rangers specialised in a particular fighting style, such as archery, and dual wielding twin blades. Rangers who emphasis either style often become members of traditions that further help them specialise, such as the Sgwad Sgowtiad or the Cuchillas Gemelo. Whatever their particular combat style, rangers are deadly foes, especially against particular foes whom they had a particular affinity for, such as beasts, undead, or giants. Which they can better track, hunt, and even communicate with than with other targets.

## Conclaves

Most rangers life a isolated life out in the wilds, and often the only social contact they get for months is during a meeting with their conclave. These conclaves are small brotherhoods of rangers who come together to share information and rumours. Most members of a conclave also share a similar outlook on how best to protect nature from those who would despoil it, thou this is not always the case.

### **Beast Conclave**

Members of the Beast Conclave, who call themselves Beast Masters, feel more at home among the beasts of the wilds than among so called civilised people. Most train for years among animals, to the point where some of those animals start to consider the ranger as kin, but some might just had a chance encounter with a animal that developed into a strong friendship. No matter how the ranger and his animal companion met, all of the Beast Conclave agree that these beautiful animals, who are just as capable of emotions and compassion as any humanoid creature, must be protected from those that consider them mindless beasts.

Beast Masters gain their strength from the bond they share with their animal companion, and through this bond, they become a formidable team, acting out as extensions of one another. As they ranger and his companion grow stronger, they learn to improve each other's abilities by using a little bit of magic on each other. Sometimes the animal starts to imitate the ranger and develops abilities similar to those of their humanoid friend. Like rangers, beast companions are skilled at fighting in close quarters. Beast companions learn beside their rangers, improving in capability as the ranger does. When a Beast Master falls unconscious in combat, his companion will rush to his defence, protecting them even if it cost it its life.

The training of a Beast Master does not come without its costs. While Beast Masters are great with animals, they often have problems when interacting with more civilised folks. Showing similar mannerisms to their Animal Companion. The dead of an Animal companion is as hard for a Beast Master as the dead of a friend, and their comrade in battle will often get a warriors pyre. After the burial a ranger might chooses to search out a new animal to fight with, as hard as it feels. But rangers who became exceptionally close to their companions in mind and spirit sometimes became Totem Warriors, calling upon the spirit of their friend to aid them in battle.

### **Cartographer Conclave**

The Cartographers are a group of rangers who have dedicated themselves to adventure, discovery, and scientific progress. They venture into uncharted territories to record the lay of the land, its flora and fauna, and the local inhabitants. Then they bring these discoveries back to the civilised world where they share them with universities and scientific societies for fame and renown.

It is inside of these locations that the members of the cartographer conclave themselves usually meet, discussing new way of recording their research and areas of interest. Cartographers who meet each other out in the field are just as likely to share notes with each other as they are to rush to outshine each other.

### **Gloom Stalker Conclave**

The Gloom stalkers are at home in the darkest places: down dank caves, in gloomy alleyways, in primeval forests, and wherever else the light dims. While most folk fear away from such places, the Gloom Stalker Conclaves boldly venture into the darkness, seeking to hunt down threats before they can reach the broader world. Gloom Stalkers sometimes seem to blend into the shadows, and even creatures at home in the dark have problems with seeing these rangers until it is too late.

The Gloom Stalker Conclave meet down deep caves light by bioluminescent mushroom, far away from unwarranted preying eyes. Gloom stalkers commonly have overlapping territories without noticing, as it is rare for them to bump into each other while scouting.

### **Hunter Conclave**

The Hunter Conclave believe that, to better protect civilisation from the terrors of the wilderness, they have to become masters of their weapons. Members learn specialised fighting techniques for use against the most dire threats, from rampaging dire pelicans and swarms of angry kenku, to towering giants and terrifying dragons. Because of the diversity of foes a hunter might face, their capabilities similarly differ greatly. Some techniques focus on taking down a single, massive foe, which allow tenacious hunters to wear their enemy down through repeated strikes. Others are better suited to taking on multiple adversaries at once, which Hunter use to redirect enemy's attacks against each other.

Big groups of hunters congregate at busy frontier cities. Here they meet each other in friendly competition to sell their wares and their service for the right price. Even more loose than most ranger conclaves, the Hunters rarely join forces with one another, seeing each other more as competitors than as allies. When they join up, they usually trust on each others skills to bring down their quarry. The moment their prey stops breathing, the hunters rush for their prey to carve up the best parts, fearing that the best spoils of the hunt might be gone if they get there too late. With these parts they craft and maintain their own hunting equipment, selling everything they don't use on a market.

### **Monster Slayer Conclave**

Professional monster slayers dedicated themselves to the eradication of deadly creatures that go bump into the night. Slayers perfect a hybridised hunting techniques of might and arcane magic to track down and kill their grim prey. The precise target of a Slayer's ire can vary significantly between them, some train to take down dread-inspiring dragons, while others may desire the end of a brutish wereshark stalking the docks of his hometown.

While most hunters prefer the peace of nature, the Monster Slayers work inside of the busy world of the city. Every city worth its salt has at least one monster slayer stalking its streets every night for signs of corrupt mystical abominations. Their foes are may be more intelligent than the monsters of the wilds, but Monster Slayer will always make sure to stay one step ahead of them and continuously develops new tools and techniques to aid them in their quest. The Conclave meets once a month, during the new moon when their foes are least active, at a small unremarkable pub within the biggest city of the region to discuss new developments and to exchange tips & tricks with one another.

### **Primeval Guardian Conclave**

The Primeval Guardians are the bloody right hand of the Krikos order, working as enforcers of the druidic community. They follow ancient traditions rooted in powerful druidic magic. Primeval Guardians learn to become one with nature, allowing them to channel the aspects of various beasts and plants in order to overcome their foes. These rangers dwell in the elder forests of the world, only venturing out when duty calls, as it is their sacred duty to protect and serve the druidic groves and circles of the world.

Druids both revere and fear the Primeval Guardians. They know that the Guardians protect them from evil forces that would hurt them, and keep their secrets save from unwanted eyes. But druids shiver at the thought of them coming to their door, as it usually can mean only one thing: That they have wronged the order.