The first Archer, Pharite, coined the moniker as a description for her technique: arcing the trajectory of her arrows to achieve great distance on the field of battle. After loosing the arrow that would fell the Giant King, she cemented her place among the great people of the Tlo. 

An ancient profession derived from hunting, Archers have been an omnipresent force on the battlefield since the ancient days of pre-history. Even after the invention of archtillery—contraptions consisting of a long metal tube pointed skyward and loaded with explosive shells launched by the telekinetic force of Pyther Mages—Archers’ skills and tactics provide unending flexibility to influence the tide of battle.

Depending on who you were to ask, the day the bomb was invented would be described as either dark or glorious. When pressed into slavery by a tribe of Fire Mage Deikin, Hrogtiluk Earth Mages crafted hollow clay vessels and filled them with the sulfurous dung of Fire Bats. By lighting these fire pots with a short wick, the Hrogtiluk found they could be thrown a short distance, and to great affect.

No matter one’s opinion of the invention, undeniable is the impact of the invention of bombs on the battlefield. Long gone are the tactics of grand armies meeting head on in open fields, now traded for squads of soldiers hunkering in rows and rows of trenches cut across shelled and barren landscapes.

The ancient art of Alchemy was one of the first forays into science, only proceeded by its twin sister Astrology. Originally the practice of both great and lost minds searching for the elixir of life, Alchemy grew into what we know today: the practice of harnessing reactions between two or more ingredients.

With the myriad of reactions found, the practice of Alchemical science was unintentionally dangerous, until it became a race to discover more and more violent reactions for the purpose of battlefield dominance. Now, the soldier’s profession of Brewer is reserved for the bravest and perhaps least sane: marching forward with a bubbling cauldron strapped to their back, their weapon always poised to boil over with just one misstep.

The first tool made specifically for killing, spears are older than even the bow and arrow, and have, since before the invention of war itself, been present on the battlefield: the first struggles between hunter and prey.

Originally used by inexperienced and leveed soldiers to ward off cavalry, spears have evolved from their light hunting counterparts into their heavier cousin, the lance. On the field of battle, Lancers now use their implement to vault over trenches to flank their enemy, direct attacks by signaling over trench walls, and, in the tradition of the spear formation, ward off impending mounted charges. But still do the masters of the lance push its use further, into the realm of martial arts and the sacred practice of dueling. 

The most recently founded soldierly profession, Sappers serve as battlefield carpenters, mechanics, firefighters, bridgers, and most importantly, excavators. As trench warfare has evolved, the list of demands on Sappers grows, forcing them to take their role further into the face of grave danger.

To a Sapper’s squad, there is no one more useful. Digging foxholes, collapsing trench walls, excavating trapped ruts to maim and hinder incoming mounts: these are but a few of the tasks a Sapper will perform in a day. Overtime, as the losses of Sappers mounted, armies began outfitting them with heavier and heavier armor, until they were kitted in full plate harness. Now, Sappers fill the role of soldier and engineer alike.

On the field of battle, the polearm and lance reign supreme. But in the close confines of the trenches that now scar the theater of war, their advantage is befouled. It was the invention of the gauntlet sword, along with its marriage to the ancient martial art of Sla-Fue, that saw the introduction of the soldiers known now as Raiders, and the resurgence of close quarters grappling on the battlefield. 

Invented by the Shenrike monk Ar Kazor in the hidden sands of the Crespican Desert, Sla-Fue was originally viewed by society as a brigand’s form of fighting, until its hand strikes and grapples proved to be highly effective while fighting in the confined spaces of the trenches.

The sacred act of dueling is as ancient as hunting, but has almost always been reserved for the upper echelons of society. Practitioners commissioned more elegant and lighter weapons as the tradition richened, until eventually culminating with the side sword, a weapon fashioned with a blade equally capable in cutting and thrusting, and a hilt offering many points of grip for precise articulation.

With the introduction of the side sword came the profession of Fencer, who evolved from practitioners of theory to swords for hire and bodyguards for well to-do clients. As the chaotic nature of war intensified, officers began to employ Fencers as their personal detail to ward off assassination attempts.

While politicking and trade disputes have forever led to conflict, so too has the ever-present danger of monsters. But monsters do not simply inspire fear—for some, they bring a curious wonder, a desire to learn more about their magnanimous beauty and their terrifying power— known as the field of study, Monstrology.

As early as monsters were hunted, so were they tamed, until the practice arose to become the profession of Tamer. So intrinsic to society, Tamers have always traveled with armies on campaign, positioned along with its auxiliaries, awaiting attack from monsters. Rather than expend soldiers fighting off monsters, generals have always preferred to tame them instead, to be used, rather than killed, by the war machine.

Espionage, subterfuge, covert operations: these have often turned the tide of war in favor of a smaller and less deadly army. As battlefield tactics and technology have evolved, so too has the need for information collection, management, and manipulation grown into a defining aspect of war.

Not so much a soldierly profession, but rather a found duty, the role of Trickster is both reviled and relied upon by all armies. Serving as scout, soldier, and spy alike, Tricksters turn the tide of battle by using the knowledge they hold of enemy forces against them, sewing chaos through tactical and magickal trickery alike. For a soldier on the battlefield, there is nothing more worrisome than an enemy Trickster.

Ever since the Seeding of Mythrhil, one out of every few thousand born have the cursed gift of stilledflesh. Inevitably, those born with stilledflesh find themselves drawn into conflict and war, as the incapability of feeling pain proves itself invaluable in battle.

Those afflicted with stilledflesh are often given the lightest armor and heaviest weapons, favoring endurance and power over protection and tact. Often sent in as the vanguard, Berserkers are among the last standing on the field, sporting dozens of wounds that would have brought low lesser soldiers. But all too often does their strength lead to their death, given orders by generals who care not for their life, but rather their power.

Soon after the founding of magick, so too did the study and practice of enchanting come to be born. Spells are sounds, thoughts, and emotions, formed into something tangible with intention. But, thought the first enchanters, are words and their symbols not another form of thought, of feeling.

And so did they begin to carve slight channels into pieces of mythril, chiseling recursive instructions into armor, weapon, and jewelry alike, so that these divets forming palindromic sentences would capture the energy of the Ather and attune it into purpose, without active thought, and without a mind to form intent. Ever since, the art of Enchanting has held its place among the most noble - and deadly - of professions.

Sometimes, you need a heavy soldier with a heavy weapon to storm a position. That soldier is a Reaper. Reserved for the most highly trained and decorated soldiers, Reapers are clad in the best full harness Gleemur can buy, and wield heavy and sweeping curved swords taller than their own stature. By charging headlong into battle, with cleaving strikes they reap through enemy lines as a farmer does through wheat.

But such a heavy soldier must carefully plan their attack and escape route, as their heavy armor and heavier arms prohibit their ability to react quickly to changes amongst the battlefield.