Adventurers

Most adventurer's guild are open to adding anyone into their ranks as long as they have useful skills, physical and mental fortitude and wanderlust. However in reality, many who are chosen are mages of various kinds, and non-magic humans make up a very small minority of all adventurers in Arros.

However, even for those chosen, the path to becoming a true adventurer is not easy. Upon joining a guild, they are given the rank of "traveler", who can only be assigned low risk missions. Upon completion, these give them a point on their record. To obtain the coveted title of "Adventurer", a traveler must accumulate at least 25, 40 or even 50 points, depending on the guild. What makes this task especially hard to fulfil is the fact that there's a limited number of missions, and many of them are given to high-ranking traveler, or adventurers, as they are deemed to hard for low ranking travelers.

When a client's request is received, a contract is written and signed by the client, Guild Master, and the adventurer themselves. Generally, these contracts have generous term limits of 6 months to a year, but some are as short as week. Upon completion of the terms of the contract, a previously agreed upon amount of money is payed to the adventurer, with the guild taking in a cut for themselves. It is well known that adventurers are some of the highest payed mercenaries on the continent, able to live comfortably for years after only one or two high-risk missions.

While their purpose varies from mission to mission, it generally boils down to exploring and foraging dangerous locations and regions in the reach of various items requested by their clients. Alchemists in search of rare items for their potions, or collectors of ancient artefacts both make up most of their clients.

Adventurers are widely admired and respected for their skills, determination and courage. Many children in Arros grow up with the goal of becoming a Adventurers, until they realise the hardship it takes to get there.

Adventurers, as a concept, have existed for thousands of year, yet for most of that time, weren't organised and did not possess any kind of institutional power, like a guild, to represent them. In contrast, the modern trained and rentable profession is a fairly new phenomenon, which has exploded in popularity during the Third Age, and which has lead to the creation of numerous adventurer's guilds during the first and second centuries TA in both Arros and Enaskia. While the profession is somewhat past its peak in popularity by now, it remains a highly sought after carrer for many young people, magic or not alike.

Adventurers are known for going into places that most would avoid. These include the dangerous jungles of the Xejukan Wilds, the perilous coastlines of the Hydrask Isles, the icy depths of the Caves of Oltaren, and even the blighted cities in Arros and Enaskia, including the Ruins of Carathenga.

Being an adventurer is a dangerous job. While many people do want to become one in theory, it isn't long before they realise how hard and dangerous that profession is and tap out. Unlike typical mercenaries, Adventurers mainly face dangers from the wild, and not from other humans. These hazards include wild beasts, such as Hydrask, Wyverns, dragons, giant spiders, and reanimated corpses, as well as environmental hazards, like Sanstorms, tropical cyclones, blizards, deadly deseases and of course, The Blight.

"And despite all that, you like that job?"
"Yeah, i mean... the pay's really good!"

-Two friends discussing one's questionable life choices.