Fighters

The Fighter is far and away the most common of the classes as a percentage of the World's population. At their base level, a level one Fighter is a well-trained peasant that must maintain some martial proficiency in preparation for his lord calling. A prime example of this is the population of Masovia requiring proficiency in the longbow and rudimentary guerilla tactics. This isn't to say that the Fighter is a poor path to follow, as rare as topsoil, but the fundamental reality is someone who follows the path of the Fighter hasn't been blessed with innate or trainable magics, superhuman capabilities, or even avoids the lifestyle of such individuals as barbarians and rogues. To be a Fighter is to still be aware that you have the capacity for greatness, and working tirelessly to achieve that goal. Discipline is a requirement to be a fighter, and even those that wield supernatural abilities such as the Eldritch Knight and Arcane Archer had to learn these, hone them, understanding these are tools to be picked up and used, not a part of the wielder's soul like a sorcerer would. Fighters as such are the masters of combat and warfare, able to stand shoulder to shoulder with a barbarian's rage and a paladin's oath while having neither due to their mastery of tactics. How this combat mastery is learned and represented is covered with the archetype, with some tapping into the Arcanum more than others. One of the realities of being a Fighter is their ability to wade into battle, hacking apart hordes or dueling an opposing master fighter, and coming out on top. Fighters come in all shapes and sizes, all moralities, but they are the champions and heroes of their respective side, the elite who inspires and leads from the front. Most contemporary stories of the classic knight fall into the realm of the Fighter.   The archetypes that Fighters can take up are:   Arcane Archer. These archers first appeared among the Sildenúr taking what remained of their tethers to the other worlds the elves originated from, be it the The Twilight Dream or Arvandor. As the magic diffused through generations, Arcane Archers become more valuable, and were trained as elite snipers for the Sildeyuir Empire, and eventually for Elyn'aran. These individuals are masters of archery, already a level above other bowmen, and with mystic training are able to infuse their arrows to push their abilities into the absurd. Exploding, grasping, even banishing arrows are in their quiver, and they even learn to curve their shots.   Banneret. A knight and a general, a banneret takes the martial prowess of a fighter and uses its talents to lead a force from the front. Inspirational in their words and deeds, these fighters take up the cause of righteousness, moving from village to village to lift up the downtrodden, and rise up against tyranny. On the battlefield, they are able to rally their allies, riding atop their horse with their sword aloft calling for courage. Once the battle has past, they are in the hospital tent, tending to the injured. The most common bannerets are the Hedge Knights of Thorolund.   Battle Master. (Out of game: Take the Battle Master maneuvers and put them on base fighter. Reworking BM or removing it to maintain balance.) All fighters are expert warriors, but battle masters take the foundation and expand upon it into the stratosphere. Their goal is to be the expert warrior, outflanking and outmaneuvering any opponent, learning the strengths and weaknesses of their foe before the fight and how best to exploit kinks in the armor. Combat is an academic field, and these fighters spend their years studying every detail of the art of war, with their studies encompassing weapon smithing, history, tactics, theory, artistry, and political science. These fighters put the phrase "Jack of all trades, master of none" to the test as they are the master of all.   Cavalier. These individuals have most of their proficiency with mounted combat, riding into combat with lance, sword and bow. These fighters are experts at locking down their enemy, keeping them from targeting anyone else other than the cavalier themself, including the cavalier's mount. Most cavaliers are lancers, with the famous Sunriders of Thorolund the largest collection of these riders. That doesn't stop cavaliers from becoming horse archers however, since the saddle is where their proficiency lies. An example of a cavalier is Avverion, whose mount was a wyvern, serving in a flight in the Veliuonan military.   Champion. A Champion stands at the head of the army, cape blowing in the wind as his hand rests casually upon his weapon. This individual has studied the art of combat with his chosen weapon to the point of obsession, able to see and pick apart the chinks in their foe's defense. These fighters are physical perfection, their body altered around their craft, becoming an extension of their weapon. Champions are as such because often they are representatives, with a battle decided by a duel between two great Champions rather than the gruesome melee that battle brings.   Echo Knight. These individuals are rare to the furthest degree, for their weapon is the past and the future. To be an Echo Knight is to delve into the strange world of chronomancy, grasping across time to collect echoes of themselves from the past and the future to aid in battle at the present. This cannot harm the echoes of distant time, and it is a terrifying possibility of multiple proficient warriors tied up in one person. Time Warriors are so rare that no specific place or people can lay claim to have discovered it, as such these fighters are self-trained, and act independently to further their personal goals. The theory goes they may be granted the gifts of chronomancy from none other than the draconic deity Chronepsis, and are secretly his enforcers. This is on shaky ground due to Chronepsis' true dispassion and ambivalence, what would he have for enforcers if he doesn't care to enforce anything. As such, the vast majority would see Echo Knights as grasping at strings of reality that no mortal should dare touch, making them dangerous.   Eldritch Knight. These fighters are a blend between the warrior traditions of combat and the studies of the arcane by wizards. While not exclusive to the species, Elves were the ones who began and mastered the blend of swordplay and arcane. These individuals are also known as Duskblades, and must come from a combination between sun elf and moon elf parents to make a mixed blood known as a Rochonúr. Bringing together these two bloodlines puts the child in a league above other elves, and are immediately swept up into the world of the Eldritch Knight, as such most of these unions are arranged in order to bring about such a child. These fighters are often trained as duelists, with a one-handed weapon, and a free hand for the arcane gestures to cast spells. The best Eldritch Knights are a dizzying whirl of magic and blade simultaneously, with the cut of their blade undercutting their opponent's capability to resist the incoming spell.   Psi Warrior. Often coming across initially with humility to hide the true power of their psychic might, Psi Warriors may not have as much mastery of their chosen combat style as other fighters. This is undercut entirely by the raw psionic power they wield, enhancing their body, blade, and hampering their enemy, even capable of moving objects with their mere thoughts. With how scarcely understood psionics are, these individuals are few and far between, and when their psychic power awakens it often leads to a great deal of confusion for the person and those that try and quantify what they are witnessing, especially magic users who cannot detect any arcanum despite seeing very magical powers. As such, Psi Warriors are almost universally found and trained by a Psi Warrior master who takes them as an apprentice, being perhaps the only person who can understand and sculpt the burgeoning psychic.   Rune Knight. Giants discovered a unique form of mystic power within the inscribing of runes, with specific features of reality able to be represented and drawn out by a single shape or potent word. As the ages have gone on, the vast majority of the runes have faded, with each giantish species collectively represented by a singular rune. Their runesmiths are masters of this one specific rune and hone it to its maximum. Smaller races have witnessed the power of giants, and discovered the very edge of the iceberg locked within these giantish runes. Even with this crumb of knowledge, those who have studied the runes are granted immense power, reaching towards the heights of the towering giants themselves, inscribing the runes on their equipment to savor the benefits of multiple species at once. There are multiple ways to become a Rune Knight, by self-study, from the teachings of a sage, or even from the giants themselves.   Samurai. Samurai do not originate from any one culture around the Sea of Fallen Stars, but rather from a shrouded land far beyond the South Passage, brought to the Impilturian Empire by trade and exploration. To be a Samurai is to master the bow, the sword, and horseback combat. They also master themselves, becoming stoic warrior sages, unshakable masters of mind and mettle. Despite not being a requirement of a Samurai in and of itself, there is a specific code that Samurai follow, and the strictest of adherence to it is a requirement to even be considered trainable, a very lawful structure. Since the first Samurai in outside of the original land found their way into the Impilturian Empire those that remain and are trained to this day hail primarily from Impiltur. Their code ties them directly to loyalty to their landed lords and to the Emperor himself.