Scholar
A bunch of highborn busy-bodies, or brilliant innovators? Maybe both!A lot of people have reached me with questions about what scholars actually do, all with their own ideas. Given the frequency with which I defer to scholars on certain topics in this guide, I have chosen to elaborate on their role in the modern society. First of all, there is no one such thing as "scholar". It differs greatly between nations and even institutions. That being said, most scholars come from noble families and live and work in the Ardenian Empire, so that is what we shall be using for examples. Even though it is the less entitled scholars that seem to be driving much of the innovation in these past decades.
Career
Qualifications
Generally, you can become a scholar in two ways: graduate from an university or pass an official exam for "natural talents". The first path is very long and very, very expensive. Something a rich noble would splurge on for their third son, to set them for life. The second path sounds a lot more attractice, and that is exactly why it was intentionally made extremely hard to pass. Your parents better be some sort of renowned scholars if you are to have any hope of taking this shortcut.
Perception
Purpose
First of all, most scholars are actually in private employ of wealthy individuals or themselves. Particularly merchants and craftsmen - those are always looking for ways to outdo their competition, even if just by a tiny margin. That naturally results in their more pragmatic inclinations, and frequent incidents among the less experienced members of the profession. This type of employment also often draws critique from the snobs in the "old guard", who perceive the prime purpose of a scholar's life to be studies of ancient arts and history.
History
The Ardenian Empire was all but run by scholars at one point of history. The emperors of the time relied on them as a way to offset the influence of Hummish generals, and placed them into all sorts of administrative positions. Did not help them much in the end, as military elite got fed up with constant remarks and showed the "bookkeepers" that might still makes right in the empire. Albeit removed from power, scholars still remained highly respected and are a doubtless part of imperial culture by this point.
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