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Organizations
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Ethian Army:
The Ethian Army consists of the heavily armored warriors and knights used in frontline battles over land. There are several ranks in the Ethian Army.
•Squire: A squire is someone, typically a male around the age of 13-15 (Though females can join the Ethian army too), who is being trained in swordsmanship, and is not yet ready to fight in wars. A squire has no badge. A squire can go on to be a knight or go to the Navy to become a
•Knight: A knight is the standard footsoldier, wearing heavy armor, a shield and a broadsword. They are the most abundant in the Ethian Army. The badge of a knight is a single arrow " › " that they usually have engraved on their armor somewhere visible, such as the top of the right gauntlet.
•Phalanx: A phalanx is one rank above the Knight, and in the Ethian Army, on the battlefield, they are the very closest to the enemy, the first in the formation. They carry large tower shields that form a protective wall, and they have spears and longswords to switch to if the wall is breached or the spear is broken. The Phalanx's badge is a double arrow " » ".
•Paladin: A Paladin is a very high rank in the Ethian Army, they command knights and phalanx on a battlefield, and are the only rank to have magically enchanted equipment. A paladin's badge is the " † " holy double dagger.
•Special Rank: The Special Rank is given to a hero or someone else by the King or Queen themself. There can be a single adventurer or a band of heros with the rank, it is up to the King or Queen. It is a position of great honor and their orders are to be acknowledged by anyone of a lower rank. The badge of this rank is the " ‡ " double dagger.
•King or Queen: The King or Queen of Ethiafell is not only expected to be a good leader of a country, but also a good war leader, and the King or Queen may always be in major battles during a war, fighting alongside the kingdom's men and women. As the highest rank, no badge is needed, but they often wear a special helmet/crown/armor that makes them identifiable to their ranks.
Ethiafell has a considerably good Navy, but Ethiafell doesn't focus on naval battles, but instead transporting both the Army and Marines to other lands. However, they do have ships made for fighting. The Marines resemble the Army, but the Army is made for massive land battles where the Marines are less in numbers, made for land settlement or fortress raids. The Marines are also slightly better trained, as they are not mass-trained like the Army and
Marines:•Squire: Identical to Army Squire, and same rank and badge.
•Marine: Marines are essentially lightly armored Knights, still wearing armor but not the heavy plate metal of a Knight. A Marine's badge is a squiggly line " ~ " representing a wave.
•Crossbowmen: Crossbowmen are snipers used for shooting at other ships' crew at sea, or ranged battle on land. They are lightly armored for mobility and carry a shortsword for backup. A Crossbowman's badge is a double wave " ≈ ".
•Leviathan:
The Ranger Corps is an organization established during King Aequitas's reign of Ethiafell. They are the
elite military units of the Ethian Army, tasked with scouting, intelligence-gathering, assassination and other specialized operations. By tradition, all Rangers in Ethiafell are male.
"An ordinary archer practices until he gets it right. A Ranger practices until he never gets it wrong."-Traditional Ranger saying.
You do not have to read past this if you do not plan on making a Ranger character, though you still may read if you are interested.Attire: A Ranger's most essential article of clothing is the mottled green and grey camouflage cloak. Made of tightly woven wool, it offers protection from the weather, and the color makes it easier to remain unseen in the forests of Ethiafell. The cloak has a heavy, deep cowl which, when pulled over the head leaves the Ranger's face in deep shadow. This hides the Ranger's face and allows him to scan his surroundings without being too noticeable. Most Rangers wear a long sleeved, green linen shirt covered by a brown leather tunic that also aids in concealment and helps the Rangers to carry all of their tools and weapons. They wear light-weight, soft-soled, brown leather boots, which allow them to move silently but also aid in riding.They never polish their boots, as the glint of reflected sun can give their position away. They usually have a leather gauntlet on their non-dominant forearm to protect them from the strings of their own bows when firing. On their belt they wear a double-scabbard with their throwing and saxe knives placed next to each other. They carry a quiver of 24 arrows on their back as well as a longbow.
Weaponry: Rangers are best known for the longbows they carry and the twenty-four arrows in their quiver - this, combined with the fabled accuracy of Rangers, gave rise to the saying "a Ranger carries the lives of twenty-four men on his belt." They of course carry extra arrows in their saddlebag. Rangers are extremely accurate with their longbows and can shoot rapidly with accuracy. A Ranger's main tasks include reconnaissance, intelligence, assassination, anti-crime detail, situational intervention, and special operations. They also wield a throwing knife and a heavy bladed saxe knife.
Training: Occasionally, one of the older and more experienced rangers take themselves an apprentice when they see someone with the potential to fulfill the demanding role of a ranger. The apprentices taken are usually around fifteen but may be taken at a younger age. For five years they are training and regularly assessed at the annual Ranger Gathering by a number of rangers who are delegated that task. They are first assessed a number of months after first being taken on as an apprentice and if they pass are given their
silver arrow necklace.
Over these five years the apprentice ranger is gradually given more and more responsibilities and missions to carry out and handle until they are believed ready to be made a full ranger and given their
golden arrow necklace.
Techniques: There are numerous techniques developed or adapted by rangers over the years since their formation. One such technique is called
'Look. Shout. Shoot'. One Ranger looks for tracks, whilst the other keeps watch over the ranger tracking at a distance. If a person is spotted who looks to be a danger to the tracker, the watcher shouts to warn the other Ranger who is tracking. The Ranger tracking immediately drops to the ground, and at the same time the other Ranger shoots the person if they are a danger.
List of Ranger's Gear:•
Longbow:
Longbows are simple, typically wooden bows that are often sixty to a hundred inches tall, (about 1.5 to 2.5 meters) and consist of a simple shaft of wood with the ends tied with a thin, strong piece of linen or other type of string. Longbows in this roleplay are based off of the same English weapon, which has been used since about 1000 AD, and was put to use during the War of the Roses, as well as the Hundred Year's War. Longbows are powerful weapons in the hands of those who know how to use them. Typically, despite their wide use by the English, longbows's strengths are still measured in pounds. A good longbow has a draw weight of 120 pounds, though some can be as low as 80. The Longbow is the primary weapon of the Ranger Corps, though Ranger Apprentices use recurve bows as they are easier to draw and fire. The longbow is a weapon made mainly for long distance fighting. Rangers are trained to shoot very accurately and can hit their targets from almost any distance and elevation by the time they end their training. Longbow arrows are much bigger than recurve arrows. Rangers carry two dozen arrows in their quiver, as well as extras in their pack.
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Recurve bow:A Recurve Bow, created by the Tellem, is a short bow with the traditional curve down the middle, and the tips bending over in opposite directions. Rangers' Apprentices use this bow, though Rangers do sometimes use this bow in certain situations. The extra curves gives the user extra speed and power at lower draw weights. They are made by gluing together several pieces of wood. These, in addition, are of varying widths and follow a different grain.This causes the bow to curve into the desired fashion (an S shape). A recurve bow has several distinct advantages over a traditional shortbow or longbow. As mentioned above, it has higher power for at lower draw weights. It also is far more compact than the traditional bow, enabling it to be used on horseback. A recurve must not get wet, as it weakens the glue between the horn and sinew (some compound bows used by the Finns, Persians, Tartars, and Scythians of our world used horse glue, which was not affected by water.) It is also far more complicated to construct than a new longbow. Also, once all of the necessary materials are collected, it takes far more time to construct (the composite bows used by the Turks, Scythians, Koreans, and other horseback archers could take several weeks to months to years to construct).
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Ranger Saxe Knife:
One of the two knives used by a Ranger, the saxe knife is a specially made close combat knife that is extremely hard. The Ranger's saxe knife is the lower knife in the special ranger double scabbard. The Ranger Saxe Knife is similar the Saxe Knife used by many human sailors (or sea ax) but made of far superior steel (giving the blade a faint blue tint). It is longer than the throwing knife, with a grip made of a series of leather discs set one above the other and a short brass crosspiece. The blade is long and straight, nearly the size of a short sword. It is kept razor sharp on one side while the other end is thick and heavy. Made by the finest steelsmiths in Araluen, the Ranger Smiths, the knife is strong enough to block a sword stroke without being damaged. Even a high grade sword would blunt its edge against a Ranger saxe knife. Although it is mainly used as a close combat weapon, it is balanced for throwing and can be used in unison with the throwing knife in the double knife defense. It can also be thrown hilt first to stun an enemy.
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Throwing Knife:Throwing knives are short, with a "thick, heavy grip made of a series of leather discs set one above the other", and a brass crosspiece between the hilt and the blade. Throwing knives, as the name implies, are meant and balanced for throwing. It is thin at the hilt, widens considerably down its length, then narrows quickly to a sharp point. A throwing knife is carried by Rangers in a double scabbard along with the Ranger Saxe Knife as it is part of the compulsory Ranger Gear. Sharp and dangerous watch out for these in the air.
• Arrows:
Arrows are used by archers throughout Drazlia, being the standard projectile fired from bows. Each arrow has a tip, a shaft and feathers on the end to make it fly straight. Arrows differ from bolts, the ammunition of the crossbow. Arrows vary greatly from archer to archer, and Ranger's don't have a set type of arrow, and there are multiple different shaped arrows that the Rangers use.
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General Purpose Arrow: This arrow is the standard issue arrow of the Rangers and the Tellem because of its ability to pierce armor. Its tip is very pointed. Because of this arrow's lack of sides that secure the arrow in the flesh and cause more damage if the victim attempts to dislodge the projectile, the arrow can be removed, sanitized, and reused, although the Rangers, who rely on swift, quick and killing shots to the head or vital organs for a fleeting end, consider this idea distasteful.
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Broadhead Hunting Arrows:These arrows slanted sides tear through fur and fat which many arrows will become trapped in. Its sides also leave the arrow in the wound and cause death by bleeding if quarry escapes.
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Message Arrows:These arrows cause no damage themselves, but are used to carry messages to places inaccessible to the Ranger that fires them, such as enemy prison cells. The arrow, instead of having a point has a cylinder that can open up to put a message in. Before anything can be fired, the paper must be weighed and a little math must be done in order to calculate the perfect trajectory of the arrow.
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Barbed Arrows:These are barbed broadhead arrows, and thus they cannot be removed from the wound except for being pushed through, making for both a painful wound and a painful removal. They also tear the flesh of the victim hit, causing extreme bleeding.
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Bodkin Arrows:This arrow is special because it has no barbs or points that stick outwards. In all simplicity it is just a single point, like a giant dart, and used to pierce through armor with extreme speed.
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Spiked Arrows:Spiked arrows are one of the deadliest types of arrows as they can tear through armor with ease. Spiked have many small and large spikes on them and looks like a chisel. And are loosely based on real life Bodkin Arrows and broad heads combined.
-Ranger's Arrows can also be dipped in poison, or set on fire.
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Dowsing Necklace:A polished rock or gem pendant at the end of a silver necklace. The dowsing necklace is an enchanted magical item that can only be made by someone with skill in making magical artifacts, and are one of the only enchante gear Rangers actually use. A dowsing necklace, when held at the top of the chain with the pendant at the bottom, will always be slightly pulled towards the north as if by some force. If the user wishes to find some other item or person, under certain circumstances, the dowsing necklace can also point towards other things.
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Cloak (and cowl):
A cloak is a type of loose garment that is worn over indoor clothing and serves the same purpose as an overcoat—it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example, or it may form part of a fashionable outfit or uniform. Cloaks are as old as human history; there has nearly always been some form of long outer garment used to protect people from the weather. Over time cloaks have changed their look to match current styles and textile needs.
Cloaks generally fasten at the neck or over the shoulder, vary in length, from ankle all the way up to the hip, mid-calf being the normal length. They may have an attached hood, and may cover and fasten down the front, in which case they have holes or slits for the hands to pass through. However, cloaks are almost always sleeveless. The cloaks that the Ranger Corps used are very distinctive. They wear either a mottled green, brown, and grey, or a cloak that is all one of those colors on the outside, and all one color on the inside and is made to be reversible. The cloak made experienced wearers almost invisible in the dense forests of Ethiafell. Rangers can also have a black and white variant in the north so he could blend in with the winter landscape, and there is a summer desert issue, made of varying shades of light brown, for when in the desert areas of Orcish lands. The winter cloak is a very heavy woolen cloak, while the summer issue desert cloak is much lighter, being made of heavy-duty linen. The Ranger's quiver is under the cloak and there is a flap that can be opened or closed to reveal the quiver.
• Medical Pack:
A medical kit containing herbs and cloth for bandages.
• Book And Quill
All Rangers are supplied a book and quill along with ink (and are educated enough to read and write) for whatever they may need it for.
• Whetstone (for sharpening blades)
• **Sling
• **Lead Shot
Pictures Feel free to use any of these pictures for your character, I won't mind.
RangerRangerRanger*The Saxe Knife is based on the Saxon Seax. The word "Seax" is a synonym for" knife" in Old English terms and was adapted from the Old Saxon word "saks", also for knife. The Seax was a dagger length single edged knife with a thicker, weighted opposing edge. Many different style seax knives have been unearthed over the years, all of which can be seen on the right. This picture only shows the blade, not the handle. The style Saxe Knife the Rangers use would most likely be blade
"a" or "b", due to the fact that this style hasn't been altered to perform a specific job. These blades are also better for fighting situations and "a" has the optimal balance for throwing, as they sometimes do.
** Rangers don't always use this, but they have been known to.