Weapon combat · Defence

Army of Vaerlon

The line that holds

What this guild is about

Weapons, shields and drill.

Vaerlon’s Army turns militia recruits into trained infantry. Soldiers learn to fight properly with weapon and shield and to hold a place in the battle line, then choose between agile light infantry and heavily armoured heavy infantry.

Someone has to still be standing when the enemy reaches the people behind the front line, and the Army’s answer is training: learn a weapon properly, pick a combat style that suits it and know what each manoeuvre needs from your equipment. There is room for a fighter who likes the weight of a shield and for one who prefers lighter, quicker infantry work. The guild also expects initiative. A soldier keeps acting sensibly when no officer is there to give orders.

You might feel at home here if…

You enjoy choosing weapons, shields and stances for the opponent in front of you.
You want a clear place in the battle line.
You prefer practiced martial skill to a large spell repertoire.

A dwarf soldier with a sword, shield and practical armour.

Lore & origins

Vaerlon’s own army

The Army of Vaerlon was founded during the war against the dark elves, and recruits are told of a second war against the forces of darkness. It is the core of Valkor’s armed strength, and both its infantry and its scouts come out of its training. Recruits are reminded that what they defend is their own city, their homes and their own lives.

Enlisting is ordinary business. Recruits queue in a granite hall while a scarred administrator handles the papers, and past the arch lies the infantry training centre. In the basic training yard, weapon racks stand in rows like library shelves and armoured recruits run circles under an officer’s eye. The recruiting talk promises glory; the yard delivers bad food, little sleep and a lot of pain.

Later training splits in two. Light infantry train their reflexes in chain mail or lighter armour, juggling weapons and learning that skill counts as much as force. Heavy infantry train in plate to be the first and last line of defence. Each branch is sure it knows what makes a great soldier, and says so to every newcomer.

A pine barracks gate and training courtyard beneath northern mountains.

A place in the world

The barracks of Vaerlon

The enlistment hall, the sand-covered training yards and a stocked armoury sit inside the city. Helar and Grurg handle enlistment, and training leads on from there into the infantry branches. It feels like a working barracks: paperwork and drill, with battlefield glory promised for later.

Read about the world

Their role in a fight

Hold the line.

You bring steady weapon damage and choose how much to lean on defence. A soldier with a shield can mix protection with Shield Punch; another can put everything into hard weapon attacks and the combat styles that suit them. What you add depends on matching your equipment, weapon skills and manoeuvres, then judging how much punishment you can take as the fight goes on.

An Army officer calls rain-soaked companions together into a coordinated battle group. — A Rallying Cry brings scattered companions back into a fighting force.

With a party

At the front, a soldier gives companions room to work by surviving the pressure on the line. Trained leaders can also give battlefield orders to hold a stronger defensive line, rally or fall back, and leadership and discipline decide how well those work. You can be both the fighter holding a place and the officer directing the others.

On your own

Alone, a soldier’s choices are quick and easy to read. Pick a weapon, decide whether a shield or a more aggressive setup suits the opponent, and decide whether a plain Strike is enough or a hindering effect is worth trying. Camping and basic travel skills help on expeditions, but most of the game is learning what your own fighting setup can and cannot do.

Trade-offs

The Army is versatile, but you still have to commit. Heavy armour, shield techniques, weapon training and light infantry skills don’t stand in for each other just because one guild teaches them all, and the battle strategies only help with matching combat styles. Scattered training or the wrong stance leaves much of what you learned unused.

Abilities

Signature abilities

Strike
Weapon manoeuvre
Drive a strong blow through your primary weapon, or try to injure, wound or stun the opponent as well. The plain version is more likely to succeed than one with a special effect. Weapon knowledge, physical ability and related combat skills decide how well it lands.
Shield Punch
Defensive pressure
Strike with your shield while your other weapon distracts the enemy, sometimes with a hindering effect as well. It rewards shield skill and a defensive style, and gives a shielded fighter a way to hit back.
Battle strategies
Combat style expertise
Offensive strategy improves aggressive combat styles; defensive strategy improves styles such as warding, deft and defensive. Each only helps with the style you are actually using, so you pick the one that suits the fight in front of you.
Battlefield Orders
Lead the party as a force
A trained party leader or eligible vice-leader can give orders to the party: Hold the Line strengthens a defensive formation, Rallying Cry helps the group regroup and Fall Back covers a retreat. The leader’s leadership and the followers’ military discipline decide how well they work.

Progression

From militia to seasoned infantry.

You start in the militia and move through basic infantry before the specialised training. Light infantry focus on weapon skill and reflexes; heavy infantry commit to armour and the front line. Elite and weapon-master branches come later. The aim is a fighter whose weapon skills, manoeuvres and defences fit together, and every title has training requirements you meet first. In the game, Helar and Grurg handle enlistment.

Read the guild reference Plan a reincarnation