Forester

"If you are going north, take heed," the older warrior said, eyes watching the swirl of his plum wine. "The warriors there are not like us." His voice was as autumn leaves moved by the wind in the tea house. It was late, and only the two masterless mercenaries were awake. The owner had left, and the serving man dozed behind the counter. "Even wanderers like us fight with honour. The senlinren fight for coin. Other Vraslk, they will tell you they fight monsters for the sake of their country, for the sake of the world, but mark well. A senlinren will rob you blind, pump your veins with poison and leave you for bait."

~ Master Izen of the Crane, The Lion and the Crane

A forester (Vralsk: lesnik, plural lesniki; Imperial: senlinren; Plainspeech: oinkharuul) is someone who has has undergone extensive training in preparation for becoming an itinerant hunter of monsters of the Everforest and Vralsk mists. A forester's life begins when they are taken as an apprentice by a forester and ends when they are slain. In the past, every forester was strictly registered with the Order of Foresters (Vralsk : Plemya Lesnikov. With the Vralsk national army more organised and support from the Jade Throne in the eternal struggle against the Everforest, the Order is a shadow of its former glory. In larger cities, foresters are often seen as a relic of the past at best. At worst, they are equated to the monsters they specialise in hunting. Urbane Vralsks have grown less fearful after generations of growing safety. Some know better; some remember the things that still lurk deep in the mist and in the wilderness that has not been tamed. Some remember this wilderness looms a few scant miles from the safety of their walls. Some remember, no matter how vast the legions of Vralsk and Imperial soldiers, there will always be the cursed forest. There will always be more monsters.

Contemporary Foresters

Mutations

Mutations are what separate lesniki apart from other Vralsk. Through the imbibing of guarded alchemical formulae, lesniki undergo biological transformations. These transformations give them an edge fighting monsters and resisting effects of the mist, but come, too, with a disquieting series of changes that make the lesniki something different.

Plemya Lesnikov

Order of the Foresters, rise and fall.

Shkola Lesnika

Extant forester combat styles.