The Herald

Primary Attribute: ..........................Charisma (CHA)

Secondary Attribute: ...................Intelligence (INT)

Heralds have the following duties:

• Acting as an authority on all matters regarding chivalric custom and honour. This includes being an official witness and keeping records on who was knighted, by whom, arms bestowed etc., in a district.

• Acting as a message-bearer and arranging parleys in time of war. In this role, a herald is neutral. Inside an enemy's camp, he is honour bound to remain silent about whatever he witnesses of the enemy's strength, preparations etc. At the height of the chivalric period, he also negotiated the site of a battle, the time it would begin, etc. This reduced economic damage to the region and made war almost a sporting event. Heralds also saw to it that the Code of Chivalry was observed in wartime. Heralds could visit enemy camps to see that prisoners of war were being treated according to their rank, speak with them in private, arrange prisoner exchanges and ransoms, etc.

• Acting as a military historian during important campaigns.

• Arranging a variety of formal public ceremonies, tournaments, trials by combat etc., and insuring that chivalric protocol is observed.

• Reading royal proclamations etc., to the populace.

• Verifying the identity, rank etc., of anyone claiming knightly or chivalric status.

• Acting as an official secretary to the sovereign.

Historically, although he may well be a knight, the herald does not bear personal arms or wear armour besides a maille shirt under his tabard. Rather, he wears the arms of his lord (who may or may not be the King). He is colourfully clad to make him readily identifiable, and always is respected as a non combatant.

Because of the nature of fantasy worlds, heralds can be armed as knights and are able to fight when not acting in their official capacities. The social races might be inclined to respect the neutrality of heralds as the need to parley and negotiate stretches across racial as well as national boundaries. Some monsters, notably dragons, have also been known to entertain parleys with heralds. The following list details the primary and secondary vocational skills for a Herald character: