Huntsmen

Huntsmen are the most elite warriors in Remnant, tasked with protecting the rest of the World from the Creatures of Grimm. Female Huntsmen are typically referred to as Huntresses, and Huntsmen of both sexes are sometimes referred to by the archaic name Hunters, though this term is more broadly used to apply to all professional Grimm killers regardless of certification or legal status. Fully licensed Huntsmen must pass an examination from the International Huntsmen Association, though students at the four Huntsmen Academies are granted a provisional student license so long as they are enrolled. While functionally elite mercenaries, Huntsmen are regulated by the standards of the Huntsmen Association and are typically given the maximum sentence for any infraction within the Kingdoms. By virtue of the Vytal Treaty, however, Hunstmen have a great deal of legal autonomy within the Kingdom's borders, and often act as elite strike forces and force multipliers for police and military operations, although private security, search and rescue and bounty hunting are often undertaken as well. Part soldier, part celebrity, part superhero, Huntsmen are the vanguard of Humanity's struggle for survival.

Career

Qualifications

To become a licensed Huntsmen a candidate must demonstrate a mastery of aura, combat against humans and Grimm, history, rhetoric, science-especially that pertaining to that of dust and law. Huntsmen often operate outside the Kingdom's protection and legal structure and have to be able to make informed judgment calls on their own. Huntsmen are also trusted to wield their great physical power wisely and act as arbiters and enforcers of the law. Rogue Huntsmen are extremely dangerous and knowledge of international legal codes and cultural norms is a major prerequisite to minimize defections and unnecessary conflicts during a Huntsman's travels.
Huntsmen almost universally employ mechashift weapons, typically with ranged dust rounds and a melee function to allow for multiple options in combat and negate the dangers of exhausting their ammunition. Huntsmen must demonstrate complete knowledge of their weapon and all its moving parts as well as the ability to make field repairs- since constructing a weapon is a right of passage for most these skills are often second nature.

Career Progression

Primary Combat Schools

The most common track to become a Huntsman is to apply for a Primary Combat School anywhere between the ages of 13 and 15, where the basics of martial arts, first aid, wilderness survival, and weapons training are honed, alongside the standard civilian subjects. Usually after a year or so a student's aura will be unlocked, and in their final years students will be placed in controlled combat situations with lesser Grimm. A graduate will typically be well above a standard infantryman's level of combat prowess, and at this point will have constructed, named and designated a unique weapon. Only a handful of graduates, however are accepted at the Huntsmen Academies

Examples of Primary Combat Schools that regularly feed their students to the four Huntsmen Academies include
Atlas- Keystone, Heracles
Mistral- Sanctum, Citadel, Yōsai, Masada, Bastion
Vale- Pharos, Signal, Hearth
Vacou- Oscuro, Umbra

Huntsmen Academies and Certification

Almost universally between the ages of 17-18 (with rare exceptions granted to exceptionally talented candidates below the age line) prospective students apply to one of the four Huntsmen Academies- Atlas, Beacon, Haven or Shade. The majority come from a Primary Combat Schools, but a handful of applicants sidestep this entirely by demonstrating sufficient aptitude through a combat and academic test in place of transcripts. All candidates must go through an initiation, and by varying methods the top 40 or so of the applicants are grouped together into 4 man teams.
While at an Academy, students are granted provisional licenses, with teams beginning to take missions in the 2nd semester of their 1st year and given increasing independence in their assignments, often working under a licensed Huntsman. Students also have substantial academic coursework- a degree from one of the four Academies is considered equivalent to a civilian bachelors degree. Students drill in live combat agains Grimm, other aura users, and large groups.
The top students also attempt to qualify for the bi-annual Vytal Festival Tournament, which allows them to build brands on the world stage, with students who perform well typically receiving higher salaries for missions and being in greater demand.
At the end of 4 years students graduate from the Academies, and after that point they have a near 100% pass rate of the licensing exam. Hypothetically it is possible to take the exam without having attended one of the Academies, but while over 150 graduates are licensed each year, independent applicants are rarely certified- the annual number is in the single digits.

Perception

Demographics

Huntsmen are recruited from all racial and national backgrounds. Officially licensed Huntsmen are 62% male and 38% female, with Humans composing 98% of the force to the Faunus's 2%, though among currently enrolled students the Faunus currently number about 3%. As the majority of Huntsmen are certified through the Academies, their careers typically begin at graduation, between the ages of 21-22, though Primary Combat School can begin as earlier as 13 years of age. Practicing Huntsmen are overwhelmingly young- the strains of the job and high mortality rate ensure that. The average Hunstman has an operational lifespan of 12 years, although this varies widely by deployment and specialization, and 20% of the graduating class of any Academy will typically die in their first year. Huntsmen and Huntresses who are not killed in the field often retire to start families- one of the side effects of a powerful, unlocked aura is delayed aging and enhanced fertility, so those who make it to retirement often have long lives and large broods.
The Huntsmen Academies graduate roughly 160 students every year, with less than a dozen independent applicants being certified by the Huntsman Association in a given year. International estimates place the number of active licensed Huntsmen at ~2000, though precise data is difficult to come by as many Huntsmen operate on the fringes of human-controlled territory and are some times out of contact for weeks and months- typically a missing Huntsmen is presumed dead after a year of being out of communication.

History

The Huntsmen Academies were created by the Vytal Treaty at the end of the Great War. Countless settlements were abandoned to the Grimm during the conflict as conventional militaries attacked each other, and it was decided that warriors independent of the Kingdoms were required to prevent such tragedies from happening again. Huntsmen were also meant to allow for demilitarization, again decoupling Humanity's defense from political quarrels. The Huntsmen Academies were built in all four Kingdoms with transfer students from all four Kingdoms to expand the student's worldview and friendships beyond any single Kingdom, and to ensure that incredibly powerful warriors with loyalties to their rivals were present any potentially aggressive Kingdoms.
Huntsmen in training have hosted the biannual Vytal Festival since 1 AGW, with the event allowing for further cross-pollination of cultures, ideas, and skills. The competition between rival schools in the Tournament acts as an outlet for inter-kingdom rivalries, which have otherwise decreased considerably in the years since the Great War.
In 45 AGW The Board of the Huntsmen Academies held a public hearing analyzing claims that Atlas Academy was subverting its purpose by increasingly integrating with the Atlesian Military and Government- it failed to condemn these activities as the proposal fell short by a single vote.
In the aftermath of the Faunus Rights Revolution, the Board of the Huntsmen made greater efforts to integrate Faunus into the Huntsman Academies, in the hopes that further cooperation would prevent future war.

Type

Arcane