Culture of War

Living in the Lands of Kaluban isn't an easy life. Almost every day there is a threat that monsters may attack your farm and eat a season's worth of crops. Or maybe a band of raiders might storm in and plunder your Barangay for all of your belongings. Or power-hungry House leader might one day invade your lands and you have to act in accordance with your new House. It always helps to have a Blade and Kalasag in your hands. 

Warfare

On every barangay, fighting will be inevitable. Whether against man or monster, you are expected to have the ability to protect yourself. Starting at the age of 10, young children are given basic combat lessons by their fathers or Barangay elders. They are taught the proper handling of a weapon and when to use it. And when they come of age, they have the option to further advance their skills in warfare through becoming a Maharlika or Timawa. All barangays depend on their people's ability to fend off enemies, so there should be no shortage of warriors in their disposal. There is no discrimination when it comes to combat, everyone is taught how to kill whether you are man, woman, rich, poor, old, or young. Even farmers have experience with the art of combat. So whenever a war begins, everyone is expected to fight. 

Mercenary work

Every once in a while there will be this great conflict that inspires young warriors to train and be stronger so that they too could be part of the battlefield. The fight numerous battles, slay one enemy after another, getting better with every fight. They rise above their ranks and become masters of the art of war. But then afterward, there is peace. The fighting stops. Suddenly their skills are no longer needed and their lust for battle howls louder with each passing day. This is a common occurrence among many Kalubano warriors, former soldiers with the desire to fight. Luckily, there is a demand for warriors like them across Kaluban, and they are willing to pay for their services. Thus, mercenaries have become a common trade on all factions and any house that are in need of extra manpower will be more than happy to oblige. Where there is peace on one faction, there is war on another, that is the life of a mercenary. 

Wilderness combat

It's one thing to fight with people, but to fight with monsters and the dangers of The Wilderness is an entirely different art. The wilderness and the creatures that inhabit it are the reason why Kalubano Society find it difficult to expand inward through the mainland. The thick jungles and rainforests make dangerous fighting grounds even for the most skilled Maharlikas, so an encounter with a monster is made even more difficult in its own habitat. There is also unpredictability in the types of monsters one may face in the wilderness. Unlike animals, monsters reproduce offspring that may deviate from the form of their parents. With the variety of mutations and variations, it is rare to find two monsters that are exactly the same, and even rarer to find a herd of similar-looking monsters. Most monsters do not behave like normal animals, they are not concerned with protecting their young, or guarding their territories. Most only live to feed and kill, which means encountering a monster would inevitably lead to fighting. And fighting a monster would almost always lead to death. The art of monster fighting is a discipline that is only mastered by a few groups of people, it is not enough to swing a blade on a monster and hope that it dies. Monster fighting relies heavily on observing a monster's nature well enough to predict its next move. Since monsters seldom share features with each other, predicting a monster's true behavior while trying to stay alive is as difficult as swimming to the bottom of the deepest ocean to find a silver coin. To kill a monster is to learn everything you can about a creature you will most likely never see again in the battlefield before it realizes that it can kill you. 

Raiding

Whether you're a wanted thief, a runaway alipin, or you slept with the daughter of a Ginoo, there are always plenty of reasons to escape the laws of barangays and live a life of freedom, even if it means resorting to crime to survive. For a life of a raider, the high seas and trade routes are the trees that bear sweet fruit. They prey on unsuspecting travellers and caravans filled with goods that poor citizens can only dream of possessing. Even if you are not interested in the gold and you are only in it for the adventure, an average trader will always have decent skills in combat and escorts so you are bound to always experience a good challenge or two. There are no laws outside barangays, you are free to do so as you please. But living a life of crime can get dangerous at times. You are always on the run, a nomadic life where there is nowhere to lay your head. You depend on finding a target with a good haul to survive. But such is the life of a raider, and the satisfaction of seeing the rich become the poor and the poor become the rich almost makes up for all of its flaws.

Bounty hunters

But with a life of crime comes notoriety, and with notoriety comes a bounty. When you become a predator long enough, you see yourself become prey. That is where bounty hunters come in, they do business in making sure raiders and pirates don't continue in their paths of crime. All bounty hunters have their own reasons why they do what they do: perhaps they have the pious obligation to rid the world of evil criminals, maybe they were former criminals themselves and dedicate their lives in eliminating people like him, or maybe they are just in it for the money and the challenge. It isn't easy being a bounty hunter Afterall, lesser criminals give low reward and high profile criminals are as difficult to capture as a Datu. Being a bounty hunter requires the strength and skill to kill a criminal with maximum efficiency, but also the intelligence to hunt them down with all means necessary. Additionally, transferring a bounty to the barangay of where he is notorious becomes a different challenge altogether. There is no room for error in the bounty hunting business.

Primary Related Location

Kaluban

Sea Warriors

Though one might argue that traveling through the seas is safer than traveling through the mainland, it would be foolish to ignore the present dangers that the waters could potentially bring. There are pirates left and right who are always on the lookout for unsuspecting traders with profitable cargo, storms and natural dangers are a foreboding threat that haunts even the most experienced sailors, and the very rare but terrifying monsters from deep below the ocean. And the dangers are increased tenfold once factions declare war with another. With the many dangers of the sea, it behooves sailors to always have able-bodied warriors and escorts who are always prepared to encounter such dangers.

Adventuring

Some monsters and wilderness plants possess magical abilities and properties that aid in their survival and hunting. Some are known to possess the ability to fly without wings or have skin that glows and projects illusions on itself. It because of these wonderful abilities that scholars and mambabarangs are particularly attracted to studying these creatures and using their abilities to aid in their own problems. But there is always a fear of dying in the wilderness that makes it difficult for them to gain more knowledge on these creatures. So Adventurers have become a popular service for these types of people. They make business in challenging the dangerous environments of the wilderness to hunt for monsters, plants, or different components that anyone feels the need for retrieving.

More on General Knowledge: