Lancer Services
A lancer was a profession dedicated to fulfilling odd jobs for people across Legere. Legere was a dangerous place full of untapped knowledge and power, and many times certain expertise was needed in order to capitalize on incredible opportunities, or deal with terrible problems. If one needed a group of experienced monster hunters to take down a pack of roving northwulves, a budding mage to consult the best solution for nightfang infestation, a gatherer familiar with the treacherous Festerplains, or even have a job they don't know who to go to in order to solve, they needed a lancer.
Suggested further reading: The Lancer Guild
Services #
The general service a Lancer provided was the fulfillment of a contract that specified a task to complete in exchange for compensation (usually material wealth). This task could take a day, or it could take months, and could theoretically require the Lancer to accomplish anything. Different lancers specialize in different areas of expertise, so finding the right lancer for the job was important.
Lancer Specializations #
Sword Lancer #
Sword lancers provided experience and skillsets designed for combat. Whenever someone needed a monster hunted, a criminal brought to justice, or an extra arm in a militia, they need a sword lancer. While sword lancers were typically all martial focused, arcane practitioners made their way into the ranks in later history.
Mage Lancer #
Mage lancers provided distinct magical services to those looking to solve unusual problems. Sometimes a mage lancer's specific arcane talent was needed for a job, and sometimes it was merely their ability to solve problems with it. Such lancers found a bounty of work as consultants. Many novices would work as a mage lancer in the hopes of being recognized for their talent on a contract and finding a more permanent workplace.
Merchant Lancer #
Merchant lancers provided goods acquisition and transportation services. Although actual merchants largely own their own businesses, sometimes someone needs to send goods across a dangerous stretch in the Kaktis Desert, an expert gatherer to pluck something from the depths of the Tuku Jungle, or to charter a perilous course near the Cyclopean Ocean. This was where the resources and knowledge of a merchant lancer would come in handy.
Qualifications #
Anybody could take a contract and call themselves a lancer, they just had to find the right client. Most lancing after the Demon Wars was managed by the international organization that was the Lancer Guild.
History #
The concept of lancing started in Phovezila where certain towns and villages would need beasts exterminated that were endangering the populace or their livelihoods. Anyone with a bit of skill who happened to be passing by could take up the job and make a little bit of coin on the side. Soldiers passing through that had some small time to spare were the first of the more traditional recipients of such jobs. The more war waned, the more unhired mercenaries and retired soldiers might roam from place to place looking for odd jobs on their own time. These people were eventually unofficially named "hunters", since monster extermination was still the most common of requests.
Job postings would commonly hang from a poster board outside of the more common inns and taverns in the early days. As the system became more widely used, people would begin posting more varied requests. This could be anything from escorts to gathering different resources located in dangerous areas. Contracts were also created so jobs could take an extended period of time or become recurring, effectively simulating a part-time job. They became a way for people of all professions to hunt down jobs that might be in demand across the West.