– Career
A Mercenary in general makes a pretty decent wage. However, if they are willing to do their job while living rough on The Plain, the mercenary can make a great deal more money. But they’ll give up years of their lives to do it.
The folks that choose to be a mercenary on The Plain, and the reasons why they choose it, vary from person to person.
Some may have a debt they want to pay off. Others may be working to save the money they need to avoid debt in buying land or a business. Others still may be running from a situation they don’t want to face. Some mercenaries are former soldiers that have decided since they trained for a specific skillset, why not get well paid for it. Then there is the occasional person that just hopes to have a modest but early retirement after they leave The Plain.
Two Cities North of The Plateau
Many people determined to take on this role do not have a military background. This lack of experience doesn’t prevent them from getting this work, but most mercenary organizations will require them to train for a year before they can go on a mission.
The groups that mercenary organizations send out vary based on the mission and how much the client is willing to pay. If the client needs help for a short time “on the cheap”, or a mission is more secretive, a small squad of no more than ten soldiers may be sent. Farmers with a little startup money may use squads to help them reach The Plateau.
Berry Traders will often hire platoons up to fifty soldiers strong to protect them as they crisscross The Plain. They have
a great deal of wealth but try to limit how much they are carrying at any given time to reduce both loss and the “known” target on their backs. Buyers will also higher platoons but usually only to get onto The Plain. Once they reach one of the cities around The Plateau, they higher entire companies of as many as two-hundred soldiers.
Finally, we have the agdal farmers leaving The Plain. Once a farmer has decided to leave, they hire a company to protect them and their vast wealth on the ten-year journey back to civilization.
You can find the mercenary organizations on the edges of The Plain and in all six cities surrounding The Plateau. As with most travel on Kethar, it takes years of planning and negotiating to hire and schedule a group of mercenaries.
