One of the Lerona Mere Archetypes
Overview
A city as large as Lerona Mere has never lacked fighting folk. As a natural meeting point on the seas, the martial styles of hundreds of times and places melted into Lerona Mere into a unique fighting style and culture, known as ‘Bravos’.
As with Lerona Mere, Bravos are eccentric, dramatic, and boisterous. Extremely competitive and extremely deadly. Well known for their prickly pride and competitive nature, Bravos are some of the most skilled and daring fighters in Esterra.
Need:
Combatant
Bravos are fighters, through and through. To be a Bravo is to be able to defend one's honour and the honour of their comrades with steel.
Recommended:
Nil
Bravos take to the field with a wide variety of skills and maintain just as many off the field, including surgeons and quartermasters.
Shouldn’t:
Nil
As above.
Costume Marker:
Bravos carry two markers of their nature, both are dangerous in their own way.
Company Livery
The first is some form of insignia, symbol or rank that shows their loyalty to some martial group. For some it is a symbol of their mercenary company, for others it may be the livery of a Concordian army, for some it may be a personal insignia. For all, this company livery is to be worn openly and with pride, kept clean and well regarded, often as a badge on a fine hat, an embroidered patch on a stylish jacket or an engraved symbol on armour.
Dueling Glove
The second is a fine pair of fighting gloves, often forearm length. While they serve to protect the weilder from cuts and slashes in a fight, they also serve a more rapscallion purpose. Bravos are renowned duelists, taking any small affront or challenge as an excuse for bloodshed. The traditional method of challenging to to take a dueling glove and throw it to the floor in front of those you would challenge (“throwing down the gauntlet”) before naming a time and place (frequently “Now and here”). Not normally worn outside of a fight, your gloves should never be far from you (often tucked into a belt) since Bravos are itching for a fight at all times.
History:
The Bravo tradition grew out of the rivalry between Vidania and Posta Lerona. Over seventy years the two cities competed with each other to determine which would be the capital of the Artebazzani colonies. They competed in trade, ship works, magic, and notably, martial prowess. Free Companies of Mercenaries would compete for contracts to fight to expand Artebazzans holdings within the region and when Vidanian mercenaries would encounter those of Posta Lerona, fights were bound to occur.
Over time, fights became stabbings and stabbings became murder and assassination. Something had to give. The Colonels of over fifty Free Companies met in the small town of Bravo, Mancante Terra to layout the dueling traditions of the colonies. It is Bravo legend that over one hundred duels were fought that night as over one hundred blood feuds were laid to rest.
In the end, Posta Lerona would become the capital of the colonies, being renamed Lerona Mere. Bravos would go on to form the vast bulk of the mercenaries that fought the First and Second Mercenary wars against The Iron Valley and then the Bailites. Forever enshrining their capabilities and boisterous and effective fighters.
Three Things Bravos Are:
Boisterous Braggards of Bravado
Bravos are known for being larger-than-life characters. Prone to exaggeration, loud charisma and big personalities. They dress finely, they shout loudly and they live largely.
Dangerous Duelists
Dueling is part of the core of Bravo culture. The traditional duel is to the first blood (As in, to the first true hitpoint loss), but tradition also demands that no two duelists fight the same duel twice. As such, regular opponents often festoon increasingly complicated challenges to their duels, such as a hand behind the back, strange environments and non-standard weapons.
Sly Soldiers
Despite all their braggadocio, Bravos are skilled soldiers, blooded on the field of battle. Unlike many, Bravos often see little issue with underhanded tactics against their foes. Phrases such as “Honour is for duels” and “You can’t betray your enemies.” are common among them.
One Thing Bravos Aren't:
Sloppy
While Bravos are chaotic and prone to leaving a mess in their wake, they value proficiency at arms and charismatic skill, far more than they do the ability to cause damage.