A Primer to Trade Skills

	The Trade House "Near the docks, the Trade House managed the numerous craft guilds and their practitioners, many of them requiring storage for their goods. The first day on the job, I peered at the aisles of fine wares ranging from brightly colored pottery to barrels of refined gems, racks of recently forged weapons and some of the finest clothing this side of the Great Mountains. Knowing that artisans often dedicated years to their craft, I was amazed at the quality of craftsmanship." -Ancus Versillus, Block Baron.

Trades in Aelyria allow characters to construct useful items or exercise profitable skills by using component pieces and materials found in the world. Like the other skills, adventurers progress through proficiencies to construct these goods to broaden their professions, while also generating a comfortable secondary source of income. Most practitioners of a trade belong to a guild or league of fellow artisans who band together to protect the interests of their craft To get started learning a trade skill, citizens should seek out a craftsman of that trade that is able and willing to teach it.

Levels of Proficiency

Trade Skills share the same five-tier proficiency structure that other skills in Aelyria have. Each trade skill is unique, so it may refer to these five levels differently and have unique prerequisites. These are also generally free-form measures of success tha tdetermine a character's capability and core competencies with the craft. From a moment that a character begins to learn the trade, she becomes a novice in that skill and begins to progress. While there have been some examples of self-taught tradesmen, most artisans quickly join an established master to work in his workshop.

Novice
Apprentice
Journeyman
Master
Grandmaster

The Master/Apprentice dynamic is at the heart of how many trades work in Aelyria. Once a novice in a trade skill acquires fundamental proficiency, learning the basics of his craft, he can then assist a master with menial tasks in his shoppe while learning from the master's example and focused tutelage. Typically, the teacher releases an apprentice when he is no longer of any use to him, but sometimes more established trades have schools or guilds that establish standards for elevation. After an apprenticeship, a tradesman wanders the world as a Journeyman, offering his services and charging a modest - usually, bargain - fee. In exchange, the journeyman obtains valuable experience and can learn more about the trade by discovering new and exotic techniques and practices throughout Aelyria and the world beyond. When a journeyman wishes to open his own shoppe and settle down, he usually approaches a guild of artisans to obtain accreditation; this is typically done by displaying a masterpiece, a work of art that exemplifies mastery over the trade. If accepted, the Master joins the established elders in the craft and can typically have a voice in guild affairs and the tutelage of other apprentices and journeymen.

Every now and then, a master does something remarkable for the trade. Whether it is a concentrated life of enduring service or a breakthrough in innovating an original technique or novel practice, a master that redefines his trade or pushes his craft in new and impressive directions can be acclaimed by peers as a Grand Master. These grandmasters are few and far in between; more than simply masters at their craft with honed skills and sharpened perspectives, they are considered brilliant artisans with an unparalleled eye for their craft, often performing their craft in ways so original and unheard of that they literally define schools of work and study around their technique.