
You ask the Armorer why you have to declare a proficiency and initially train
in a single weapon type.

             The Armorer, an ex-weaponsmaster looks askance at you.


"You really don't know?" he asks. The look on his face indicates that he
thinks that you're pulling his leg, and his expression says plainly that you
will come to no good if you are merely wasting his time.

When you shake your head, he raises an eyebrow in wonderment, as if amazed at
the lack of education apparent in today's youth (little does he know you
can't even find the United States on a map of the world, either, but that's
neither here nor there). But his attitude changes when he sees that you
indeed do not know why one should declare a weapon proficiency or take the
time to find a master to train you in your chosen type of weapon. That you
seem to want to learn from him almost brings a little cheer into his hard
gray eyes.

"Once, long ago," he begins, "even before my time, weapons were much simpler
than they are now. In fact, there was probably a day when someone thought
he'd achieved the pinnacle of modernization when he stuck a spike in the end
of his club so he could make holes in the other guy instead of merely
pounding him to a pulp.

"But those days are long gone, and the art and science of combat has been
refined beyond anything ever imagined by our ancestral warriors. Nowadays,
weapons have specialized to the point where only a fool would think he could
just pick one up and fight with any degree of skill with it. Swords meant to
be wielded with one hand are used differently that those that require two
hands. And axes are wielded differently than swords and maces. Flails require
different strategies than any of the other weapons. Likewise, any fool can
pick up a polearm and start swinging it around, or thrusting with it, but
that person will not long survive if he hasn't properly learned how to use
that weapon to maximize its advantages and minimize its limitations!

"There are other advantages in developing skill with a particular weapon,"
he continues. "Aside from the fact that knowing your weapon like a lover will
help you to hit the other guy better, and maybe even keep his weapon from
hitting you, if you get good enough you may also learn to do things with your
weapon that will someday save your life--or facilitate taking another's. I've
known people who were so skilled with a weapon, for instance, that they could
disarm an opponent with a flick of their wrist.

And I've known weaponsmasters who could tell you exactly where they were
going to place their attack--and then do it just like they said, sometimes
even lopping off their enemy's arm ... or leg ... or head.

Knowing how to use a specific weapon is crucial in the special combat
environments, too. Many weapons are less effective in some environments than
they are in others. However, the Warrior who has truly mastered his weapon
will find that he can make a weapon "work" in environments that would see a
lesser trained Warrior reduced to ineffectiveness.

The Armorer takes a deep breath and suddenly becomes aware of the time.

     "Now get out of here," he says, "I've got work to do. Come back when
                          you know what you're about."


