The Warens
Warens are the locations in which weilders are trained. This is where they are molded into, what many would say, the best warriors in the world. Here they hone their mind, train their bodies, and understand their spirit. Here they become warriors.
They say a single weilder is strong. That one could take on a platoon. How about a few dozen, like the ones that reside in the warens, homes to the weilders. In such a place an attack by even a full army would be a foolhardy decision.
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Organization: Waren Lord - Leader of a given waren. Waren lords oversee the training process and are the only ones with the power to accept new students. Waren lords are chosen as much for their skill as their wisdom. They tend to be a bit older, at least middle aged. There is only ever one waren lord for a waren. Wazari( wuh- zar- ee) - These are the trainers. They are weilders that continue to live in the waren and spend their days training the future weilders. They can suggest a child to become a trainee, but they lack the power of actually authorizing training. There is typically around 5 Wazari in a given waren. Trainees - Those that hope to become weilders are called trainees. Children taken in from all over and preteens that were raised in the warens make up this group. On average a waren will have around 20 trainees at a time.
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Life in a waren:
The youngest trainees spend most of the day doing chores for the upkeep of the waren. They spend an hour in the morning, afternoon, and evening, usually after meals, meditating. They must learn control, discipline, and focus before they are to be taught even the simplest of techniques. Once this phase is accomplished they will begin hand-to-hand martial training. Many will spar with fellow students. They spend several hours a day meditating and performing katas. Graduation from this phase means succeeding in an outnumbered fight. They then begin training on their energy spheres and honing skills. They are expected to spend a minimum of two hours on this, while during the day they must also continue regular kata practice and meditation.
 Wazari spend there time overseeing the trainees. They make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to. They also train the students in all forms of the weilder's art and their waren's specific martial style. Once a week wazari go to the nearest city or village to get supplies. They may take a more advanced student with them so that student can learn about life outside of the waren. Eventually every student gets this chance. Waren lords choose and oversee the trainees. They become more involved in training once a trainee begins to get to advanced power usage. They are the leader and so also keep up with the other warens and occasionally must participate in politics of the land the waren lies in to keep the waren.
 Selection: Most trainees are orphans that are found by wazari as they travel back and forth from the waren and the rest of the world. An orphan that seems to have a fire in their eyes can be brought back to the waren to be viewed by the lord of that waren. The waren lords are said to be capable of peering into a person and seeing their energy. Waren lords say that when they see the right energy they will accept another student. The wazari are good at selecting and so few children brought before a waren lord are rejected. Trainees must be young when selected. The oldest taken in was 10 years old and the cutoff is usually 12. Most students come in at around 6.
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Notable Warens:
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Ezreus Waren - Lord Adinus leads the Ezreus Waren. Here the martial style is very close quarter combat. Use of knees and elbows is heavy. The style practiced disdains grappling and teaches its students to avoid grappling techniques. Ezreus Waren is located out in the wilds of the plains region. The nearest city, Ezora, is a good two day hike. Adinus made a deal with the Ezoran king to allow the waren to be there and have no outside interference in return for giving aid if Ezora's lands are invaded. Ezreus waren could have easily destroyed any attempt Ezora could make at it, however Lord Adinus disdains unnecessary blood shed and so sought and came to a peaceable agreement.
Olrik Waren - Led by Lord Quemei. Olrik Waren students learn a combat style akin to judo. It is welcoming of grappling and throws. Olrik waren is located in the snowy north lands. There is no nearby city, instead there are villages dotted around the region of Olrik. Some of the villages are quite large, but even the largest is no city. Lord Quemei has form a peaceable agreement with her neighbors.
Menos'Ari Waren - Led by Lord Anak'Ri. The martial style here is heavy in movement and uses acrobatics to its advantage. Students of this art like wide open space to move around and dazzle opponents. The art is also heavy in the use of kicking techniques. Menos'Ari is located in the great desert. The nearest city, Menos, is a 3 day hike away. Menos'Ari Waren is on a more neutral stand with Menos city. They have not made any peaceable agreements, but they also have had no threats on either side.
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? Responses (4)
These types of academies have been fairly well established in other settings and I would say is something everybody is familiar with. The Gunslinger, Roland, went to one such school for Gunslingers in Stephen King's dark tower books, their was a school for Knights in Steinbeck's King Arthur, the Jedi Academy, were ever it was Dr. Strange went to magic school, and Cain from Kung Fu of course. A write up for martial arts academy such as you have done is not novel in as much as it resembles so many other established setting. While there is nothing wrong with the write up really it is obviated by all the previous versions.
The last three notes are the strongest part about your post. Folding cliches into your setting is useful, it makes the setting easily accessible to other readers and players, but you need to make more of effort to tie this to your current setting. You can use the cliche setting as a way to ease or draw people into your world and your characters. I would bring more the specifcs of your world. If you do that than you don't have tired write up, but you have trite story to frame the novel aspects of your world.
IMHO
I just have to ask, is it really supposed to say 'weilders' and 'warens'? Not Wielders and Warrens? You don't seem to have misspelt anything else, but those words just seem so out of place.
Yes. They are spelled that way intentionally.
I must admit I'm a bit confused abt this piece and I don't know how to vote on it. While it claims to be a location piece, what I actually read is more about the Warens society. I mean, it's fine to include the inhabitants and their ways of life in a Location sub but if the entire sub is abt the inhabitants/societal topics, then I really wonder why it isn't posted under Society. Which brings me to my other comments: how do the Warens come about? what purposes do they serve? from the sub, it seems they are operating somehow independently from countries but if they are training ground for the 'best soldiers' then I sort of question why some of them aren't just crushed by whichever neighbouring country (i.e. who would want a bunch of 'best soldier' being trained right next to your border that are totally independent from you?). I think a backstory on how it all starts might address this.