"Hmph…You don't look like much to me. Kind of scrawny, aren't you? Well, I suppose that doesn't make too much of a difference. I just want you to know what you're in for: Death. That's right where this line of work leads, and that's the only place.
Very few of us survive past the battlefield and they're not always the lucky ones.
"Every town and village has its 'War Heroes'. They're the old men with missing limbs, or who are blind in one eye. The old men that sit in the bottoms of bottles trying to forget the horrors they've seen. Since my first battle I've wondered what's so glorious about war?
"Still, it's a living I guess. I wouldn't live any other way if I could. Don't think I'm boasting if I say that I'm good at it, either. I know just how and where to hit a man so that he all but dies, and I don't meet anyone that I don't measure-up and wonder what he might bring to a fight. The toughest and meanest and strongest ones I try stay on the good side of, the rest are just walking corpses to me.
"I guess the first thing to do is to choose a weapon. My theory is that a dead man poses no threat. That's why I like my big two-hander over here. One good swing with old Wanda and even the biggest Orcs are thinking twice about messing with us. I don't think you could handle her though.
"But, don't worry about that. One of the toughest men I've ever seen used two thin rapiers. Danced around and was so quick you just couldn't hit him. Focused like no one I've ever met. He just didn't get angry and flustered. For every swing you took at him, he'd carve your belly with three or four scratches, but they mounted up quick. You'd look like ground beef before he even worked up a sweat. Man he was good.
"Ends up, though that even he couldn't dodge arrows, and an archer took him in one shot. Maybe that's what you should go for? Keep you out of the hand-to-hand stuff? On the other hand, a good suit of armor will even the playing field right up.
"Come with me, I know a good smith who'll outfit you. Every kind of weapon you can imagine, and shields and armour, too. Ever think about a good solid war hammer? Not as easy as a sword, but you definitely know when you've been hit by one…"