# If they had certificates in fantasy worlds



## Foxbat (Feb 14, 2012)

The old, gray-haired wizard smiled and looked at the dragon fighter candidate.
“Welcome to Stofferkrim, Mr. Dragonslayer. So you moved here from Roamfolk, if I recall correctly?”
“Yes, sir. My family and I moved here, so I…”
“Perfectly understandable. I looked at your resume, and it is very impressive. We have to clarify a few points, though. How many years of fighting dragons do you have?”
“Seven, sir. Three in the Order of Broken Arrow and four in Brotherhood of Snake Charmers.”
“Very good. And you have which certificates?”
“Dragon fighter II, Dragon fighter instructor I, Basic armor piercing, Anti-Vampire defense for dragon slayers,  Potions technician,  Herb healer III, and Werewolves awareness. I have a couple of other certs, but these are the most relevant.”
“Very good. Are these Roamfolk certificates?”
“Most of them are, sir. Dragon fighter II and Dragon fighter instructor are Imperial, though.”
“Order of White Hand?”
“No, sir, Order of Brave Hearts.”
“Aaaah. That complicates things. You see, Stofferkrim only recognizes OWH certs. There are talks about recognizing OBH certs, but it’s still up in the air at this point. Dragon fighters’ Guild is meeting next month to discuss that, actually.”
“So… None of my certs are good, sir?”
“Well, I did not say that. Since you passed the Dragon fighter class in your kingdom, you can take the Dragon fighter I exam, so you will not have to attend the training for that. DF-II and DFI-I you will have to retake.”
“What about Potions? OBH is the only one certifying those.”
“Unfortunately, no. I know it is frustrating – it’s what, like 500 hours? – but our kingdom has its own Potion training. We were actually the first ones in the nation to standardize it.”
“But are you not part of the Empire?”
“Yes, but we do not have to adhere to Imperial potion codes. There are some skills not covered under Imperial program that we require you to know.”
“Which ones?”
“Mainly Dwarves’ Poison Labeling System.”
“But no one uses DPLS anymore?”
“We do around here. Most have transitioned to Elves’ system, but every now and then you encounter poison jars with Dwarf labels, so you need to know that.”
“Isn’t there some bridge course?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“But this is an advanced skill. So I can still have my basic skills transferred?”
“Theoretically, yes. The thing is, the basic class material is included into the advanced classes, it’s not a pre-requirement, so basic cert won’t do you any good.”
“I see. What about Healer III?”
“We don’t have use that level around here. Around here it’s usually either Apprentice Healer or Master Healer. Do you have Apprentice Healer license? It can save you a hundred hours or so.”
“I do, but not the Imperial one. You see, our kingdom does not require it, except for Master level, and never thought I would move…”
“I understand. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. You have to take Apprentice class. We will give you a year to pass it. The best place would be the Black Mountain Cave, they have good witches. While you are there, you should also take some vampire slaying classes. We see a lot more vampires here than we see dragons, so it pays to know them.”
“So if I am otherwise qualified, you can hire me, and then I can get the certs?”
“Well, if it was just healing, we could… The dragon fighting cert is the problem. Technically speaking, we can’t even let you look at a dragon without DF-II. Too much of a liability. Five years ago they had a guy turning into stone after looking at a dragon; many argue that it wasn’t a dragon which turned him into stone – dragons don’t normally do that – but no one wants to take that chance again. So you will have to take DF-II, reapply, and then we will be glad to have you here. There should still be positions open in the winter.”
“In the winter, sir?”
“Yes. You see, the closest DF-II class is in the fall.”
“How much is it?”
“About 100 hours and three pieces of gold. You may be able to find an instructor who will let you miss most of the classes, since you already had DF-II… You didn’t hear this from me, by the way. Also, you will need to bring your spear and Braveheart shield to class.”
“Braveheart shield?”
“Yeah, the round leather one.”
“Oh, you mean a leathersaver?“
“I guess, if that’s how you call them there… See, you shouldn’t feel so bad about going back to school. At least you will learn how we call things around here, right? Well, I’m glad you agree. I hope to see you in January, Mr. Dragonslayer. Good Luck!”


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