This fellow survived his trial by fire as common Spear Fodder , has proved his worth slaying the requisite number of enemies, deserters and feral bandits. As such he underwent the ceremony of confirmation and now stands as a named adult of his house. Many would take up roles as apprentice field hands or craftsmen or scribes in service of the house, earning their keep and rising in the clan heirarchy through peaceful work. He however elected to stay with the army and continue to serve. After five months of training with the arms-masters with Halberd and sword, he was ready to fight as a halberd soldier.





He now has clothes beyond a set of seventh hand trousers and badly made sandels and is clad with brigandine, a more substantial helmet, arm armor, gorgets and kneepads. His armament is a halberd which can slice through enemy flesh as well as pierce and patter through armor and a curved short sword. Fully grown and well fed, he's also stronger than his younger juvenile counterparts. Other forms of adult salamander soldiers exist, including Crossbow Salamanders, Archers, Scout-Skirmishers, Sword and Shield Salamanders and those that fight from the Howdas of Greatbeasts, though Halbediers are generally the most Common. In the standard battle formations of the Salamander Queendoms Adult Halberdiers form up behind the ranks of Spear Fodder before battle is joined. In part this is is so that the disposable juveniles can take the brunt of the charge while the heavier soldiers push along the flanks, but also to serve as barrier troops, cutting down those juveniles foolish enough to flee.





Against spear fodder the combination of larger warriors with superior armor, weapons, experience and training means that Halberd Soldiers can cut down many times their number of Spear Fodder, though Spear Fodder will often attack Adult Soldiers with greater vigor, for to slay one means immediate elevation. The attrition rate of adult salamander soldiers, while far lower than that of Spear Fodder is still high by human medieval standards. Even so, warriors more often have the privilege of fertilizing the eggs of matriarchs and even queens, who's Salamanderlings get somewhat preferential treatment and are more likely to survive into battle. Those that survive to become females become superheavy infantry at least and often become commanders, which have a better than usual shot of becoming senior leaders or Matriarchs in of themselves.

