In The Ranger's Apprentice: Ruins of Gorlan, a baron in the town of Redmont gives homes to orphans called wards. These wards are then chosen by the craftmasters to pursue a craft. The craftmasters are Battlemaster Rodney who is head of the battleschool, Lady Pauline who is the Head of the Diplomatic Services, Kitchen Master Chubb, head of the royal kitchen, Scribemaster Nigel, who is the head of the scribe school, and Ranger Crowley, head of the mysterious Ranger Corp. The orphans in this book are Horace Altman, Alice Mainwaring, Jenny Dalby, George Carter, and Will. Horace gets accepted into the Battleschool, Alice is accepted into the Diplomatic Services, George is accepted into the Scribeschool, Jenny was accepted by Master Chubbs, and Will was allowed to try to become a Ranger. There is a lot of action-packed adventure in this book, but I don't want to give it all away. You will have to see how Will defeats a giant bear-like creature and helps to save the entire Kingdom.