As a new player I have found that battle is nearly the only way unfortunately wars can be hard to come by so you may end up desperatly charging off to every undead and monster uprising for a while. Investments have been presented as an option but new players do not have enough money for investments usually. Courtiers can gain some through bureaucratic work but you have to have honor/prestige to become a courtier. Hopefully a more experienced player will have an idea...
Honestly, I have come to dislike the honor and prestige requirements for most classes/subclasses. I get why they are there for things like infiltrators, cavilers and heroes. I think it is pointless to have these requirements for priest, courtier, diplomat and trader. I honestly hate that my priest character has to spend a few weeks fighting battles first. Same thing for the diplomat, courtier, and trader. It makes no sense to me and makes some character concepts impossible. Enough of my rant though. I am curious to hear some other options!
I guess it's somehow a way to assure the noble that becomes trader/courtier/priest has acquired enough experience in game to be the most efficient without losing too much time in "basic" mechanics. It's clear that the more responsibility you've got, the more experienced you should be.
Moreover, in ancient times in order to reach high positions in the public career, young nobles had to spend some time in the military career. That way they had the chance to prove their loyalty and courage to their peers. And also... why so hurry? This is a slow paced game, enjoy it along the way.
