Being a warrior wouldn’t require expensive equipment. Many people already carry axes, knives, spears, bow&arrows. Place an emphasis on the NPC creation for these types to have a decent to expert skill in at least one type of weapon AND have them carry that. After checking “preferred and accessible weapons” for their given culture.
E.g. Owl-tribe warrior to spawn likely with northern bow, not flail. Kiesseläinen maybe with an axe. Islander with a knife, axe (they’re carpentry oriented) or spear, they do have access to angon. Koivulainen might spawn with flail as skill, but shouldn’t have actual flail, only grain flail. And so on.