[Athamar: Quests from Lorana] Guilds of Athamar

[sneakyonfoota]

May we have an open discussion of guilds?


For immersion purposes, it'd be nice to be able to reference some nice, long-standing and notable guilds of various occupations. Also given the rather feudal setting along with the focus on quests, it'd be natural for guilds and politics that surround them to be a common topic IC.


Off the top of my head, here are different categories to consider.


• mercenary (private military, protection, securities, bounties, exploration)


• scholastic (specialized learning, liberal arts, sciences)


• commerce/finance (usury, banking)


• mercantile/business (trade, goods, reselling)


• skill trades (crafting, manufacturing, specialist services)


• farming (agriculture, livestock)


• infrastructure (engineering, construction)--largest guilds would be subsidized by the government


• other (arts, entertainment)

 

[Cthulhu1]

There is Verlous's assassin guild that is centered in Gallagon, and they're symbol is a Basilisk, as suggested by Luthien.


A proper name has yet to be made, but I feel Assassin guilds would be separate from Mercenary guilds as you can find swords for hire rather easily and they're not exactly cloak and dagger operations. Where as Assassins you have to go through special channels just to get your contract seen.

 

[Ace of Hearts1]

There's also the Shadow Weavers, a group of magic using thieves.

 

[Cthulhu1]

Ha, that's funny, Luth and I have been discussing about certain assassins knowing the arts of certain magics to help them on their various jobs.

 

[Ace of Hearts1]

Yeah, Shadow Weavers are a concept I like, just created. Basically they are comprised of people who discovered their magical talent a little later than most, specifically those who already began careers as thieves.

 

[sneakyonfoota]

I'd like to put forward the idea of distinguishing guilds that have official standing with their respective governments (those who've received a letters patent) versus private guilds.


For example, the largest and oldest mason's guild would probably be patented by the government. A toymaker's guild probably wouldn't, existing as a private "society" and being taxed/levied as any business would, though perhaps with special standings depending on how detailed government policy is.


Economics, y'know.


But as far as our PCs who are self-described professional mercenaries with seasoned histories... having actual credit to their "reputations" (naming names) would probably do well to serve both the characters and the plot at large in the long run. That said, as suggested in Al's profile, private guilds are probably ephemeral things, dissolving or being absorbed constantly (just like real-world businesses) no matter what the area of expertise is.


Within the microcosms of guilds (and the fact that the setting probably isn't as populous as modern day Earth), it shouldn't be unusual for colleagues to bump into each other.


Part of the reason why I wish to impress the importance of guilds is to create an avenue for characters to share histories: being affiliated with a guild or taking work for one (as mercenaries often do), et cetera. Also, given the "quest" format we've been navigating, it should be expected that we'll be dealing with an important guild as quest-giver or as provisioner or even antagonist.