Post by Gaea on Jul 31, 2013 15:59:55 GMT -8
Guilds are core infrastructure of the world - reaching beyond the boundaries and petty squabbles of kingdoms, they perform important tasks across Elibe. They depend on each other as much as normal people depend on them, since jobs may involve complex situations where many different skillsets are required. There are many types of guilds in Elibe, ranging from merchant guilds, mercenaries, explorers, monster hunters, and even their less... noble brethren. People of all walks in life have joined every kind of guild for personal reasons, and even those who do not officially belong to a guild can still do the same kind of work and be treated about the same as a guild member for it.
Merchant guilds sell things, ranging from goods, services, and even information. Most merchant guilds are composed of individuals who do not compete in the same market - if they don't sell a particular item, they will often refer you to another guild member that may have what you need. They work off the 'scratch my back, I'll scratch your back' ideology. Some of the items they tend to carry are food, clothing, weapons, armor, and raw materials. There are two major types of merchant guilds: Local and Traveling. Local merchant guilds are stationary, organizing trade in a given region and helping stock local shops. Traveling guilds travel from city to city, transporting goods to sell to their stationary brethren... for the right price. They also provide information on what's hot in other locations so those willing to take the initiative can cash in on growing trends first. As they travel often, they always make sure to keep enough room to transport people who do not wish to travel alone... also for the right price. Merchant guilds tend to have a close relationships with members from exploration and mercenary guilds, relying on exploration guilds for safe/fast routes, and mercenary guilds for protection from bandits and monsters.
Exploration Guilds are the primary reason that most people in Elibe even know that the rest of the continent exists. One of the key roles of these guilds is map making abilities; every exploration guild has a blank map showing the general layout of Elibe, and each guild takes it upon themselves to discover something new. Along their travels they tend to find old ruins and collect artifacts, which they usually sell to members of merchant guilds, or barter along with maps for goods and services.
Mercenary guilds are the most common form of guild to find - they're the generic "hired muscle" that everyone with money needs. They are often hired to protect undefended towns or reinforce city guards during festivals or invasions, while traveling merchant guilds pay them to ensure they make it to the next town safely. Mercenary guilds do pretty much anything that needs doing, but have a fairly universal code of honor that ensures no self-respecting mercenary guild will take a job that harms the innocent, though bandits and human attackers are fair game. They are in close competition with the monster hunting guilds, which they see them as people stealing their jobs, and tend to moonlight as bounty hunters in between "official" mercenary jobs.
Hunter guilds are thrill seekers by nature, they live for one thing. To kill monsters. Some of the more experienced guilds have logs of what they fought, when they fought it, how it fights, how they were able to defeat it, and how they generally act in their natural habitats. It's very common to see multiple guilds working together on a hunt, sharing information before battle to ensure they walk away to tell the tale. Hunter guilds are sought after along with mercenary guilds due to their vast knowledge of monsters, and while there is a great deal of competition with mercenary guilds, most hunters grudgingly appreciate skilled mercenaries when push comes to shove.
Assassin guilds pick up where mercenary guilds leave off, taking the jobs that even the most grizzled mercenary guilds will reject. They are not officially recognized as guilds, and revealing yourself as a member in any civilized area will lead to your being arrested and generally sentenced to death. While assassin guilds will take on any job regardless of how dirty it its, there is a certain degree of honor among these thieves, and every member takes an oath of loyalty to the guild and their fellow members - they refuse to rat each other out.
Player Guilds
While joining an existing guild is always an option, you can also found your own. However, there are rules put into place by the Arcadian Order of Guilds to limit to proliferation of guilds and keep them easier to track. In order to start your own guild you must have a minimum of four player members, you must define the goal of the guild (mercenary, explorer, etc), the laws of the guild (guilds self-govern and each has unique internal rules), and lastly the name of the guild (self-explanatory). Finally, there is a fee of 5000 gold for the creation of a guild, which covers both paperwork and the construction of a (small) guild headquarters. While the Order stringently discourages guilds from breaking laws and ostensibly outlaw assassin guilds, they will accept assassin guilds so long as the money is there - hush money, essentially, as well as bribes to keep their participation secret.
The Order reserves the right to deny a guild for any reason, but in practice this authority is only exerted if their fee is not paid in full, if the paperwork is not adequately filled out, or if there are just too many of that variety of guild already.
Merchant guilds sell things, ranging from goods, services, and even information. Most merchant guilds are composed of individuals who do not compete in the same market - if they don't sell a particular item, they will often refer you to another guild member that may have what you need. They work off the 'scratch my back, I'll scratch your back' ideology. Some of the items they tend to carry are food, clothing, weapons, armor, and raw materials. There are two major types of merchant guilds: Local and Traveling. Local merchant guilds are stationary, organizing trade in a given region and helping stock local shops. Traveling guilds travel from city to city, transporting goods to sell to their stationary brethren... for the right price. They also provide information on what's hot in other locations so those willing to take the initiative can cash in on growing trends first. As they travel often, they always make sure to keep enough room to transport people who do not wish to travel alone... also for the right price. Merchant guilds tend to have a close relationships with members from exploration and mercenary guilds, relying on exploration guilds for safe/fast routes, and mercenary guilds for protection from bandits and monsters.
Exploration Guilds are the primary reason that most people in Elibe even know that the rest of the continent exists. One of the key roles of these guilds is map making abilities; every exploration guild has a blank map showing the general layout of Elibe, and each guild takes it upon themselves to discover something new. Along their travels they tend to find old ruins and collect artifacts, which they usually sell to members of merchant guilds, or barter along with maps for goods and services.
Mercenary guilds are the most common form of guild to find - they're the generic "hired muscle" that everyone with money needs. They are often hired to protect undefended towns or reinforce city guards during festivals or invasions, while traveling merchant guilds pay them to ensure they make it to the next town safely. Mercenary guilds do pretty much anything that needs doing, but have a fairly universal code of honor that ensures no self-respecting mercenary guild will take a job that harms the innocent, though bandits and human attackers are fair game. They are in close competition with the monster hunting guilds, which they see them as people stealing their jobs, and tend to moonlight as bounty hunters in between "official" mercenary jobs.
Hunter guilds are thrill seekers by nature, they live for one thing. To kill monsters. Some of the more experienced guilds have logs of what they fought, when they fought it, how it fights, how they were able to defeat it, and how they generally act in their natural habitats. It's very common to see multiple guilds working together on a hunt, sharing information before battle to ensure they walk away to tell the tale. Hunter guilds are sought after along with mercenary guilds due to their vast knowledge of monsters, and while there is a great deal of competition with mercenary guilds, most hunters grudgingly appreciate skilled mercenaries when push comes to shove.
Assassin guilds pick up where mercenary guilds leave off, taking the jobs that even the most grizzled mercenary guilds will reject. They are not officially recognized as guilds, and revealing yourself as a member in any civilized area will lead to your being arrested and generally sentenced to death. While assassin guilds will take on any job regardless of how dirty it its, there is a certain degree of honor among these thieves, and every member takes an oath of loyalty to the guild and their fellow members - they refuse to rat each other out.
Player Guilds
While joining an existing guild is always an option, you can also found your own. However, there are rules put into place by the Arcadian Order of Guilds to limit to proliferation of guilds and keep them easier to track. In order to start your own guild you must have a minimum of four player members, you must define the goal of the guild (mercenary, explorer, etc), the laws of the guild (guilds self-govern and each has unique internal rules), and lastly the name of the guild (self-explanatory). Finally, there is a fee of 5000 gold for the creation of a guild, which covers both paperwork and the construction of a (small) guild headquarters. While the Order stringently discourages guilds from breaking laws and ostensibly outlaw assassin guilds, they will accept assassin guilds so long as the money is there - hush money, essentially, as well as bribes to keep their participation secret.
The Order reserves the right to deny a guild for any reason, but in practice this authority is only exerted if their fee is not paid in full, if the paperwork is not adequately filled out, or if there are just too many of that variety of guild already.
