Guilds

I draw Kiara’s attention and ask, “Could you tell us more about the guilds?”

“Those guilds are going to be quite important to all of you, won’t they?” Kiara says with a smirk. “At the end of this month, you will all have to make a decision. Join an existing guild in Riledo, travel to Tristanis or a different city and join a guild there, start your own guild, remain guildless. I can’t talk much about the guilds outside Riledo, as I am fairly unaware about those. But what I can do it tell you all about the guilds over here.”

Kiara then stands up and walks over to a tapestry hanging onthe wall. It has a map of the city embroidured on it.

“The first and most important guild in all of Riledo would be …” Then she points with her index finger to the center of the map, “The royal palace. The queen recruits adventurers just like all the guilds do. These then become members of the royal guard. If you do join the royal guard, you will not be going on quests and adventures. You will be kept in the city to protect the queen and keep order between the guilds. You will however be given a place in the castle’s barracks, a set monthly wage, weapons and armor, regular training. Not quite as exciting or profitable a life as the most aspiring adventurers are in search of, but an important one.”

Kiara then lowers her hand and points to a place a little below the castle.

“The second most important guild is the Knights Hospitaler. When you go out on an adventure, you should make certain to always let your guild know about it. In the event something goes wrong and you don’t return on time, your guild can of course go in search of you. But in case they don’t have the adventurers necessary for an expedition to find you, they will contact the Knights Hospitaler guild instead. This guild will then set up a search and rescue expedition to find you and, either bring you back alive, or return with your remains so you can be laid to rest.”

After that Kiara walks over to a mannequin with a white surcoat over it. On the center of the surcoat’s chest area is a red cross.

“All members of the Knights Hospitaler wear one of these surcoats. If you join this guild you will have to wear one of these at all times. If you don’t join this guild, you are forbidden from wearing one. Should you come across an adventurer wearing one of these surcoats, you should expect that he is a member of the Knights Hospitaler and treat him accordingly.”

After that Kiara returns to the map and points at the southern region of the city.

“Down here is where one of the big three, Midnight Dawn, exerts control. Surrounding this area are smaller guilds which are in allegiance with Midnight Dawn. If any of these guilds need help, they often call on Midnight Dawn for assistance. If any of them misbehave, it is up to Midnight dawn’s duty to correct them.”

Kiara moves her hand to the east of them map and explains, “Here is where Oblivion, the guild Kase joined, holds power. Similar to Midnight Dawn, they are supposed to govern their region. They also exert control over smaller guilds around them.

After that Kiara’s hand goes to the western side of the city. “This is where the Dark Dragons have their territory. Its guild master, Aelbrecht, takes his job of governing it very seriously and has made certain his area is the one with the fewest crime. Similar as the other two, the surrounding smaller guilds are allied to the Dark Dragons, though Aelbrecht demands that these guilds patrol their area of the city in a similar way as the Dark Dragons do.”

Finally, Kiara points at the northern part of the map. It is so high up that she uses her shadow manipulation to extend a shadow from her index finger to properly point at it.

“This is the poorest and most crime filled region of the city. This area is filled with smaller guilds and are mostly filled with low ranking adventurers. If you travel into this part of Riledo, you would do well to be careful. The wealthier you appear, the more attention you will attract. You can even have your quest interrupted by people who do not matter to your mission at all, just because they saw you as an easy target. Some high-ranking adventurers join the guilds here to try and take over as their new guild master, though that is easier said than done. Guilds often fight each other here. The best advice I can give you is to stay out. But whether you do or don’t is of course up to you.”

When Kiara starts to walk back to her seat, I raise my hand and say, “You’ve already told us the white surcoat with the red cross identifies members of the Knights Hospitaler and I know from my mother that you can identify a Dark Dragon by the medallion he has. But how does it work for the other guilds?”

"Ah, good question.” Kiara says and then changes her direction to a different wall tapestry. One with on it a drawing of a Dark Dragon medallion, a ring and a pocket watch.

“Each guild has his own way of identifying their members.” Kiara explains. “The Gryphon Knights give their members a badge, the Blue Legion has all its members wear a blue cape, some guilds have their members get the guild logo tattooed on their body. Over here, we have a depiction for each of the big three. The Dark Dragons each receive a medallion made of black metal and in the shape of a dragon skull, the logo of their guild. Midnight Dawn has its members keep a pocket watch with the logo of a crescent on it. Oblivion instead gives each of its members a golden ring with their logo, a shield pierced by two swords, on it.”

After having explained this to us, Kiara walks back to her chair and takes her seat again.