The Dwargi Guilds

The Dwargi of the Forgelands are run almost entirely by the dutiful **Guilds**, massive organizations dedicated to maintaining various functions of Dwargi society.

In the Outer Cosmos RPG, Dwargi players have the option of hailing from a background in one of the guilds, providing them unique class bonuses not normally available to other races and cultures.

The Guilds include:

* The Architects' Guild
* The Smithguild
* The Warguild
* The Scribeguild
* The Hearthguild

## The Architects' Guild

The Architects' Guild is one of the most esteemed of the guilds, as they chiefly are responsible for the creation and maintenance of the Forgelands and its mighty halls, bridges, and other architectural feats. All construction within the Forgelands is undertaken by the Architects, who employ the builders, masons, inspectors, and drafters necessary to create the Forgelands' famous structures, including walls, gates, barracks, fortresses, terraces, support pillars, bridges, and others. Their order is among the oldest in Dwargi civilization, and one of the proudest: their efforts give the Forgelands their very name as a land expertly chiseled and shaped by the hands of the Dwargi's famous stonemasons. Those of the Architects' Guild are among the most favored by the goddess Aragni, and most actively realize her will to shape the earth of Thryndaheimr, thus earning themselves much favor within the community of guilds.

All Dwargi in the Architects' Guild start as simple builders, hauling brick and mortar to and from construction sites, applying those elements to ongoing projects and utilizing the tools to do so under supervision. Builders are directed by engineers of varying skill levels, who attend numerous classes on the fundamentals of architecture and structural engineering and help assure construction goes safely and according to plan. Such planning is done by the chief architects, who draft the layouts of all construction, maintenance, and demolition the guild undertakes, effectively steering the entirety of the guild's efforts. All workers in the Architects' Guild answer to the Master Architect, who realizes and authorizes all guild labor throughout the Forgelands and bears the responsibility of all workers beneath them. They are elected to this position by a peer vote from among their fellow architects,

## The Smithguild

The Smithguild is the chief organization of miners, metalworkers, blacksmiths and artisans with the Forgelands, and theirs is an invaluable task: to take the resources and bounties of the earth and to turn them into the tools and materials that all other guilds and craftsfolk of the Dwargi require. They produce everything from the equipment and armaments of the Warguild to the tools and raw materials required by the Architects and their construction, and for that will always carry a substantial amount of favor with the Forgelands. Along with the Architects, they wield much favor in the eyes of their goddess, Aragni, who is herself a masterful blacksmith and metalworker. Inevitably, every Guild will come to require the services of the Smithguild as they produce the sole means to conduct labor within the Forgelands, and for that the Smiths pride themselves in the success of all who wield their expertly crafted tools.

The young Dwargi worthy of joining the Smithguild are typically sturdy and steady-handed, and suited to starting as miners. After learning the value of a day's toil in the mines, these trainees are instructed in the art of metallurgy, foundry-work, and other industrial labors. The especially artful among them go on to become smithies and crafters that turn the worked materials into artisan goods. Veteran blacksmiths become Master-Smiths that design the molds and models used by their underlings, and produce specially commissioned products for high-ranking officials of the other guilds. The Smithguild is led foremost by the Grandmaster-Smith, the most genius a talented of all master-smiths, who serves as foreman and chief inventor for the majority of all Smithguild industry. The Grandmaster-Smith is a highly respected official among all Dwargi society, and is most often worthy of the office of Empress in the eyes of their goddess Aragni.

In the Outer Cosmos RPG, the Smithguild produces most Dwargi Artificers, especially those specialized in tinkering or blacksmithing.

## The Warguild

The Dwargi have been classically beset by enemies for much of their existence, the wealth of treasure and bounty stocked within the vaults of the Forgelands often an incentive for raiders, and as a result have also learned how to defend their home. The Warguild is responsible for training the foot soldiers and troops of the Forgelands, who patrol its borders vigilantly and protect the many weapons of war stowed away in bunkers. The Warguild's job is of great importance, as they are tasked with the security of the Forgelands, the safety of its denizens, and the enforcement of their laws. Above all, the generals and officers of the Warguild keep order and peace in the Dwargi's halls, and without them the people of Aragni would have fallen at the hands of their foes long ago.

Pups enlisted into the Warguild are tested for strength and ferocity, and start their training as shieldbearers, who practice taking hits from higher ranking trainees. Those that prove sturdy enough get to wield arms of their own as strikers, and begin the cutting of their own teeth against the young shieldbearers. Once the art of weapon and shield are mastered, trainees move up to law enforcement within Dwargi lands, patrolling the halls and detaining criminals. From there, they may continue to police the Forgelands or be stationed as border sentries, always on the vigil for interlopers or raiders. The veteran and victorious among these troops achieve rank and assume positions of authority. Captains watch over soldiers beneath them, and captains report to the generals. The Warguild's generals are many, and help direct troops and armaments as necessary across the entirety of Dwargi land. Their highest authority is the Master General, who oversees the enforcement of law and wartime status of the Dwargi civilization at all times.

In the Outer Cosmos RPG, Dwargi Fighters, Warriors and Gladiators learn their craft primarily from the Warguild.

## The Scribeguild

The Dwargi kind pride themselves in their history and past accomplishments, and always seek to improve upon the foundations of old. To record their many centuries of social and industrial progress and struggle, the Dwargi formed the Scribeguild, a conglomeration of scribes, historians, poets, mages, and linguists. Though primarily concerned with the neat keeping of the Dwargi's history, they are also tasked with the preserving and teaching of their language, the writing of commandments, laws and commemorations, the curation of their magical rune alphabet, and the inscribing of current and past events. Many Dwargi halls and monuments are intricately carved by Scribeguild artisans with the history of their construction and what they stand in commemoration to.

A Dwargi pup thought suited to the Scribeguild are those scholarly, artful, or well-spoken enough to wield their carefully curated language, and often those lacking the durability associated with the War, Smith, or Architects' Guilds. Low ranking trainees start with education in calligraphy, literature, magic, and other relevant topics. Graduates move on to various jobs, the most common being that of transcribers that record various official actions, censuses, judgments, supply numbers, and other daily menial knowledge. Those talented in the art of runic magic move on to further courses of instruction in magic separate from the mundane labor of scribes and poets. The Scribeguild does not have a unified industry in as do the Smithguild and Architects' Guild, but has many adjacent branches or sub-guilds that consolidate resources as the Scribeguild, to include Judges, Scribes, Magicians, and Poets. They are led by a council of Magistrates that manage these fields of collegiate arts, and these Magistrates often elect one among them as the Dean-Magistrate who oversees all functions of the Scribeguild and exemplifies their own sub-guild.

In the Outer Cosmos RPG the Scribeguild is where Dwargi Mages, Performers, Diplomats, and Scholars receive their training.

## The Hearthguild

Though perhaps the least powerful of the Guilds, the Hearthguild is still a fundamental part of maintaining Dwargi society, and is respected by their more industrious cousins. While the Architects' Guild creates the halls and houses other Dwargi dwell within, the Hearthguild and its workers make cozy, comfortable homes of those halls. They manage the Dwargi's agriculture, putting meat, vegetables, cheese, and ale on the tables of dining halls and clothes of wool and leather on the backs of all Dwargi. They clean and tidy up barracks, commons, and households across the Forgelands, and employ healers to tend to their sick and wounded. Hearthguild midwives serve as assistants in childbirth and child rearing, acting as communal nannies to the young. Though the other guilds may appear more productive and glorious, the Hearthguild's humble labor gives all workers a cozy, well-kept home to return to after a day at the forges.

Like the Scribeguild, the functions of the Hearthguild are multiple and broad, but they all have in common the housekeeping and attendance to all Dwargi workers of the Forgelands, appearing as a nurturing and motherly field of work. Pups suited for Hearthguild work are varied, and in many ways simply those not suited for any other guild. The hard working and high in stamina may enter agriculture and assist in farming vegetables and fruits, breeding Dwargi goats and processing their goods, or even hunting for wild game in parties. Others may take up healing, learning the depths of Dwargi anatomy and how to cure illness and injury. Others still may take up the humble task sanitation and cleaning, tidying up the living quarters and workshops of other guilds with prideful care. The especially nurturing may take up the task of child rearing, acting as wet-nurses and caretakers for Dwargi children while their parents tend to their own labors. All these fields possess their own separate hierarchies in the same vein as the Scribeguild, but do not have a centralizing figure in the same capacity, the chair of guildmaster occupied by the masters of each field of labor within the Hearthguild.

In the Outer Cosmos RPG, Dwargi Rangers, Healers, Merchants, and Artificers, especially cooks, learn their trade from the Hearthguild.