Character Creation Part 3

Welcome to Character Creation part 3. If you haven't already completed Character Creation part 1 or part 2 click there to complete it. Be sure to have a copy of the Character Sheet handy and be prepared to take notes.

Part 3 of character creation is joining a Guild. Your Guild is important for downtime and to unlock abilities to use passively between adventures.

## Part 3

Outpost Central is a guild hall that's easy to miss. Located just inside the walls of Alexander, the Cartographer's Guild is a log building down a gravel path, away from the main road and flanked by small oak trees. You walk through the open front door only a tweed rug are are hit with the smell of cinnamon and pine resin. In the center of the lobby is a study table surrounded by a group of scouts pouring over a map and an arrangement of empty chairs. To the left of the foyer a woman with dark red hair and dried muddy boots leans into a tall minotaur woman, who points a finger at a half-completed map tacked to the wall. As you enter their conversation halts, and the human girl pushes off her companion to greet you.

 **Bedisa:**
"Mornin', love."  She strolls over, glancing you up and down, then gestures with her head for you to come in. "I don't bite. What can I do ya for?"

 **Midohna:**
The minotaur woman eyes the paperwork in your hand. When she speaks, her voice is stoic and to the point. "We have another adventurer here to register with the guild."

 **Bedisa:**
"Just register? Or do you want a membership? We could use some new recruits."

 **Midohna:**
She inspects you briefly from a distance. "I don't see a badge or a patch. You haven't joined any guilds yet?"

 **Midohna:**
"And I see you've gotten registered. But it doesn't look like they gave you a membership." Midohna smiles. "Don't worry, that doesn't mean you missed a step. You can apply for membership at any guild at any time, as long as you pay membership fees. We can help you get whatever information you need."

 **Bedisa:**
"Registering for a guild means you get the basics that they offer. Alexander requires you to register with The League, Griffin's place, us, the Archons, the merchant's guild, and the scholar's guild."

 **Midohna:**
"Bedisa means Griffin *Inc,* we are the Cartographer's Guild, it's the Circle of Council, not a merchant's guild, and the scholars belong to the Hall of Chronicles."

 **Bedisa:**
"Oh yes, silly me. I meant the loudmouths, the necromancers in coats, the cool kids, the holy rollers, the grubby gold-fingers, and the nerds." Bedisa looks back for a reaction from Midohna, who shakes her head in disappointment. "Do you need a better explanation for who they are, or is it all clear as mud now?"

 **Midohna:**
"Let us know which guilds you're interested in joining, and we can give you more info about them."

 **Bedisa:**
"The League clams to be a guild for adventurers, but I take a little umbrage with that. What does that make us, chopped liver? They're a guild of warriors, we're a guild of explorers, and we both go on adventures."

 **Midohna:**
"We have a different focus than The League. They're tasked with raising up fighters, mages, etc in the hopes of protecting Alexander from outside threats, preferably before they get to the city gates. We both go on adventures, yes, but their goal is to stop threats, even potential threats. Ours is to learn about new people, map new areas, make sense of the amalgamation, and find the most direct path between two areas."

 **Bedisa:**
Bedisa puts a hand to the side of her mouth and whispers "Midohna's a minotaur. She's obsessed with finding the optimal path."

 **Midohna:**
"It's not because I'm a minotaur! I.. it's important to find a good route for travel, and trade, and integration."

 **Midohna:**
"When you are registered, you get to pick up bounties, form groups, go on missions, collect rewards, etc. Membership makes you a **Private**, and you can upgrade to **Sergeant**, **Corporal**, and **Captain**. If you're the highest rank, you're the leader of your expedition."

 **Bedisa:**
"Which means exactly nothing. Nobody will listen to you anyway."

 **Midohna:**
"Well... some people will. Additionally, you'll form bonds with your teammates. Some bonds are permanent, some are groupwide, and some can only be applied when you vary your group. As you progress you'll want to go on adventurers with more, different people so you can make new friends and have new experiences."

 **Bedisa:**
"And luckily new people will want to join you when you climb in rank. More, stronger bonds become available with higher ranks, and some can only be applied to party members who you didn't adventure with last time. There's good incentive to vary up your adventuring style and to welcome in new recruits."

 **Bedisa:**
"Oh, pay it no mind. It's a psych ward for creepy nerds."

 **Midohna:**
Midohna releases a heavy sigh. "Bedisa, it's a genuine question. Please excuse my wife. She's from Dargo." Bedisa laughs and sticks an elbow into Midohna's side. You doubt Midohna even felt the jab. "Griffin Inc is a corporation with roots in Salagaravine. They practice a science that grows new bodies for those who die, which is a tremendous relief for those who risk their lives on the daily. Unfortunately there's simply not enough resources to provide new bodies for everybody, and they are a for-profit organization. There's a good deal of controversy surrounding their work, but the benefit is nothing to scoff at."

 **Bedisa:**
"Hey, I'll scoff at it. I've yet to wake up in a tube of fluid and I intend to keep it that way."

 **Midohna:**
"I hope you're right, but having that assurance takes a load off of my mind." Midohna looks a little disappointed as she continues. "As someone who has died, it was well worth the price to be able to continue my work. And I look none the worse for wear."

 **Bedisa:**
"I'm not ungrateful. I'd just be a lot more grateful if they didn't bleed us of all we have even when we're not using their services."

 **Midohna:**
Anticipating a question, Midohna answers preemptivelly "As the head of the Cartographer's guild, Bedisa isn't eligible for the "League" discount. There's a monthly charge to reserve a tube, er.. growth chamber. The price of growing a body is collected up-front, and it's much higher for her. Luckily, we haven't had to pay that fee more than once."

 **Bedisa:**
Bedisa shrugs. "You get to see lifeless naked people if you're into that."

 **Midohna:**
"Please!" Midohna stifles the urge to close the distance between her face and her palm. "These are meaningful inquiries."

 **Bedisa:**
"Alrighty. You can join as a **Student**, which gives you a discount on resurrections with the promise that you'll assist with research. The discount is relative to how 'sagacious' you are. You can become an **Intern** and make minor adjustments to your own body while it's in the tank, so you come out slightly different after you die. A **Collegiate** is a student who proved they know their stuff and is authorized to make modifications to other people, at their request. You set the price for those services. And then there are those who are **Tenured**. They get to try things that are usually off-limits, since they can't be fired unless they violate a rule or get the Circle of Council involved." Bedisa smiles up at Midohna, who shrugs and nods her approval.

 **Bedisa:**
"Best. Fuckin'. Guild. For one, we're the only guild that actually calls ourselves a guild. Not a league, or a corporation, or a... geometric shape. Our mission is to explore strange new ages. To seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go wh-"

 **Midohna:**
"We're a guild for explorers. It's really as simple as that. Go out, explore the world, map what we explore, and report back so we can get a better understanding of the world."

 **Bedisa:**
Bedisa frowns and glances sidelong at her wife "Okay. You interrupted me to downplay how valuable our work is? Ya big ol' meanie! But yeah, after the amalgamation it's difficult to know where things are anymore. Any maps we used to have may as well be torn to pieces and all stitched together into one sloppy mess. You know... to match the world. We've made lots of progress, but there's always more and more, both on a macro scale and on a personal one. And with the Advent of Ages, there's so much more than just a 7 in 1 world to explore, and so many more worlds to find, explore, map, and document."

 **Midohna:**
"Oh!" Midohna looks surprised. "I'm not the only one who wasn't aware of the whole 'Amalgamation' debacle? That's a relief."

 **Bedisa:**
"Yeah, neither of us are Terran, but I was exposed to the reality of the Amalgamation years ago. It's still a bit new to Midohna. Anyway, the Advent of Ages just refers to the sudden existence of age books that came with the Amalgamation." She seems to feel like this answered your question, but her brow furrows when as she studies the look on your face. "Ya know? Like, the shuffle made all the books with the worlds inside them?"

 **Midohna:**
Midohna takes over in an attempt to simplify. "After the Amalgamation, colloquially referred to as the 'shuffle,' a lot of books suddenly appeared, tucked in various places. These books have worlds inside them. You get the book, you have access to that world. Bedisa and I are not going to claim to understand how it works at all. We leave that to the Hall of Chronicles. Their whole job is to study and categorize these books. We get to do the fun part. Our job is to explore them!"

 **Bedisa:**
"There's a lifetime of exploration just here, in the overworld. With all the ages, the amount of exploration that needs doing is exponentially increased! The opportunities for the Cartographer's guild are limitless!"

 **Midohna:**
"As are the responsibilities. We have strict edicts we must follow."

 **Bedisa:**
"Yeah, yeah. We'll get to those. But look around you at all these maps. A bunch of these are from the book worlds, called ages, and some are crazy unique. But don't just go hopping into the first age you come across! Some are straight up death traps, and others have no way out. Every time we find one, we have to take it to the Hall of Chronicles. But if they deem that there's a world to explore in those pages, that's our forte."

 **Bedisa:**
"My favorite question! When you get your membership you're considered a **Wayfarer**. Normally if you want to get money for making a map of a new area, you have to haggle with people. But as a Wayfarer, you get gold just for posting it to the public. Rank up and you're an **Explorer**. You and your adventuring party get access to Cartographer's Guild issued mounts to travel between outposts, free of charge. It will make traveling much cheaper and safer. Next you become a **Traveler**. You get to create and manage an outpost, including collecting toll from any adventuring parties that cross through. And finally a **Voyager** gets to manage their own settlement, free from the laws of the Circle of Council."

 **Midohna:**
"That sounds nice, but we have rules that guide us in how we do our exploration, especially when coming upon populations we haven't made contact with before."

 **Bedisa:**
"Do not provide new technology to any native people you interact with. Do not influence their governing bodies or impose any of your own. Do not offer to remove a person from their native culture or people, though they may follow you if they ask to and are aware they cannot return. Do not introduce the concept of ages to any culture who has not discovered it themselves, and do not bring any native people from their age to our world. And do what you are capable of to prevent others from doing any of the above actions as well."

 **Midohna:**
"I know, that sounds pretty hands-off, but trust me, there will be times when you really want to break a number of those rules." Midohna's tone is very serious and her eyes downcast as she continues. "Alexander is a wonderful, beautiful city. But it's just one city. Open any single floodgate and the scales will irrevocably tip. We hope that some day there will be resources enough that we can take refugees from tyrannical places, but there's a lot of work to do before we can."

 **Bedisa:**
"For the most part, we just need to let people deal with their own problems." Bedisa maintains a mostly cheerful attitude, but even her mood seems to have dipped. "Them's the rules. I mean, I've got family that I'd love to bring here to Alexander. But my people have isolationist policies. I made the decision for myself to explore where I did, and if any of them want to live here they'll have to make that decision for themselves. If I convinced any of them to come *here?* I would cause a schism that would tear my home village apart completely. You never know how true that is for other groups of people either. That's why we have these rules. Good intentions can have disastrous consequences, for everyone."

 **Midohna:**
"Despite how much changed 5 years ago, each culture feels they've had the same equilibrium that existed before the Amalgamation. That's why we have to take action when our rules are violated. Shaking up that equilibrium is always too dangerous."

 **Bedisa:**
"BY THE WAY, SOMA HAS NO IDEA IF THE PERKS FOR THE CARTOGRAPHER'S GUILD ARE ANY GOOD WHATSOEVER, SO FEEL FREE TO CHIP IN IF YOU HAVE BETTER IDEAS!"

 **Bedisa:**
"You know how all the gods disappeared in the Amalgamation?" She sees your face and hurries on before any questions can be asked.  "Well the Archons are responsible for finding their remnants so that adventurers can mantle them. With practice and hard work you can grow your affinity with a given mantle, and switch out any time you're in Alexander."

 **Midohna:**
"You don't have to rely solely on your own strength. When the gods faded to myth, they left behind the the means to channel their power, skill, and might. To keep things simple, we refer to these gods by their job in the pantheon. When you take on that power we sometimes call that mantling, but whichever one you choose we call your job. The Archons are responsible for managing which jobs are available to use."

 **Bedisa:**
"It's pretty neat. Ever want to be able to throw a ball of fire at an enemy? Take the Black Mage job. Wanna beat a monster with your fists? Take the Monk job. Want an animal companion to scout the area around you? Become a ranger."

 **Midohna:**
"Personally I find I have success with the more martial jobs. I'm currently using the Warrior job, and upon being registered with the Archons you'll be given access to Warrior and 5 other jobs for free."

 **Bedisa:**
"Warriors are versatile combatants, Monks use their fists and meditation, Thieves are excellent at stealing, Black Mages cast elemental spells, White Mages heal, and Red Mages are a bit of a catch-all. I usually go about as a Scout, but you have to be a member to mantle that job." Bedisa pauses a moment, considering her words "Okay, I'll admit. The Archons are a pretty okay guild too."

 **Midohna:**
"As you study with the Archons, you'll become an **Expert**, and learn to be able to keep a Flip job. With that, you can take extra jobs with you when you leave and change which one you're mantling on the fly. Later you'll learn to mantle 2 or more jobs at once and be considered a **Gestalt**. Once you become an **Artisan** you'll be able to craft gear that grants you partial power of a job even when you're not mantling it. And finally, a **Paragon** can form a job of their own for others to mantle."

 **Bedisa:**
"BY THE WAY, SOMA THINKS THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE TO THIS SECTION, SO MORE MIGHT COME LATER. BUT MAYBE NOT!"

 **Midohna:**
"Why do you keep doing that?"

 **Bedisa:**
"Idk."

 **Bedisa:**
"You know the saying money can't buy happiness? Well that's all it can't buy. And if you have lots of money you get to make all the rules."

 **Midohna:**
"Hmm... I sense no bitterness whatsoever in that description."

 **Bedisa:**
"Hey, I said it can't buy happiness. Never said it couldn't inspire animosity. Though I was never a fan of obeying royalty either. At least you can theoretically join the Circle regardless of heraldry."

 **Midohna:**
"The city is named after its emperor, Alexander. As a god, Alexander disappeared during the Amalgamation, which of course left a power vacuum. With so many Terrans in the city, the vacuum was filled quickly, though not by any royal lineage. Instead, a parliament was formed by those with the most assets."

 **Bedisa:**
"All that gold lying around, and no one ruling to enforce their right to protect it. So they decided they get to rule everything. Because they're rich."

 **Midohna:**
"It's not all bad. Several on the Circle are, or have been, adventurers themselves. And seats are changed with some regularity. That means there is room for advancement and their rulings are generally favorable to us.

 **Bedisa:**
"Soma's a big dummy poo poo head who hasn't really come up with perks for the circle of council, so I guess you're shit outta luck."

 **Midohna:**
"Who is this person you keep talking about?"

 **Bedisa:**
"I just said. A big dummy poo poo head. What do you want from me?"

 **Midohna:**
"I'm thinking something like you get a discount on certain goods, or access to masterwork weapons. Later you get a retainer who can sell excess goods. Something else that would be really cool, idfk. And then last step you join the Circle itself and become a member of parliament."

 **Bedisa:**
"The last guild is the Hall of Chronicles. Well, it's a library more than a guild. The circle of Council requires they put some restrictions on the study of the age books, so it does have ranks just like the other guilds."

 **Midohna:**
"The hall of chronicles keeps the age books that are found and studies them. There's a very complicated language used in the writing of the ages, and the sages want to learn the language and study the books."

 **Bedisa:**
"So if you have a god complex that's the guild for you."

 **Midohna:**
"Not really. Like our Cartographer's Guild, the Hall of Chronicles has strict guidelines for how their study must be carried out. That's why Age books are collected, categorized, and organized."

 **Bedisa:**
"I consider their studies to be above my pay grade. You'll have to ask them if you want more details."

 **Bedisa:**
"Now that I *can* answer. With enough study, you become a **Reader,** and you can read the books to get a small, basic understanding of what the age is like. Once you become a **Linker** you know the art of making age books well enough that you can create a link between ages. You can't write new books, but you can write links that lead to the ages you visit. As a **Sage** you know the art well enough that you can make alterations to the books. You're only allowed to do so if it's necessary to keep the age from being destroyed. And the **Arch-sage** is someone who knows how to write an age into existence."

 **Midohna:**
"Nothing about this work is less than incredibly dangerous. It's not allowed to alter a book that has inhabitants, or to write one with inhabitants. The circle also disallows certain substances to be extracted from ages that could harm the economy."

 **Midohna:**
"Once you finish getting registered, you'll be granted a rank 1 membership in one guild. After that, becoming a member has a registration cost."

 **Bedisa:**
"Upgrading your rank in any guild costs money if you think about it. Sure, some of them have direct costs, but for most guilds, such as ours, it's not a matter of spending gold directly. But you'll still have to spend the same amount of gold to keep up your expenses while you dedicate yourself to increasing your rank."

"So. Do you know what guild you want to spend your free membership on?"

> Choose 1 guild to progress to rank 1 in for free. You can upgrade your membership in guilds later on by spending gold. Your guild rank is on the Downtime side of your character sheet. Make sure you have it written down before continuing.
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Next up is a trip to the Temple of the Eikons, but first let's do the Character Creation Intermission.

survival, sagacity, guile and prestige?