The Adventurer's Guild

The Adventurer's Guild is a nominally stateless organization that accepts all comers from all races and walks of life. They gather together with one singular aim, seek adventure.

At least nominally. In reality the lowest rankers are little better than the doers of odd jobs.

'Go find x number of herb' or 'deliver this package safely to x person in x city'. It's enough to discourage many lower rank adventurers from going further in the profession.

The more talented and experienced adventurers may serve as scouts, VIP body guards, explore ruins, hunt down monsters, search for lost items, and explore the unknown.

The insignia of the adventurer's guild is 'The Wandering Knight' represented in wooden engravings as a knight walking with a stick over his shoulder and a bag of his goods hanging from the end of the stick. Aiko on seeing this, refers to the mascot as 'Hobo Knight'.

The guild ranking system is based off of the total number of teeth a gear has, (seventeen teeth to a gear) making for a total number of seventeen ranks, not counting the zero.

'Toothless' is the lowest rank, it is zero, your rank is indicated by a gear with hollow 'teeth'. After you complete your first job, no matter how minor, under the eyes of an observer with more experience, usually somebody near retirement, you gain the first rank.

Rank One. Thereafter, your rank is referred to simply by the number's one through sixteen, and on the attainment of the seventeenth rank, you are referred to by the rank:

Full Gear.

The means to rank up is by performing jobs, the more difficult the job, the higher the pay, and the more money you make for the guild, the higher your rank will rise.

Thus a person could spend many years doing small, safe jobs, and eventually gain a Full Gear rank, or they could take ever more difficult jobs and rank up faster. However the former is relatively rare, and most choose to take more risks as they gain more experience.

Once a person has reached the rank of Full Gear, they are expected to spend some time as a trainer and appraiser of new adventurers, usually a year or three, after which they can retire to an easy job as a receptionist or in some logistical or administrative role.

Guild members who are injured on the job are treated by the guild as long as the injury was not attained while attempting an unlawful act, as unlawful quests are prohibited by guild regulations. If a guildmember is crippled in such a way that they can no longer adventure, they will receive a pension from the coffers and be retired into as useful a position as they can undertake.

The guild takes a percentage of every quest completed, roughly ten percent, after which all remaining funds are distributed to the party members who complete the work.

How payment is determined is in this way:

The client offers a reward, the guild receptionist (always a retired Full Gear) appraises the difficulty level and if the client's reward is insufficient, the receptionist will demand more. If the client refuses the quoted amount, the quest will be refused and a notice will be sent to other guilds with their recommendation and refusal, this prevents 'guild shopping' by those who pay too cheaply for jobs.

If the client accepts the recommended sum, the job is posted on the board. A receptionist may refuse to allow somebody to take a job whose rating is three ranks higher than the highest one a guild member has performed, thus keeping the lower ranks from throwing their lives away needlessly. However, assuming the proper rank and experience is met, the receptionist will confirm the job and leave it to the guild member to carry it out.

If the party fails, the quest goes back on the board with a note to see the receptionist for details on the previous party's failure and/or demise in order to better prepare the next party for success.

Guild quests *must* be completed by a party no smaller than three and no more than *six* except in very special circumstances. For example, to slay a nest of goblin bandits, a party of six might be fine, a party of two would not be, but if there is a fort with many goblin brigands, then multiple parties may be assigned at once, however with a commensurate reward increase to ensure that the cooperating parties were not stiffed on their work.

Small parties are prohibited because the danger is such on even common jobs like herb gathering, that ensuring safe return trumps profit. Parties of four are the norm because it is possible to divide rewards equally and such a party number allows a good deal of diversity in skills.

Note that the Adventurer's Guild members are not mercenaries, and may not take on direct combat roles, nor may they engage in battle against others of the guild even during wartime, they are considered 'exempt' from national service in every country due to the utility of their specialized skills. Only rank zero may be conscripted, and this was only done because after the formation of the guild and the exemption, many people registered for the guild, paying the fee to be listed, while never doing any quests, thus buying their way out of service.

The richest of the rich are still known to do this, creating do nothing quests with high rewards in order to get a high rank for themselves. However the guild also requires that people do a certain number of quests annually, one at least, for the highest ranks, more for the lower, in order to retain active membership and justify exemption.

The wealthy avoid this problem by taking on a job of 'sufficient level' and then usually outsourcing the job to mercenaries or other specialists to complete the work, thus keeping their status.

While guild members have a dim view of the play acting of the rich, the exceptional amount of funding the guild receives by way of these play acting cowardly nobles, and the completion of large projects at no cost to the public, is considered a worthwhile tradeoff. Such nobles however, are never offered a retirement pension or employment as they are deemed to have 'gamed the system' for personal reasons.

Occasionally a noble however, will fall in love with guild life and adventure, leave their title behind, if not their wealth, and may become genuinely renowned for their skills.