Colors: Red and Black
Current Guild Leader: General Elmon Duran, Order of the Red Blade
Requirements to Join: 1 gold initiation fee
Requirements of Membership: Must maintain good standing in their Order and pay dues as appropriate to their Order.
Majority Composition: none, though humans are prevalent
Minority Composition: non-humans
On the Guild Council?: No

The Adventurer’s Guild of Torodan is perhaps the easiest organization to join. Having streamlined the process of becoming a citizen, many members can join rather quickly, having little to lose and a lot to gain from the organization. The Adventurer’s Guild has listings for adventuring groups in the area looking for new members, for problems the townsfolk, church, or guilds have been having, as well as a wealth of information on opportunities, many of which have been cleared out but some of which still occasionally bare fruit. The Adventurer’s Guild is ruled democratically, but positions in the guild last for life and only ‘members in good-standing’ who have been registered in a region for at least a year can vote in matters pertaining to that region, with similar restrictions applying to matters within the Orders, provinces, and the organization as a whole.

To be a ‘member in good standing,” there are three qualifications. The first is to pay a higher membership fee, adding that of 10 gold/year to one’s Order dues, to be a registered member within an Order, and to not have been blacklisted for illegal actions or actions against the guild. A check is always done with the high church and the Order Leader on these matters before voting privileges can be approved, but some of the immediate benefits are immediately reaped. They provide members-in-good-standing with housing, food, and training grounds/job support within their chapter, and if a member is known to be arriving these benefits often extend to other areas. For an extra fee, (5 gold per person) they will provide weapon repair, workspace, research areas, and anything else the local chapter can offer.

While the Adventurer’s Guild does not specifically require that one join an Order, the benefits of joining the guild without one are fairly slim. The Orders of the Adventurer’s Guild are the portions that provide connections to other Adventurer’s, and without an Order one also is without a Rank, and thus cannot obtain jobs through the Adventurer’s Guild. The maximum Rank within a given Order is 30, with only the Order Leader having said rank. 2 people may have Rank 29, 4 may have Rank 28, 10 may have Rank 27, 20 may have Rank 26, and 50 may have Rank 25. Lower than Rank 25, any number of people may have a Rank. While Order Leaders are technically elected, the potential candidates only come from those of Rank 29 or higher. Note that not all Order’s Ranks are equal, the “Blade Orders” having stricter requirements for higher rank.

(OOP Note: To quickly determine how Rank and level relate, for the Order of the Sword, Staff, Mace, and Dagger, take the person’s Rank and add 2 to get their estimated level, or take their level and subtract 2 to get their Rank. For the Order of the White Blade, take the person’s Rank and add 12 to get their estimated level, or subtract 12 from their level to gain their estimated rank. For the Order of the Red or Black Blade, take the person’s Rank and add 14 to get their estimated level, or subtract 14 from their level to gain their estimated rank. Note that these numbers are the average, and by no means reflect on the whole of the Guild, but should be handy in determining how they relate and/or the difficulty of Guild missions.)

For a long time, the adventurer’s guild always had a member on the Guild Council, and actually had the first woman on the Council, as well as the first non-human on the council. (an elf) In recent years, however, the Adventurer’s Guild was replaced with the Miner’s Guild, and has not yet regained a position. The Adventurer’s Guild is on good relations with the Bard’s Guild, Knight’s Guild, and the Healer’s Guild, and allows all three guilds to have ‘honorarium membership,’ to anyone of Chapterhead rank or higher, as well as anyone who pays the 5 gold regional yearly fee. The Innkeeper’s, Merchant’s, and Smith’s Guilds are on good terms with adventurers, who they sell to and buy from frequently, although other guilds (and sometimes the Innkeeper’s Guild) get perturbed if there have been excessive instances of adventurers responsible for property damage.

The Order of the Sword

Symbol: A grey sword on a black field with a red border
Current Order Leader: Brigadier General Aegis Farins
Requirements to Join: 2 gold processing and testing fee, the ability to use a bladed weapon with skill
Requirements of Membership: 1 gold x rank yearly dues

For those who wish to join the Adventurer’s Guild, the Order of the Sword is by far the easiest to join. While the other three entry guilds require special skills that many people do not have access to training for, the Order of the Sword only requires that its members know how to use bladed weapons proficiently. Beyond this, however, the guild has as stringent requirements for itself as any other guild. To gain a Rank of 2, one must be able to not only wield bladed weapons, but also be able to wield one with skill, striking for more vital areas with every blow. For the third ranking, one must have learned at least one of the following arts: Breaking weapons, disarming weapons, stunning opponents, or performing a close parry on oneself or one’s allies. For the fourth ranking, one must be capable of maiming opponent’s limbs with a single hit, or striking a blow hard enough to kill a normal man. For the fifth ranking, one must be able to perform a strike so lethal, that one’s opponent will fall with but another swing. And for the sixth ranking, one must deal a blow that would kill any with whom it connects. The guild automatically raises the ranking of a person upon proving him or herself worthy of a task, even if they do not show proficiency in a lower art. The Order of the Blade will raise the rank of a person by one. After Rank 7, all orders within the guild require tasks to be undertaken to raise one’s rank, with the tasks necessary getting progressively harder and harder. With higher rank comes higher dues, but the amount earned from the more advanced missions in the guild more than make up for it for their members.

The Order of the Staff

Symbol: A brown staff on a black field with a red border
Current Order Leader: Brigadier General Tyrella Kael, Mage of Flame
Requirements to Join: 2 gold processing and testing fee, the ability to use magic spells and scrolls
Requirements of Membership: 1 gold x rank yearly dues

While the Order of the Staff is known for its help using magic in wartime, the Order has never had a large membership. Many of its members are rank 4 or below, and it has almost no members above rank 12. Those members who reach rank 10 or higher are quickly picked up by either the Order of the Red Blade, the Order of the White Blade, or the Order of the Black Blade as soon as they meet the requirements, and many members enter the Order of the Staff for easy training and then join the Mage’s Guild for the opportunities in power and research that they provide. On top of this, there has been bad blood between the Order of the Tome, which holds considerable power in the Mage’s Guild, and the Order of the Staff, as Brigadier General Kael does not get along well with her older brother, Order Leader Harlin Kael. To enter the Order of the Staff, one must have the ability to read scrolls, though not necessarily the ability to use them yet. To get to Rank 2 in the Order, one must have the ability to use apprentice-level magic. To get to Rank 3, one must have the ability to detect magical powers in the world around them. For Rank 4, one must have the ability to use journeyman-level magic spells. To obtain Rank 5, the ability to dispel magical effects is necessary, and to obtain Rank 6, the ability to cast master-level spells in magic is necessary. To get to Rank 7, the ability to call upon the greater magical powers is necessary. For Ranks 8 and beyond, the Order requires that you complete missions in Order to gain higher Rank, with the same privileges and responsibilities as come with those of other Orders.

The Order of the Mace

Symbol: A grey mace on a black field with a red border
Current Order Leader: Brigadier General Forson Linds, Cleric of Fiera
Requirements to Join: 2 gold processing and testing fee, the ability to call upon the divine power of a deity other than Rend
Requirements of Membership: 1 gold x rank yearly dues

With many connections to the High Church, the Order of the Mace allows for its members to be a part of the High Church as well, but due to church regulations only those of Headmaster status or lower can be members of the Order. Nonetheless, many clerics who did not choose their paths as children join the Order of the Mace in their early years. Later on, most either give up fighting and join the Order of the Rose, or renounce their connection to the guilds when the opportunity to become a Priest comes. To enter the Order of the Mace, one must have the ability to call upon the power of their god in some form. To get to Rank 2 in the Order, one must have the ability to use apprentice-level prayers. To get to Rank 3, one must have the ability to use a minor ritual of faith. For Rank 4, one must have the ability to use journeyman-level prayers. To obtain Rank 5, the ability to perform 2 divine rituals per day is necessary, and to obtain Rank 6, the ability to cast master-level holy prayers is necessary. To get to Rank 7, one must be able to call upon the powers of the divine three times per day, and must also be able to call forth a gate to other planes. For Ranks 8 and beyond, the Order requires that you complete missions in Order to gain higher Rank, with the same privileges and responsibilities as come with those of other Orders.

The Order of the Dagger

Symbol: Two crossed daggers on a black field with a red border
Current Order Leader: Admiral Tel’ook-chra, Fox Shamani
Requirements to Join: 2 gold processing and testing fee, sponsorship
Requirements of Membership: 1 gold x rank yearly dues

The spies, saboteurs, support men, scouts, and information specialists of the Adventurer’s Guild all originate in the Order of the Dagger. Interestingly enough, the Order does not have the same requirements as other Orders, which have a tiered progression. In the Order of the Dagger, you start at Rank 1 when you enter, and gain Ranks, to a maximum of 7, through being able to do one of each of a list of abilities. For Ranks 8 and beyond, the Order requires that you complete missions in Order to gain higher Rank, with the same privileges and responsibilities as come with those of other Orders. Note that all abilities stack with each other, and each is worth one rank. The list of abilities is as follows:

1. The ability to set traps, use poisons, and pick locks
2. The ability to disguise oneself as a member of another race
3. The ability to use more than one weapon at a single time
4. The ability to successfully fool a blinded instructor into thinking a dagger blow is a sword blow
5. The ability to successfully strike a target in such a way that the next blow they take will incapacitate them
6. The ability to successfully identify the proper points to completely incapacitate a target through attacking, and how armor affects the availability of these areas
7. The ability to dodge arrows and packets at the very last second
8. The ability to survive an explosive blast
9. The ability to create traps
10. The ability to create poisons
11. The ability to find an insider inside of any of the guilds of Torodan
12. The ability to temporarily strengthen a bow
13. The ability to create Death Gas Poison
14. The ability to create traps with a radius of 20 feet or more
15. The ability to find an independent crime zone
16. The ability to refit heavy plate mail
17. The ability to create a half-dozen or more Death Gas Poisons in a single day
18. The ability to create traps with a radius of 50 feet or more
19. The ability to find a black market broker
20. The ability to create a bow, arrow, fletching, to improve the bowstring to penetrate armor and stick into flesh, at least 9 times/day

The Order of the Black Blade

Symbol: A black sword on a red field
Current Order Leader: General Palis Trines
Requirements to Join: Sponsorship, Rank 12 or higher in another Order
Requirements of Membership: 5 gold x rank yearly dues

The first of the Blade Orders, I could find almost no information on the Order of the Black Blade. The official purpose of the Order of the Black Blade is, “to secure the interests of Torodan’s government within it’s borders.” Rumor has it that the Black Blade is associated with everything from assassination to conspiracies against the High Church to vigilante justice to smuggling. Not one of these rumors could be substantiated. They have offices in many of the Adventurer’s Guild holdings, and members of Order of the Black Blade officially have the right to pose as members of other Orders in the Adventurer’s Guild, even appearing on official rosters. That was all of the information that could be gathered on the Black Blades.

The Order of the Red Blade

Symbol: A red sword on a black field
Current Order Leader: Lieutenant General Eric Throns
Requirements to Join: Sponsorship, Rank 12 or higher in another Order
Requirements of Membership: 5 gold x rank yearly dues

In stark contrast to the Order of the Black Blade, I could find large amounts of information on the Order of the Red Blade. Much of what I found were substantiated with tons of evidence to back it up. I wished to include that information in the report here, but it appears that for each piece of information I found, I found another piece of information that contradicted the first piece. Much of this contradictory evidence was substantiated, with tons of evidence to back it up. It seems that the Order of the Red Blade is in charge of, “securing the interests of Torodan’s government outside of it’s borders,” and that there is some sort of ongoing competition between it and the Order of the Black Blade, possibly for membership, power, or prestige, but all of the information found was suspect.

The Order of the White Blade

Symbol: A white blade on a red-dexter black field
Current Order Leader: Major General Vienna Mason, Cleric of Sond
Requirements to Join: Sponsorship, Rank 10 or Higher in another Order
Requirements of Membership: 2 gold x rank yearly dues

Unlike its two sister Orders, the Order of the White Blade is a very straightforward Order. The job of members of the Order of the White Blade is to assist the High Church in the defense of Torodan, providing a strong-arm and high-powered support for situations that require them. Membership of the Order of the White Blade consists of sheriffs, bounty hunters, and investigators, all ex-adventurers, who seek the worst criminals in Torodan, hunting them down to be prosecuted by church officials. Unlike its sister Orders, the White Blades pay far less for membership in this illustrious Order, and its members earn 75% of the bounties that they collect, providing the Order with a regular supply of funds. Unfortunately, due to its connections with the church, the Order of the White Blade walks a tightrope. On one hand, if member step too far in their duty of upholding the law, they are infringing on the authority of the High Church, and on the other hand, if they only follow the church, they are not taken seriously within the guilds. And all the while they are most often blamed if something goes wrong during a criminal investigation. All of this combines into a life that would be difficult even for the most apt investigators.