Colors: Yellow and White
Current Guild Leader: Malletus Ingot, The Barrister’s Order
Requirements to Join: Literacy, apprenticeship of one year
Requirements of Membership: Must maintain membership in an Order of the Scribe’s Guild
Majority Composition: Scribes, historians, barristers
Minority Composition: Mages
On the Guild Council?: Yes

Originally, the Order of the Scribe was a part of the Mage’s Guild dedicated to those people who did not study magic, but performed other important social functions for which a mage was useful, but often not present. These functions included things such as reading and writing, the interpreting of documents both magical and mundane, and the education of the general populace. As Torodan became increasingly more civilized, however, the practice of being a scribe evolved into different professions, such as barristers, literary writers, historians, and printing presses. This became doubly true when the general population of Torodan began learning to read and write, a greater percentage of the population being blessed with literacy in each passing year. Eventually, traditional “scribes” ended up being substituted out of the Order, and the Order evolved into a separate Guild. These days, the Scribe’s Guild has few actual “scribes” in it, those few being members of the Guild but rarely of any specific Order, and consists mostly of the professions which evolved from that of the scribe.

As the Scribe’s Guild prides itself as a Guild of learning, all members of the Guild of the Scribe receive an equal vote, the elected members serving 10-year terms with the possibility of reinstatement, so that they might be capable of enacting long-term plans and strategies. This system works its way from the level of Chapterhead to the level of Guild Leader, and is the basis of all activity in the Scribe’s Guild. In many cases, a chapterhouse might exist that has less than a half-a-dozen people working in it, and in these cases the voting is incredibly simple, with a few chapterhouses having only single members that maintain a historical archive of some sort.

Politically, the Scribe’s Guild has powerful friends, but many enemies. The Scribe’s Guild was created through the Mage’s Guild, and a strong connection exists between the two, to the point where some believe the Scribe’s Guild to be the Mage’s Guild’s “extra vote.” As the Mage’s Guild often “leaks” information to the Scribe’s Guild after a particularly important vote goes their way, and the Mage’s Guild seeks to make certain that the Scribe’s Guild is always on the Guild Council, the Scribe’s Guild has earned many who dislike it. Other than the Mage’s Guild, the Knight’s Guild is also in favor of the Scribe’s Guild for rendering services to its members, and members of the Order of the Servant are often hired to take care of the cleaning of some of the older libraries, leading to a good working relationship between the two Guilds.

The Barrister’s Order

Symbol: A yellow parchment on a white field
Current Order Leader: Claude Garret
Requirements to Join: Must pass the barrister’s examination
Requirements of Membership: Must maintain a practice of law

Of all of the Orders of the Scribe’s Guild, the Barrister’s Order is perhaps the most accessible to the people. When the High Church, in charge of the courts, tries a party of guilt or innocence in a crime, the Barrister’s Order is often called upon to defend the client, but rarely to prosecute them. In cases where a person cannot afford to hire a barrister (who typically charge about 2-10 gold/trial, depending on their reputation) a public defender is called in. Public defenders within the same city get 6 sp/trial from the church, but can sometimes get as much as 4-6 trials/day if they do their job well and work with the church properly, while public defenders from outside the city (typically only called upon if a city is without access to a defender itself) earn 1 gold/trial. Respected professionals all, the Barrister’s Order is known to work well with all of the people of Torodan and is appreciated, by the innocent as well as the guilty, for defending any and all who are put before the church, and the law, with crimes to answer for.

The Writer’s Order

Symbol: A black quill on a white field with yellow trim
Current Order Leader: Gaeli Minder
Requirements to Join: Must submit a novel or thesis for review
Requirements of Membership: 2 gold/year membership fee

While some members of the Writer’s Order keep the practice of being a scribe, transcribing letters and reading notices to those without literacy, and a few scroll-makers who peddle scrolls to the market, the Writer’s Order consists mostly of authors, who write novels for the people of Torodan to enjoy, as well as texts on all sorts of arts. To ensure that its members are truly working, a hard feat for an Order such as this, the Writer’s Order enforces a 2 gold/year membership fee, and potential members must submit a novel or thesis for review by the Order. Despite this, many of the members of this Order have been deemed creative, intelligent lay-a-bouts, who do nothing and add nothing to the world around them. Combined with the strict monetary and education requirements set forward by the Writer’s Order, it has managed to maintain its status as one of the smaller Orders in all of Torodan.

The Order of History

Symbol: A brown book on a white field with yellow trim
Current Order Leader: Jackrin Odler, Keeper of the Torodan Royal Library
Requirements to Join: Must pass a historical review
Requirements of Membership: Must maintain work in a historical archive for at least 8 months out of the year or submit a thesis paper at least once per year

Librarians, historians, and researchers form the Order of History, which maintains the historical archives and public libraries of Torodan. Unlike the other Orders in the Scribe’s Guild, there are no elections for the Order Leader of the Order of History. 27 years ago, the Order of History got into its charge the Torodan Royal Library, originally maintained by the Mage’s Guild, and 16 years ago the Order of History unanimously voted that whomever is the keeper of said library, with its massive archive, would be the leader of the Order. Since that day, the decision has gone uncontested, although it is impossible to say how future members of the Order will take to the decisions of their forefathers.

The Order of the Press

Symbol: A white parchment on a yellow field
Current Order Leader: Gorin Farvik
Requirements to Join: Must be apprenticed in the operation of a printing press
Requirements of Membership: Must maintain work at a printing press operation for at least 8 months out of the year

The newest Order of the Scribe’s Guild, only dating back 49 years, the Order of the Press engages in the massive publication and distribution of literature to the people of Torodan. Receiving funding from the High Church, the Mage’s Guild, and many public contributors, the Order of the Press has caused the literacy rate within Torodan to sky-rocket, causing it to become one of the more popular Orders in Torodan. Despite this, it has become increasingly less popular, and subsequently getting less funding, from the Mage’s Guild. This is because many of its members espouse that all information should be given freely and openly to the public, with many within certain Orders of the Mage’s Guild stating that there are certain truths that the public does not need to know and is not ready for. Though the two rarely butt heads on the issue, it has become an increasingly hot topic as more and more of Torodan becomes enthralled with the Order of the Press and fewer and fewer rely on the Mage’s Guild for information.