Lead Longshoreman
It was my third year of being a messenger for the Guild. It's funny, because I had never really been a good Longshoreman, but the guild hates hiring people that aren't indebted to them in some manner. So, they made me a messenger instead of someone that deals with actually repairing ships. Really a "Longshoreman" in name only, but I'm getting off topic. So, the third year of my being a messenger, I was heading up north and got a ride with the Caelfoc, nice guys. Made my way into that port westerly of Moldatun and made my way to the docks, you have to remember that the docks of any place are huge. Especially those docks of a port city. Ships coming and going, people coming and going Longshoremen up down all around. Well, I asked around, because I had to deliver the letter to one of the masters on the docks, and I got passed along by dockies and sailors alike to this commanding presence. He was imposing and well-built, but small. Really a juxtaposition of views that little man. However, he was clearly a Longshoreman of renown. Talking like he was to a dozen men at once with careful application of speech and eye contact to all. He saw me coming a mile away, and when I had reached calling distance noted me out. Of course, I tried to deliver the letter. This man wouldn't have that. He looked like, acted like, and damn if the lesser knowns didn't think him a master. He set me right that day and left an impression hard to forget. I later found out that the little gnome named Arvenhale had barely just been promoted to a Lead I'd never have guessed.The Lead Longshoreman is the final rank for most members of the Longshore guild. These are the guildmembers that make up the backbone of experience that guides and defines the majority of the guild. They continue to personally work on ships and around sailors, but they command the respect of sea folk in a way that the lower ranked members rarely do. When a Longshoreman makes a ruling, oftentimes a captain or dockmaster will attempt to overrule them with logic or merely by battering them with words. When a Lead makes a ruling, it's the rare day that any argument is attempted against it. This means that the Lead Longshoreman is the workhorse of the Guild, with the majority of members finding their way into this position after they've worked as a Longshoreman for ten years.
To Become a Lead Longshoreman
The base requirements of becoming an Lead Longshoreman are simple.
A Lead Longshoreman has trained at least five Apprentices into fully-fledged Longshoreman, but the difference here is that at least one of those Longshoremen has reached the rank of Trained Longshoreman. This is where the ability to teach and bring new talent into the Guild becomes more appreciated.
This altered requirement is to verify that the Longshoreman is positively impacting the profession by schooling new Longshoreman that have also gone on to increase the guild's quality as a whole. This means that a Longshoreman that does not dedicate himself to the craft of training motivated dock workers into quality Longshoremen will never reach the higher levels of the Guild.
To Be a Lead Longshoreman
The Lead Longshoreman has to see the dock as an extension of themselves. A Lead Longshoreman is generally expected to be training an apprentice, offering advice to the lower ranks, looking for a Master Longshoreman to apprentice them, and still manage to lead teams of dock workers in the act of fixing multiple broken or damaged ships every day. Generally the Lead Longshoreman won't be subjected to the dull-drum of the usual needs. Unloading, Basic Maintenance, etc can all be left to regular Longshoremen, unfortunately, that does mean that the teams under a Lead Longshoreman will often be some of the hardest worked groups in the dock they work at.
Type
Professional
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