A collection of stories and rules which make up the basis of the Hunter's Guild. The book was created over many centuries. The modern-day version differs a lot from the first stone tablet this text was written on. During this time the text changed with translations and was regularly expanded by high-ranking guild members. Today the guild differentiates two sections.
Structure
The total book is more than 2'000 pages long. There are many variants printed and distributed. The master copy is always published by the hunter's guild own publisher.
The Guild Master Prefaces
At the beginning of the book is always a preface of the guild master. This tradition was started when the first copy was printed. And it quickly became a tradition that each guild master adds their own preface when re-publishing the book during their tenure. So each time a new guild master takes office the book becomes a bit longer with a text nobody reads. One guild master was so annoyed by this tradition that he simply used the space to write down a recipe of his grandma's chocolate cake. Once someone noticed people started bringing this cake to all kinds of events of the guild.
Historical Section
The first section contains stories, legends and myths about hunts, the purpose of the guild and the source of their power. Most hunter's simply consider this a legacy, which makes for interesting bedtime stories. However, a faction within the guild, which calls themselves the True Hunter's, considers these text sacred. They interpret the texts and use them as a basis for how a hunter should act. Within this faction, there are several undercurrents with different interpretations.
Legal Section
The second part of the book contains the legal charter of the guild. It outlines the structure, procedures and rules of the guild in great detail. It also forms the basis for regional and national branches of the guild.
I couldn't help but smile when reading about the recipe for the chocolate cake and how it became a thing at the guild meetings. Makes the sacred stuff more down to earth, and sort of more human. Is the text influenced by the Bible, or by the story of Nimrod, specifically? This is just a guess. :D I just noticed the ~4000 BCE (first written), length of ca. 2000 pages.
Thank you! Not as specifically no. I just researched a bit how old the book could be and then put a number of pages that seemed impressive :P