The Guild of Matchmakers
Because of their ability to connect with human souls, many Asirim have the ability to work as matchmakers. The process involves reading the soul of someone looking for a relationship of any kind, and filtering through the Mist, the realm where all human souls connect, until they find the soul they feel, on a professional level, is most compatible to the desires of the customer. They then relay general information about that person and contact them on the customer's behalf to potentially initiate a relationship of some form.
Due to the risk of abuse within this trade, and a history of just that, it is heavily regulated.
Structure
The guild is managed by a committee of six matchmakers who have been in the guild for a minimum of ten years. This committee is elected every two years, with each of the six members being chosen from different areas of Nairiume. The main center of the guild is in Solaris, and matchmakers in other parts of the country typically meet together informally.
Any Asir with matchmaking skills may apply to join the guild. In order to be licensed they must apprentice for at least one year with another licensed matchmaker to learn all aspects of the trade beyond simply the magical component. They will then be tested by the committee in Solaris. Passing the test grants the applicant a license, which must be re-approved every five years by the committee in Solaris. For the first five years the new matchmaker is encouraged to work closely with the matchmaker they apprenticed to, so it can be assured that they are following the trade properly. After this time, they may go anywhere in the country, or even abroad if they wish. Those who fail the first test may continue as an apprentice for another year and try again. Two failures will deny them a license.
Being granted a license also earns the matchmaker their mark, a heart tattoo on the back of their right hand. When the license is re-approved every five years, they gain another, slightly smaller tattoo of the same design on the same hand. If their license is revoked temporarily for any reason, a single dot is added to the hand instead, which will be turned into a heart if the matchmaker earns their license back. A permanently revoked license will result in a large X across the entire hand. Anyone caught practicing matchmaking with these makes of a revoked license can be arrested and fined, and those found practicing without a license while not in an apprenticeship will also be arrested and fined.
Culture
All matchmakers within the guild are committed to ensuring only licensed matchmakers are able to practice the trade, as it looks badly on all of them if people attempt to take advantage of the matchmaking profession and those who simply want to find love.
All matchmakers are also genuinely concerned with ensuring good outcomes for their customers. While not all matchmaking work is guaranteed to succeed, matchmakers work hard to ensure they are giving their customers accurate information. They also follow standard pricing models so as to always make their work accessible to those who need it.
They also do not give exact locations of the potential match to any customer. This is to protect the privacy of the match. While it is likely that the match will be a good one for those involved, some find it overwhelming or uncomfortable to be contacted too directly. Instead, they send an official letter on the customer's behalf to potentially initiate the relationship, whatever it may be.
Public Agenda
The Guild of Matchmakers works hard to spread public awareness about matchmaking, making sure the public knows to avoid scams and to only work with matchmakers who are licensed by the guild. They also offer a way for the public to complain about unlicensed matchmakers so that they can be dealt with.
History
The Matchmakers' Guild was started at the direction of Queen Olabisi, who had become concerned by repeated reports of people claiming they could pair someone's soul with a perfect match. While this is an ability not uncommon among the Asirim, most of those advertising this service were not Asirim at all. Further examination and questioning of supposed matchmatchers showed that most were merely taking payment from customers and giving meaningless answers.
During the investigation of these complaints, matchmaking was made illegal for a time. Hurting from not being able to earn an income from their legitimate skills, Asir matchmakers petitioned the queen's court to allow it again, but she required the Asirim to create a means of regulating the matchmaking business before she would allow it to be legalized again. The guild was then established and approved by the queen, and the process of licensing matchmakers began.