Martial Guild
The Martial Guild is a guild of mercenaries, adventurers, and heroes who accept missions and bounties to further their own fame and the guild's interests. It originally welcomed all adventurers, however it has since become more focused on those focused on improving their fame and skill with weaponry. Magic users who rely on it as their primary form of spellcasting are discouraged from joining, however they are not outright banned. If they can prove mastery in some form of weapon, they may be allowed in as an exception. There are currently Guild locations in every major city on the continent of Veland, and even some smaller locations in other hotspots of activity for missions. There are thousands of members, although very few ever live long enough to truly become legends.
Founding
The Guild in the Age of Gods
The Martial Guild was founded in 9 AG by Hralldan Dawncaller, Jorga Greywing, and Bil Fyn. It was originally called "The Guild", before the other two guilds were founded, but the name was changed when Jorga split from The Guild to form the Dark Guild, and Bil renamed it.
Hralldan wanted The Guild to act as a way for common folk to hire strong adventurers like himself and his companions to protect them, or take on dangerous creatures that threatened their livelihoods. Its original HQ had a notice board for anyone to post bounties or quests for the members to pick up.
The Guild in the Age of Heroes
Following the death of Hralldan, Jorga and Bil attempted to be partners in running the guild. That lasted for a little over a decade, but it was well known within the Guild that they had very different ideas on how to grow the Guild. Bil was far more focused on bringing in the best fighters and weapon wielders, and wanted to enforce strict interviews and screening for all Guild missions to ensure they were worth the Guild's time and effort, but Jorga thought anyone who was an adventurer should be allowed to join, to adventure for fame and riches, and that it would be better for the guild if the restrictions on members were more lax. He also thought that anyone should be allowed to request help, and that an interview process would prevent the common folk from being able to request help from adventurers as Hralldan intended.
It's not known what ultimately was the final straw, but Jorga departed the guild in 12 AH and founded the Dark Guild, a very different organization than the one he wanted the Martial Guild to be. Upon his departure, Bil took over as the sole leader of the Guild, and implemented his stricter member requirements and stricter mission requirements.
Martial Guild in 13th century AH
Operations
The Martial Guild in the 13th century AH operates much the same as it has for the last 1200 years. It recruits and accepts the strongest martial weapon wielders to provide missions and gain fame and riches. It has gained notoriety and is often looked at as more reliable than guards or even armies now. It provides the common folk with direct access to powerful adventurers who can deal with problems that large Empires and Kingdoms are too busy to deal with. However the missions must be carefully screened before they can be posted to the Guild members, and are then ranked by difficulty to provide structure and prevent members from taking on missions that are more than they can handle. The ranked Guild Missions are ranked D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS from easiest to hardest respectfully. The number of members in each tier operates on a bell curve, with the vast majority of members operating in the B range, with fewer members at the lower and high ends of the ranks.
D Rank
D ranked missions are typically reserved for newest members, or people who are just looking for an easy job. These can vary between clearing rats out of a basement, to rescuing a cat from a tree. They tend to not pay very well, but can usually be completed in an afternoon. It's required that for the members to move on to C ranked missions, they must complete a minimum amount of D rank missions to be permitted to accept any other missions. Most view this requirement as "doing their time" at D rank, but nothing prevents them from continuing to accept these missions after progressing further within the Guild. It is entirely dependent on the Guild Hall and the Captain to determine how many must be completed at D rank; some Captains view D rank missions as a waste of time and only technically require one mission to be completed, but even then will often look the other way if new members wish to skip D rank entirely. Other Captains see D rank as a right-of-passage, and will require upwards of 10 D rank missions to be completed before more difficult missions can be accepted. Others even still will require all members complete a certain amount of D rank missions each month as a quota, although this is considered a rarity, only occurs in locations where there is a high influx of D rank requests year-round, and is usually ignored entirely by the members who take on S rank missions or higher and is not pushed on them by the Lieutenants out of respect for their time.
C Rank
C ranked missions are usually only slightly harder than D ranked missions. These are some of the most popular type of mission, as they provide a low difficulty while still paying better than D ranked missions. They are also more akin to a traditional "adventure". Usually they are related to clearing tribes of Kobolds or Goblins out of caves if they have been bothering nearby towns, or searching magical forests for long-forgotten loot. It's generally some kind of adventure that deals with wildlife and has the potential for surprises that the members who accept the mission would have to be prepared to deal with. The requirement for progressing past C rank is much higher, and is usually based on ability. C rank missions that must be completed is usually left up to the discretion of Captains, who will require anywhere from 5-10 missions to be completed, and even then they will be heavily vetted before being allowed to progress to B.
B Rank
B ranked missions are considered the furthest difficulty spike between the ranks. While C ranked missions can usually still be completed by new members, just with a slight increase in difficulty and time-to-completion, B ranked missions are only permitted for those who are viewed as veterans of the Guild. They will require understanding of teamwork, as well as a certain level of ability that is simply not found in new members. They are also the first missions where Lieutenants began gate-keeping them to prevent new members from taking on more than they can handle. Lieutenants are more heavily invested in members of B rank and above, so making sure that their B rank members are properly prepared for the difficulty is important. It is also for this reason that B rank members are the first real tier where they begin garnering respect within the Guild. They are considered the lowest tier of the "respected" and "recognized" members. It is the tier where the vast majority of members remain in, as taking on B rank missions can and does often lead to early death. Many members will continue to take C rank missions for safety while enjoying the respect that being allowed to take B rank provides. B rank missions vary between taking on entire Orc tribes, to fighting Young Dragons. Progressing to A rank is considered extremely difficult, as it takes about the same amount of missions to be completed at B as it does for C, but with that extra added difficulty. However, those that do manage to progress to A are considered some of the strongest members of the Guild.
A Rank
A ranked missions are not quite as steep of a difficulty spike as between C to B, but it comes with an even higher risk of death. A rank members are the ones who begin to make a name for themselves across the continent, with many becoming celebrities in their own right. All A ranks are considered strong, as you'd have to be to make it that far, and this level of skill has created a competition among those at A rank. They will often join gladiatorial tournaments held by the Guild to determine their Guild Rating, or GR as it's referred to in the Guild. While this GR was originally conceived by the members as a way to compete with each other for sport, it's begun to be used by Captains and Lieutenants as a way to build teams based on skill-level in order to balance out missions, as well as to determine who is prepared for S rank missions. Only those in the top 10 GR are allowed to progress to S rank each year, and even then are hand-picked by the Captains. Usually the top 10 GR are the strongest of their Guild Hall, and each strongest of their Guild Hall are the ones selected. Very rarely though, there will be multiple members from a single Guild Hall that manage to make it into the top 10 GR, shutting out the strongest from other Guild Halls. This often causes uproar and animosity, and the drama that ensues can sometimes lead to infighting. Captains have tried to rein in this fighting between A ranks, but as they technically have no control over GR besides hosting the tournaments, they are limited in their ability to prevent it. The types of missions at A rank range from fighting Adult Dragons, to Vampire Lords.
S+ Rank
S, SS, and SSS ranked missions are all technically the same level of difficulty. However, the longer a mission remains uncompleted at the S rank, the higher in difficulty it is ranked. If an S rank mission remains uncompleted for at least 10 years, it is bumped to an SS ranked mission. If it has remained uncompleted for 100 years, it is ranked at the highest level of SSS. S+ rank missions are the hardest that can be attempted in the Guild, and those that are selected for S rank are legendary on the continent, often taking on world-ending threats without a second thought. They are usually considered insane for making it that far, but the respect that is garnered for those that do is unmatched. The missions range from toppling kingdoms, fighting Ancient Dragons, to destroying Pit Fiends. There has been excited rumblings within the lower ranks of the Guild, as there's been rumors of a new tier of mission being created at the S rank. S rank members have been quiet about the possibility, reserving their thoughts on whether there's a point to it or whether they will even attempt it, insane or not, but a particular mission is nearing the 1000 year mark of its conception, and that it will become the first SSSS tier mission. Whether any S rank member is insane enough to attempt it again after 1000 years of failed attempts is all rumored, but any who did complete such a mission would be truly the greatest of all time, as it cannot be said whether another SSSS mission would ever exist again. The mission in particular is to search for the lost First Expedition to Valdorei. It was created in the year 218AH, after the expedition had been missing for a year. It had set off on 217AH, and the 1000th anniversary of that expedition has just past. There have been many expeditions since then, including many led by Martial Guild Members attempting to complete the mission, but none have ever returned from Valdorei. S rank members are technically still a part of a specific Guild Hall, but they rarely show up, and it is usually an event for the lower ranks when they finally reappear. They travel across the continent and sometimes even farther, and are allowed to pick up missions from any Hall they wish. They usually still call a single Hall their Home and will return to it after completing their mission.
Structure
The guild structure has been forced to grow to keep up with the expanding membership. There's still a single Guild Leader, who at the moment is Fratvaut Mountainripper, a human of immense size and power. He's known for wielding a massive warhammer, but after losing his eye fighting a dragon, he's stepped back from adventuring and taken over the administration of the guild.
Below him, are the Guild Captains. Each Captain is in charge of a Guild Hall, and the administration of the members and Lieutenants ranks who are a part of that specific Hall, as well as other administrative duties as needed.
From there, there are Guild Lieutenants. Each Lieutenant is mostly no more than a powerful Guild Member like everyone else, but they also take on the extra duty of ensuring that the missions get properly vetted before being posted, and then they also ensure that members are taking missions of appropriate ranks.
At the bottom, there are the regular members. These can range anywhere from the lowest new member who is just getting their foot in the door of fame, and then there are the legends whose names are known across the continent. Not every powerful guild member wants the administrative duties of being a Lieutenant, so they remain regular members and take on missions like everyone else, just of the highest difficulty rank.
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