The Guild

Note: this article is unfinished and is being published early to make the WorldEmber deadline.

The Guild is an organisation of fighters and mercenaries that gained political power and founded the country of Kestane. It started out roughly a century ago, but since its creation managed to become one of the most powerful forces in the northwest, now standing on par with the Demonic Mainlands and even the Bloodlands. The Guild is most known for its hatred for magic. It is also well known for its push against slavery, an initiative that's as good as unseen anywhere else in the demonic world.
Patriotism and demonic purity are two reasons why many despise the Guild. All terrain it won was taken by direct attack, and it's been expending exponentially. It aims to recruit demons and demons only, a measure taken against the dragons pushing into demon terrain from the south. One of the most telling rituals among Guild members is their removal of their tail as part of finishing their formal training. This has created a prejudice against tailless demons.

The Guild's workings

Recruitment and membership

A large part of the Guild's recruitment relies on finding younger new members, with an average age of joining at 15 years. Not every inhabitant of Kestane is part of the Guild, as many of the people didn't agree with the conquering of their lands, but there exists a great push for young folks to get into the Guild, mostly done by offering social benefits for the entire the family and status. Many new Guild recruits are also from other countries, mainly orphans and young people who wanted fame, money, or just a place to call home.
The Guild puts a lot of effort into recruitment. Most of Kestane's cities have their own recruiters present and the Guild is well visible there. Outside Kestane, many port cities and trading hubs have recruiters present as well, mostly targeting teenagers and young adults. It's neither unseen nor illegal for an older person to join as the Guild welcomes all demons, but most new recruits are noticeably between 13 and 18.
Most of the Guild's recruits will end up becoming mercenaries and combatants, but it has some open positions for administration as well, even though those are usually reserved for the family of already established political Guild officials.

Training

Recruited members most of the time are placed in a training zone in a group of people of a similar age and combat background. They undergo a well-rounded training where they are taught everything about fighting, they get to choose a weapon specialisation, and are taught various other skills like survival, diplomacy, and a basic education including literacy and mathematics. Depending on where the trainee wants to go, training can take between five and twelve years, with the most common one being at nine years.

The first few years are spent in a very broad way: what does the member want to do? Have they been placed in the correct area, or do they wish to change, for example from the navy to the mainland? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are some potential candidates for weapon and position specialisations? These years are also dedicated to strengthening up the usually underfed new recruits, providing enough food, sports, and training to create some necessary muscle.
The years after that are spent specialising and continuing training in fighting. Trainees can choose between knives, small blunt, large blunt, small sword, large sword, and ranged. Some individual training locations offer special weapons like polearms, glaives, axes, and throwing weapons. All locations do offer a training in knife and sword usage to every member who takes the combatant training.
Later in these years, a draw is made. Every joining recruit is aware of this. The Guild needs soldiers to fight in their war, and often doesn't have enough eager volunteers to go abroad, so it randomly chooses eligible members. Some members are less likely to be chosen, for example ones that show promise in another field or ones that were already unwillingly selected for a transfer to another training area due to overpopulation. Members chosen for the war are sent to the border, where within the year they finish their training and are sent abroad or to the borders.
Any members who remain get a few last years as they enter the final phases of their training. Here it's ensured they are ready for their task and last things are taught. By the end of this all, the trainee becomes a full-fledged member of the Guild, and as both a painful token of honour and proof of their undeniable loyalty to the Guild, their tail is removed by its base, gaining them the admirable appearance of the tailless hero.

After finishing training, it's not yet done. When training is done, members have to learn how to work. Many go to mandatory unpaid internship inland and later to the border of the country and learn the ropes of a Guild member's daily life there. This is in part so that they can pay back part of their training without the immediate risk of death. For the following years, they go from location to location, staying at each for about half a year to learn what they'll do if they end up there. This can range from general defence, patrol, citizen assistance, administration, law enforcement, and watch. The Guild's members are the country's main defence and directly carry out the orders of Kestane's political leaders.
Over the years, payment slowly becomes present and even becomes higher as the job involves more danger closer to the border. After roughly five years of getting to see the variety of jobs offered, they are finally free to choose where they wish to go. Some go to places where their internship happened at, others try out something new or even decide to become trainins for the next generation of Guild trainees.
This training is seen as an investment. The Guild pays for the training and homing in advance, and in return any money the member earns them back will go right back to the Guild's pockets until they have paid off their ever increasing loan. Depending on the position of the member, this can take up to a few decades to pay off, and even after they have paid it off in its entirety they still pay a hefty tax on their future earnings. For this reason, leaving the Guild is not allowed unless everything is paid off, and even then it's fairly Not Done.

Core beliefs

Most notorious is the Guild's dislike for magic and its casters. The learning, teaching, and use of magic is disallowed in all of Kestane and can be punished with things ranging from imprisonment to death. Historically, the Guild has always had a problem with about every active form of magic, going back to the ideals of its founders. They believe that the manipulation of mana is not just dangerous to the inhabitants of their lands, but it can also be abused to usurp leadership and threaten the political stability that was worked so hard on. It's drilled into recruits and members throughout their entire training. The only acceptable form of magic is protective magic and healing magic, but even then it's frowned upon. Because of their disdain for magic, they have engaged in a conflict with the Grand Mavomaruan College overseas.
Another large aspect is the Guild's zero tolerance for slavery. The kidnapping, selling, and using of other sapient beings is rampant in the entire north and east, and the Guild is one of the only forces strongly opposing it. This is one of the most well regulated things in all of Kestane and surrounding countries, to the point where Kestane sees no more slavery and the borders of nearby countries barely see any of it anymore either. The Guild's many imitators are usually also organisations who fight against slavery.
The Guild looks out for demons first and foremost. They won't agree with slavery against other sapient species, but when it comes to their membership and other rights, they prefer to only accept other demons among their ranks. Other species are only allowed if they can prove their worth and prove that they will be valuable when accepted by the Guild. It doesn't make an effort to remove its local human populations from their homelands, and neither do they carry out genocide or oppression of citizens of another species, but they're wary of them.

The College conflict

Before interacting with the College, the Guild was nothing more than an aggressive organisation most people expected would be put down by the Demonic Mainlands given some time to start up military action against them. When a good fifty years ago they stole the unconscious body of an important College member to get their attention and declare war, the entire Bloodlands got involved and people took the Guild more seriously after pulling off such an unlikely infiltration act and succeeding.
The Guild had a natural aversion from the overseas institution. As a learning institution that brought so many new mages into the world, their partnership with Bloodlands' iron military threatened the Guild and its core principles. Not only that, but by attacking such a large organisation they were certain to make their existence known to the world. They only survived this ordeal by the sudden rapid expansion of their ranks as well as the Bloodland's military being distributed over other large conflicts that took place over time. But the world did know who they were now, and that helped them.
By the time the military got to them, they had conquered enough land to make for a strong basis and they had taken over a strong naval system that kept their waters safe. The Bloodlands could no longer trample them with ease, so they invested in defence instead when the Guild didn't carry out any subsequent attacks, leaving the problem in the hands of Kestane's neighbouring countries instead.
The conflict only grew over the years, with many battles being fought with either as the victor but no real breakthrough on a winner. The Bloodlands' defences are too strong to break through, but the Guild's fighting prowess and willingness to sacrifice lives makes it impossible for the College to get the upper hand in the conflict. These days it's much more of a dormant war, one where no one decides to strike and silently awaits the other's actions.

Type

Guild, Fighter / Mercenary
Geopolitical, country

Alternative names

Kestane's Guild

Demonyms

Guildsman (gender neutral), Guildie

Recruitment requirements

• Be age 8 or higher
• Be a demon
• Both genders allowed
• Lack any magical ability
• Be in good health
• Applicants with no experience may join