Guild of Notaries

a large business, corporation or trade guild

The world is large, and knowing the truth is priceless.
— Eliso Bakradze, founder of the guild of notaries

At one point in our history, there were devices and means to always know the truth. Magic can help the nobility and wealthy as they can afford to hire mages to ascertain the truth of matters. But, for everyone else, and as a matter of commercial viability using mages to determine truth does not scale. In 13,222 Eliso Bakradze discovered an ancient concept of the Notary. There was a means for normal everyday people to get things reviewed and then receive a special notary sealed letter of evidence. Eliso Bakradze made it her ambition to create a service available to all to allow the truth to be provable. She worked with craftsmen for years testing various devices and means. She made herself available at all hours of the day to witness anything without question and provide a letter of authenticity. Eventually, Eliso Bakradze was recognized by the local authorities and received an official charter to form a guild of notaries. Eliso Bakradze Guild of Notaries grew over the next three decades. Their exceptional recruiting and controls ensured there was never a breach of trust or a false seal certified. In 13,254 Eliso Bakradze saw the culmination of her dreams when the Duianna Alliance officially recognized the Guild of Notaries to be an independent self-controlled organization with permission to operate in every nation without fear of interference by any government in the alliance. In the entire history of the Guild of Notaries, no notarization has been successfully forged. The guild is recognized and respected by all governments, nobles, and other guilds.

Early Guild Regulations

The number one purpose of the Guild of Notaries was to protect the certifiable truth interests of anyone who needed proof of a claim. Eliso Bakradze established a set of struct rules regulating membership and services. Eliso Bakradze also used ruthless pressure to ensure no other notary service except hers was allowed to operate. Often Eliso Bakradze would buy-out any competition in new cities. Historic research has assembled records showing a surprising number of sudden deaths or disappearances of Eliso Bakradze competators in new areas as the guild expanded. Eliso Bakradze's actions may or may not have been entirely honorable, the results though are clear enough, the Guild of Notaries held a monopoly on the market of certification of the truth in any area it had a Guild House. Competition amongst members of the guild was strongly discouraged with a number of early guild members being forced to retire. Notaries will always support and protect other notaries, and Eliso Bakradze made sure of that. Eliso Bakradze established central control of the method of norterizing, and the prices that could be charged for it. Her regulations insured that every notary of the guild made exactly the same certification by the same methods and charged the same prices. Even the hours a notary may were are rigidly controlled. Notaries are not allowed to work before sunrise or after sunset.

Apprenticeship

To ensure the guild continues to controll its monopoly notaries work effectively, with the number of available notaries in each local adjusted carefully to match the local needs. The primary means for this ithrough limiting the number of notaries. If a young person wished to become a notary, they first had to learn the proper processes by serving as an apprentice to a full notary. If someone wanted to follow in their parent's work, they had to go to another guild house for apprenticeships. Guild of Notaries laws state that children of notaries are to be given priority consideration for admission but can never be trained or elevated in rank by their parents or friends. This resulted in parents placing their children in the care of remote guild houses to be trained as notaries. New notary apprentices can be any age over ten years old. New notaries are rarely taken as apprentices if they have less than twenty years of life expectancy remaining. Apprentice notaries must serve for at least five years before they can earn the rank of full notary.

Notaries

There is more to being a notary than many people believe. Roughly fifty percent of the people who become apprentice notaries succeed in becoming full notaries. After passing a grewling series of tests a simple cermony is held were the new notary is given their record book and their master notorizes that they are full notaries. Usually new notaries continue to work in the Guild of Notaries House they became full notories in. However, there are no guild regulations requiring notaries to stay in any location. The guild ensures that there is always the correct number of notaries available at a given guild house and notaries that desire to move put in requests for house reassignments which are rarely denied and usually take between a few weeks to a year to get approval. Full notaries may take on new apprentices if desired or assigned. Every region is overseen by the Honorable Grand Notary who strictly controls all the houses in their region. Notaries are almost completely at the mercy of the Honorable Grand Notary. The guild does not guarantee every notery work.

Races and Genders in the Guilds

So long as the individual is capable of learning a number of languages and writing they are considered acceptable to join the guild. There are a number of interviews and tests to pass for acceptance as an apprentice which the guild leaders have commented has a suprisingly level thirty percent failure rate world and history wide. When individuals are placed as apprentices, usually at the age of ten to fifteen, the notary who is assigned is of the same gender and in a steady relationship. It is not uncommon for the spouses of notary masters to take charge of some some of the apprentice housing and living needs during training. The guild only excludes the very aged from joining.

Social Services of the Guilds

The Guild of Notaries provides a surprisingly necessary function for social and religious functions. It is estimated that at least fifty percent of the world's population will need the services of a notary during their lifetime. Many governments, noble families, and temples have sponsored the establishment of a Guild of Notaries house close to their own properties due to extensive use of notary services.

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