Adventurer's Guild

The adventurer's guuld was founded after the rising of the first 'Dark Lord'. The organsation was created by the heroes that finally defeated him and his army believed that in order to prevent another cataclysmic event. The original purpose of the guild was to keep watch for any potential future dark lords, and also to serve as protectors to the peoples that cannot protect themselves. The guild has expanded greatly over the hundreds of years that it existed, growing from a small militia that patrolled villages outside the capital region into a continent spanning organisation with thousands of active members and a large amount of political influence. 
Public perception of the guild varies wildly. Many in the capital region see adventurers as ruffians or mercenaries, and the guild is viewed as largely unneccesary next to the royal guard. In more remote regions however, the guild is much more universally respected. The royal guard seldom travel outside the inner capital region, so adventurers are the only people that arrive if a farm is attacked, or a griffon is harassing caravans.

Structure

The guild is split into two primary branches, adventurers and administators. The adventurers are by far the most numerous members of the guild, and are split into various ranks based on experience and merit. The various ranks of adventurers are denoted by the pin they wear. These ranks are detailed below.
Wood - The lowest rank of adventurer, and the first pin a rookie adventurer will wear. Wood rank adventurers have not proved themselves as capable yet, and as such are commonly tasked with mundane and undesirable quests. These include things such as pest control, serving as town guards, and labouring.
Copper - This is considered the first 'proper' rank in the guild, and is achieved by proving competence as a wood rank adventurer. Copper is the most common rank of adventurer, and is easily attainable through time served. Copper rank adventurers can be tasked with more complex or dangerous quests, such as guarding caravans, hunting weaker monnsters, and dealing with brigands.
Iron - For an adventurer to gain the rank of iron, they must first show they have completed a great feat of bravery or skill. Some things that may qualify an adventurer for iron rank would be defeating a notable bandit in single combat, slaying a troll, or defending a town from a large scale attack. Iron rank adventurers are the elite of the normal adventurers, and undertake dangerous quests such as dungeon delving, slaying powerful monsters, and dealing with large organised groups of bandits.
Electrum - Those that wear an electrum pin are the true elite of the guild. They have proved themselves as incredibly competent, reliable, and dangerous. Electrum rank adventurers are tasked with the most dangerous and complex quests, these can include dragon slaying, or stopping incursions of extra planar creatures.
Gold - Very few adventurers will ever wear a gold pin. In order to qualify for a gold pin, an adventurer must complete a quest that no mortal should be capable of. Feats such as defeating a lich, slaying an ancient dragon, or single handedly destroying an army would qualify an adventurer for a gold pin.
The administrative branch of the guild is made up of guild hall staff, office workers, accountants, informants and artisans. They are responsible for the day to day running of the various guild branches, taking quests and distributing rewards, and also organisation wide policy. There are no ranks within the adminstrative branch, however there are numerous titles one can obtain, such as guild representative, clerk, accountant, regional manager etc. Many of the senior members of the administrative branch are former adventurers themselves.
The guild is decentralised, with most of the branches being totally self sufficient and acting without much oversight from the senior management. This is especially true for the more remote branches such as the one in Fartown, however it is not uncommon for auditors from the capital to visit guild halls unnannounced, to ensure each branch is upholding the guild's pillars in the proper manner.

Culture

Libertas, Libertatis, Praesidium make up the core beliefs of the guild. Translated from elvish to common the 3 pillars are: Freedom, liberty, protection.
To take up a life of adventuring is to cast aside the protections and safety of society to pursue something else, there are a myriad of reasons why someone would choose the life of an adventurer but nearly all have one thing in common. That is the desire to live freely.
Adventurers are often the first, last and only line of defence against threats to towns and villages that are not considered important enough for a royal guard. Adventurer's are not only dedicated to their own freedom, but are sworn to defend the freedom of others against those that would hurt or subjugate them. All adventurers are sworrn to uphold the liberty of others, the right of everyone to live free.
The last pillar is self explanatory, adventurers are sworn to protect people from anything that seeks to sow chaos and misery, be that monsters, brigands, extraplanar threats, or even power hungry nobles.
Due to the culture and actions of the guild, they have a tense relationship with many merchants, nobles and royalty. The guild's dedication to 'protecting the little guy' is something that leads them into conflict with numerous prominent families and organisations, but this seldom turns into outright violence. The guild is too useful to fight with, so many conflicts and issues are simply ignored or quietly sorted out in order to maintain the status quo.
Due to the decentralised nature of the guild, the culture and public image of the guild does vary by location, however the 3 pillars are nearly universal in all branches of the guild.

Libertas, Libertatis, Praesidium

Type

Guild, Adventuring

Alternative Names

Ruffians

Demonym

Adventurer

Controlled Territories

• Guild Hall