Mercenary Guild
Averoigne is sparsely populated and the ability of a noble to raise a decent sized army or maintain any kind of standing army is nigh-impossible. Mercenaries are a necessity for the protection of realm. The Mercenary Guild is officially recognized as an attempt to bring order to the process of hiring mercenaries and making sure that not only are the contracts fair, but that they are not broken. Unless a mercenary has earned the right to break a contract with good cause, all contracts must be carried out to the full before a mercenary may seek other work; however, all members are protected by the guild and if abuse is reported a noble loses the right to negotiate with guild members.
All mercenaries wear the symbol of a chain. This chain comes in two forms: broken and unbroken. The first is an indication that the mercenary is not currently under contract. The latter indicates that they are.
- 4. Bond Sword — A Bond Sword has the right to enter into a contract at the guild’s minimum wage. As a sign of their status, they may wear the symbol of a black chain.
- 5. Oath Sword — An Oath Sword has the right to enter into a contract and may negotiate the wage. As a sign of their status, they may wear the symbol of a silver chain.
- 6. Free Sword — A Free Sword has the right to break a contract for good cause (as is determined by the guild). As a sign of their status, they may wear the symbol of a gold chain.
- 7. Mercenary Sergeant — A Mercenary Sergeant chooses an animal as their personal symbol and has the right to wear a heraldic head of the animal. In addition, the Mercenary Sergeant has the right to represent a small group of men (5-10) who are non-guild members to enter into a contract at minimum wage. They must wear the Mercenary Sergeant’s symbol as a sign of that contract.
- 8. Mercenary Captain — A Mercenary Captain has the right to wear their heraldic animal passant (“striding" to the viewer’s left). In addition, the Mercenary Captain has the right to represent a large group of men (10-50) who are non-guild members to enter into a contract at minimum wage. They must wear the Mercenary Captain’s symbol as a sign of that contract.
- 9. Mercenary Commander — A Mercenary Commander attracts a group of mercenary followers and has the right to found a Mercenary Company which bears his personal symbol. He has the right to negotiate the price of contracting the company and may also break this contract under good cause (determined by the guild). Their personal symbol is normally worn rampant (rearing up).
Like the Adventurer's Guild, these Level Titles are not exclusively for fighters; however (besides assassins) the majority of member are fighters.
4 comments:
Interesting. I can see a humorous (for the GM) situation in which a party of no higher than 5th-level PCs complains about an abusive contract, and the Guild agrees to do something about it. The PCs are happy until they are told they still have to fulfill the contract, since they have no right to break it: "Guild honor at stake, dontcha know? We just won't work with Baron von Lumpenbrain in the future. That'll show him!" :)
Meanwhile, what of PCs who choose to remain out of any order or guild? Treated as outlaws?
As I noted earlier, PCs can always adopt to stay as Swordsman (or go back, if they break with a guild). They will be free agents, but do not have either the backing or resources of the Guild or the ability to operate under a contract. It all comes down to a tactical choice: freedom vs. privilege & obligations.
So the captain is a boar, and the commander is a boar rampant? Bet there's lots of jokes in the rank and file 'bout that . . .
It is only an example; however, the boar has a well established pedigree in heraldry. For example, King Richard III of York (he of Shakespeare fame) had a white boar as his personal symbol. Before you go and equate Richard with boorish behavior, however, talk to folks in York and they will give you quite a different story! Not to mention, there are more than a few animals in heraldry I'd rather meet in the wild than a boar — those things can tear you to pieces!
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