by J. Edward Tremlett (Wraith: The Oblivion | Resources)
This is a continuation of what was started last month with the Alchemists, which can be found here. The other twelve Guilds past these will be featured in the four months to come, three guilds at a time.
The Artificers
Nicknames: Hammerboys, Byteheads, Gremlins, Blacksmiths
Guildmaster: Lord Nhudri (currently missing)
Center of Power: The Crystal Palace, London Necropolis.
Specialty Arcanos: Inhabit (Kinesis)
Organization:
The Artificers are laid out in traditional Guild style, which isn�t surprising giving their status as the original Guild. The Apprentices toil under a Journeyman, who has proven her worth at the forges and been given one of her own. After some time as a Journeyman, the Wraith may be asked to join the ranks of the Masterforgers, also called Forgemasters.
A select group of these Masterforgers sit on the Council of Masters, who steer the path for the Journeymen below them. They are charged with overseeing the day to day activities of the Guild, and directing the actions of the Guildleaders of those Necropoli they still call home. They also watch over the studies and career arcs of the Journeymen below them, and any decisions as to who goes from Apprentice to Journeyman, or Journeyman to Master, are made by them.
The Council of Masters once held court on the Isle of Sorrows, but that time is past. They now congregate once a month in the new seat of the Guild�s strength: the magnificent Crystal Palace in London�s Shadowlands. Once home to the Great Exhibition of 1850, the stately pavilion of iron and glass was claimed by the Guild when it burned to the ground in 1936. It was heavily modified to withstand the rage and fury of the Maelstrom, and today sits nestled within the sports center built on its Skinlands site.
The Guild Leader is still considered to be Lord Nhudri, though he has disappeared. But, as with the past, Nhudri�s Guild has truly been managed by a triumvirate of Gaunts known as the Three. These are the Master of Apprentices, the Keeper of the Chain and the Guardian of the Forge. The Master of Apprentices watches over the studies and progress of each new Guildmember, and places them with appropriate Journeymen. The Keeper of the Chain retains the sacred items of the Guild -- some of which were lost during the fall of Stygia -- and oversees the fanatical Cult of Nhudri. The Guardian of the Forge�s position is mostly a symbolic one, but his true duty has been to secure Soulfire from the Usurers: he is reputed to be one of the few Guildwraiths with whom that secretive Guild will deal directly.
Notable Groups:
The Cult of Nhudri is one of the more controversial aspects of the Guild. Much like Guilds during the reign of the Hierarchy, it does not officially exist, and yet it is there if one knew what to look for. Members often have a wide-eyed look of reverence or fanatic concern whenever Nhudri�s name was invoked. Secret signs and codewords are dropped into conversation, and they have a tendency to be away from their duties on �business�that never gets explained, but yet is never punished. If anything, they have the fire of a terrible secret burning in their eyes, especially when they�re at the forges engaging in their trade.
The Cult is the literal power behind the throne of the Guild. They are the ones responsible for the �Lord� in front of Lord Nhudri�s name, as they have all but deified Him -- against his wishes in the matter, no less. They were the ones who were the most angered by the Alchemists� leaving, and did all they could to make certain that the errant Guild was blacklisted and run underground for their �betrayal.� Indeed, anyone who disagrees with Guild policy is watched, blacklisted and cajoled into �behaving,� and anyone of those possible troublemakers who leaves the Guild is marked by them for capture, and then the forges.
The Cult of Nhudri has gained in strength since the fall of Stygia, to the point where their existence can no longer be denied or derided away. Many vergers were brought fully and totally into the fold when the first reports of Artificers being forged on their own anvils came to their attention. Such poor souls have become martyrs to the cult, and have been venerated as the truest servants of Lord Nhudri for their sacrifice.
With the elevation of the Porrohman to the position of Keeper of the Chain (see Current History, below), the Cult has gone on the lam against any Artificer who abandons her post for any reason. This has made their reputation all the more fearsome, and their methods all the more open. There isn�t a week that goes by that some �traitor� isn�t dragged before the Council of Masters for judgment, and the Council -- secretly terrified of what might happen if they say no -- has no real option but to punish these Journeymen in the only means possible: the forges.
Current History:
The Artificers are, at this moment, facing the worst crises of their history. If they will survive them is not known, but many amongst them hope that, like the Soulsteel they forge, the fire, blows and pain will produce a much stronger thing when it�s all over. But in any case, it�s unlikely the finished product will resemble its starting point.
Lord Nhudri has vanished: the last anyone saw of Him, He was leading the Smiling Lord away to pay for his treachery against Stygia. As the fight for the Isle of Sorrows was going on, the former Master of Apprentices, Lord Ember, disappeared into a Harrowing. No one has seen him since.
The Guardian of the Forge and Keeper of the Chain, Hugh Gannon and Lady Alais Capet, were only just able to survive the conflagration of Stygia�s fall, and it was they who sounded the order to retreat and regroup. In their hurry to leave they had to leave countless treasures of the Guild behind. One Master had the forethought to look for Nhudri�s anvil and hammer, but found them smashed across the floor of His workshop, their owner nowhere to be found.
The Guild�s members ran across the byway to London just in time to see the Onyx Tower implode. They say that it was that brief, terrifying moment when the Keeper of the Chain began to understand just how over many things were. Some fool made the mistake of telling her to be strong for the others, for Lord Nhudri was no longer there, and her heart sunk as low as any Nihil could travel.
Less than a week later, as the Guild was readjusting to its new haven in the Crystal Palace, Capet also disappeared. She has since been spotted as one of the Shadow-eaten, and the Cult has issued orders to find and end her on sight. Of Ember there has been no sign at all -- they fear the worst.
Once the Guild had recuperated enough to count their losses and look to rebuilding, the Council of Masters elected two of their number to the vacant posts of Master and Keeper. A tireless, political hack named Lord McMahon was elected the new Master of Apprentices, perhaps because of his claims that he could do what Ember could not, and the tall, blackened legend known as the Porrohman was exalted as the Keeper of the chain.
Thus led and regrouped, the Guild was preparing to look to the future. But as the initial fury of the Storm abated, they began to hear of a shocking phenomenon: with the destruction of Stygia, and the vilification of its less-popular institutions, the art of Soulforging had become chief amongst the dead Empire�s sins. The former citizens of that Empire were moving to see them repaid in full, which could only mean bad times ahead for those who worked the hammer.
And so it began: Necropolis after Necropolis, Citadel after Citadel, the once-proud Artificers Guild were being run out of their forges by angry mobs. Their members were having to sneak away incognito from their places of work before their antagonists -- some of them former customers -- caught up to them, and any such unfortunate Guildwraiths were themselves forged.
It was bad news to be sure, but the Council of Masterforgers figured that it would be a temporary problem. Without Soulforging there can be no soulsteel, or Stygian steel, and without them no Necropolis can stand against the fury of the maelstrom. The Artificers were expecting the mobs to calm down and return to normal once that fact became all too clear, and they only hoped there would be enough of such Necropoli left to rebuild once it was over.
But then, something else they hadn�t foreseen occurred: the Alchemists returned to the public eye once more. They surged back from seemingly nowhere, providing the use of their Arcanos to help defend the Necropoli they appeared in. The �lesser� Guild had somehow developed uses of their Arcanos, Flux, that allowed materials in the Shadowlands to be turned as hard as soulsteel. With such techniques to compensate, the moment of clarity the Council was waiting for did not come.
The other Guilds had begun to send envoys and news to one another well before this. After a season had passed, the Artificers decided it was time for a new Council of Guilds to be called. The lineup would be different this time, but some things would remain the same: the Chanteurs were no longer welcome, given that they were broken, and the Mnemoi were once more welcome at the insistence of the Oracles and the Pardoners. The Solicitors would still be barred from the proceedings, of course.
And, despite the howling of the Cult of Nhudri, it was also decided that the Alchemists should be allowed to attend, and then invited to rejoin the Artificers Guild. The Council of Masters thought that such a gesture would bring them over in a second, thinking that their time as a �lesser� guild had shown them the error of their ways, and such a joining would strengthen both Guilds.
(On a more practical and selfish note: the Council�s members wanted to learn how the Alchemists had gone from rotting stone in the Skinlands to turning it to steel in the Underworld, and with that competition out of the way, Soulforging could once more take its rightful place as a legitimate aspect of Wraithly existence).
That meeting was a success for the other Guilds, but it was a total fiasco for the Artificers. Not only did the Alchemists politely rebuff their offer to rejoin the Guild, but after that point the other Guilds stopped looking to Lord McMahon for guidance in the proceedings and started to run the meeting themselves. Whatever prestige the Guild once had, they had been downcast to the level of the others.
Of course, that might not have been Lord McMahon�s fault: as one Journeyman put it, Lord Ember�s massive ego had written a lot of checks over the years -- it was just McMahon�s bad luck to have been standing there when they all come due and started bouncing like rubber balls. All the same, Lord McMahon�s fallen way short of the mark, and many of his supporters became his worst detractors in the space of months.
But any hope of unseating him is doomed to fail at present, for he enjoys the friendship of the new Keeper of the Chain -- and, with that, the backing of the Cult of Nhudri. As such he is going to be very difficult to remove, regardless of the Guardian of the Forge�s distaste for the both of them. It�s said that the Masquers have been contacted to deal with the matter, but there�s no proof of such a plot being more than idle gossip.
What is not gossip is that a significant amount of younger Artificers have had enough of being snubbed for preferring html to soulforging, and are getting ready to call it a day. There have always been any number of ex-Artificers on the run from their angry Mentors and the Cult, but most of these traitors were true radicals and troublemakers who should have been smelted instead of initiated. Now, with the downfalls of being in the oldest Guild far exceeding the perks, any hacker with any sense at all is getting the hell out of dodge. A young, Brazilian firebrand named Jose Julio (aka The Cybergod) is acting as a focal point for such malcontents, and it might not be too terribly soon before they�ve got a real name to go with the phenomenon, either.
Current Activities:
As part of the contract with the new Council of Guilds, the Artificers have agreed to Soulforge any Necropolis� defenses for no cost to the inhabitants for the duration of the Maelstrom. They�re having a hard time getting anywhere to take them up on the offer, though. So far their only seat of stability is the London Necropolis they now call home to their Guild. Most Hierarchy remnants landed there after the disaster on the Isle of Sorrows, and they�re quite keen to have their Soulforged armor and gladii.
Past that, the Artificers are just trying to survive. To that end they�ve started a full-scale recruitment drive. They have also relaxed their standards for lower-level promotion a bit, realizing that they need a great number of Journeymen now more than ever.
The Cult has urged the Council of Masters to find the lost treasures of the Guild, but as this would entail trips into the Tempest it�s being put off for quite some time. The Cult has also increased the number of arrests and convictions of �traitor� Artificers -- most of whom were just running from those anti-soulforging mobs -- and is marshaling its resources to send retinues of Cultist guards to protect those who would stay loyal.
On a more quiet note, the Council of Masters are also starting to investigate the cause of the sudden turn of public sentiment towards them. They are convinced that someone out there is responsible for their current woes, and everyone from the Alchemists to the Solicitors is being blamed. That may very well be true, but then it might also be the fault of pure human nature: the fear the Guild once caused in ordinary Wraiths eventually turned to hate, and this hate no doubt bred a thirst for violence that any spark could have fanned into a bonfire.
Current Political Situation:
The general public has come to hate the Artificers almost as much as they hated the Mnemoi. In some Necropoli, having blackened marks on ones hands and plasm burns in open places is enough to get you splattered into a Harrowing, or worse. Common wisdom has it that the only Artificers who have any business being in business are the ones who can work their way around computer systems via Inhabit�s newer uses -- everyone else is in league with the Labyrinth.
They can still count on the support of the Harbingers, Masquers, Oracles, Pardoners and Proctors. The Harbingers, much like the Oracles and Pardoners, always held the respect of the Guild, and the Pardoners will always need soulforged lanterns. The Proctors have a more immediate need of the Guild�s skills: those who live amongst the Quick need records changed and certain electronic trails closed, or reopened, and the Artificers have the best methods to perform these things. Their allegiance with the Masquers may have to do with their previous work at the forges, or perhaps the Masquers are just biding their time before fulfilling any contracts that have been taken out on the unlives of the Three.
The Guild isn�t sure what to think of the Mnemoi, even with the Pardoners� vouching for them, and the Mnemoi aren�t so sure of them either. The Chanteurs are no longer worth their time since they have no real power anymore. And as for the Alchemists, the Master Forgers are starting to wonder if it�s just a coincidence that they came back into public view just as the Artificers were being run out of town, and had an effective and �humane� alternative to Soulforging all ready to go. That they turned down the generous offer to rejoin the Artificers is all but a confession in the eyes of most of the Council of Masters, but the Three still need more convincing before any action could be taken.
The Haunters, Puppeteers and Spooks have never really liked the Artificers that much, either due to their old haughtiness or the fact that too many of their members went under the hammer for breaking Charon�s law. The fact that the Haunters are now siding with the Alchemists doesn�t help matters much in the Alchemists� eyes. And, with the end of Soulforging as a large-scale institution, the Usurers� distaste for the oldest Guild�s haughtiness has borne fruit in the way of distaste for the Guild itself. Even the Guardian of the Forge is having his calls for meetings rudely rebuffed, and it looks like the old partnership between the two Guilds is at an end.
The Chanteurs
Nicknames: Songbirds, Minstrels, Crooners
Guildmaster: None (formerly Miklos, whose current whereabouts and condition cannot be said for certain)
Center of Power: None (formerly somewhere in The Avenue of Candle-Lit Windows on the Isle of Sorrows)
Specialty Arcanos: Keening
Organization:
None whatsoever, and there are no real rumblings for there to be any change in that state, either. Most of the old political enemies of Miklos were Domems, and were either lost to Harrowings when the Isle of Sorrows fell or are now stuck somewhere in the Tempest. In either case they are somewhat at a loss to lead their �Guild.�
Special Groups:
See above.
Current History:
The Chanteurs Guild no longer exists in the state that it once did. The reason why this has happened is a matter of much debate amongst the remaining Guilds, but, as the Songbirds didn�t seem to contribute much to their order other than petulance, arrogance and the occasional use of Keening at the bargaining table, their absence hasn�t been missed too terribly much. In fact, when discussing whether to try to keep the Guild from falling apart when its breakup was all too near, the general consensus was �why bother?�
Miklos� betrayal of Stygia is labeled as the direct cause of the Chanteurs� disintegration, but that wasn�t quite right. In reality their downfall was caused more by the nature of who they were, what they did, and its effects on their social structure than Miklos� fidelity to Stygia, or political aspirations of any stripe. And in the end it was Miklos� very absence, rather than his reasons for that absence, that caused their break.
The Chanteurs were, first and foremost, artists. As anyone who�s ever worked on any artistic endeavor with other artists can tell you, such a thing is not easy at all. Egos clash, visions differ, communication breaks down and tempers flare; for every Quick band that makes it big, there were easily two dozen more who fall apart due to personality conflicts or other interpersonal problems. Feelings are oh so fragile when one�s pride as an artist, and need for success, are both on the line.
Just like a true artist -- whether she be artistically inclined or not -- a Wraith lives by her feelings. Passion is what animates them in spite of death, and drives them on in spite of that state�s many pitfalls and horrors. And so, any Wraith who can play with feelings is to be adored and feared.
And a Wraith also comes to rely on, and revel in, her heightened senses. Their extremely sensitive feelings of touch, taste, smell, sight and sound all work in time with those animating passions that keep them going. And so Wraiths feel things intensely, and any wraith who can send Wraiths to heights -- or depths -- of sensation undreamt of on the living side of the grave as also to be adored and feared.
Though the Keening Arcanos, and their much-lauded talent, the Chanteurs had power over both feelings and the senses. These two commodities at their disposal were things that many Wraiths would pay a great deal of coin for. But the Chanteurs were themselves Wraiths, and in the act of creating their art and manipulating the feelings of their audiences, they opened themselves up to those same raptures and delights. And in that opening, they often forgot themselves in the moment and tumbled into one emotional hole after another in the quest for the next, most beautiful or evocative thing.
And that was the true tragedy that the Chanteurs kept hidden from their fellows: Keening was highly addictive. The pleasures and payoffs -- and pitfalls -- just got larger as the Chanteurs� individual understandings of the Arcanos grew, but this always led to the need to know, and experience, even more than that. It�s said that many Chanteurs, lost in rapture, would go on �sabbatical� for decades and walk around in the grand halls their own voices made.
The Guild was based on merit: any �artist� could learn the lowest levels of the Arcanos and go no further, but only those who were deemed worthy of the highest levels of instructions got it. In order to learn more of Keening�s uses, then, one had to be in the right company. This led to a great deal of backstabbing and double-dealing as those who didn�t have what it took to rise to the next level did whatever was needed to get there. Sometimes it was quite a spectacle to watch them go at it, and sometimes it was just sickening: one Journeyman who ODed on heroin in the late 70�s commented that at times he couldn�t tell his Guildmates from the junkies he used to score with in his breathing days.
And so we see that the Chanteurs were, at their heart, a bunch of headstrong, Keening-addicted artists all trying to outdo one another artistically or politically to get a better, purer fix. Seen in that light, Miklos was less of a leader for the Guild and more of an unattainable goal. Those who took the backstabbing route tried to get close enough to replace him, and those who sought to earn their keep on their own emulated his example, but neither group could ever hope to reach him on his plane.
So the schemers schemed with one another, and the bands played on, and the Guild stayed together for the hope of getting Miklos� �stash.� In such fashion the loose confederation of artists stayed together for untold ages when they really should have just broken up long, long ago. And once Miklos was gone, and they realized that they would never get to where he was, the highest amongst them faded into the shadows like the ghosts they were, as did the ones below. Thus did they splinter.
Although Keening�s masters no longer congregate, their trademark Arcanos might not lie unclaimed for long. Rumor has it that a few groups of station-hungry Enfants are considering trying to make a new Guild based on Keening�s use. Most former Chanteurs scoff at the notion of these Wraiths creating a �new� Guild, but, as this is the first time a standing Guild was ever really disbanded, the idea might actually have merit. One can only hope that they do not repeat the mistakes of the Chanteurs, but given that none of their number wish to relate those mistakes to strangers, it maybe unavoidable. Time alone will tell...
Current Activities:
It�s no longer appropriate to speak of the Chanteurs� activities as a whole, as they are no longer a whole entity. On the other hand, trying to tell them their age has ended is, as one crooner put it, �like telling a man that he can�t sing just �cause he ain�t got no fancy badge on his shirt saying �singer.�� Those with a talent for Keening will always be in demand by those who require the emotional uplift the Arcanos provides, and so long as any Wraith who exhibits artistry with Phantasm will be called a �Sandman� whether she�s in the Guild or not, the Shadowlands will always be filled with �Chanteurs.�
As such, the former members of the Guild have more or less continued what they were doing anyway -- it�s just that they don�t have to pay dues, attend banal meetings or take orders from Guild superiors anymore. Those who worked with entertainment-oriented Masquers and Sandmen can truly be their own bosses now, and the rest of the Chanteurs are everywhere if you know what to look for. Wandering criers spread the news of the day to those Wraiths who don�t dare leave their Necropoli for the storm, balladeers and minstrels compose songs and poets for their clients, banshees make the Quick uneasy around haunts and Citadels and negotiators lend a silver tongue to tense proceedings. Songs are sung, moods are lightened and coins change hands as ever.
The only truly significant change in the Chanteurs� behavior is their migration towards the ranks of the Storm Wardens. A short time after the Storm�s initial rage began to abate, a number of headstrong individuals who were quite adept with Keening started to volunteer. The remaining Wardens were extremely grateful for this turn in events, of course, as the Chanteurs were always the sort of person someone wanted to be in a Maelstrom Shelter with: they could always be counted on to lighten the mood and soothe their fellow refuge-seekers� emotional states. Having them in the ranks as a permanent fixture has made everyone quite happy indeed.
Current Political Situation:
Any Wraith who can use Keening is a welcome sight in the eyes of the average denizen of the Underworld, regardless of whether they were a Chanteur or not. And as most Wraiths are completely in the dark about Miklos� treachery, no former Guildmembers are suffering any guilt by association. Whether they will when the truth gets out remains to be seen.
As for their relationships with other Guilds, they are mostly nonexistent, at least as far as they once were: they have no clout and no voice on the Council of Guilds, and know that they will never get it ever again. It is almost as though they never were a Guild in the first place, which has rankled the pride of some and mattered not a whit to others.
Those who once called themselves members of the Guild still find friends amongst the traveling bands of Masquer and Sandman entertainers. Those who work with the Storm Wardens of the Necropoli have found good friends with the Pardoners of that order. They maintain decent relations with the Alchemists, who have kind enough to supply relic instruments at a reasonable price.
Any enemy Guilds they might have once had no longer consider them much of a threat, and their members only seek to harm individual rivals rather than any �Chanteur� they come across.
The Harbingers
Nicknames: Angels, Flyboys (also Flygirls), Explorers, Blackeyes
Guildmaster: Abd al-Karita (Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Batuta)
Center of Power: None
Specialty Arcanos: Argos
Organization:
The Harbingers -- who often refer to themselves the Brotherhood of the Storm -- are a Guild in name only. Though they stand with the others as such, they lack much of the stratified tiers, hierarchies, and definite center of power that their fellows do. In fact, they are more of a widespread brotherhood set to a general task than a cohesive group designed to keep an Arcanos� uses a trade secret.
There is a good reason for this distinction. Most of the Arcanos-based groups who would one day be called Guilds were formed by groups of Wraiths who hailed from Europe and Russia. Though there were always some territorial and cultural differences, they still had more in common than not, especially in death. And given the nature of the Dark Kingdoms, those who were not of your own were alien, and to be feared or turned away.
The Harbingers, however, were always more at home in the storm than in the Shadowlands. As any Wraith with black eyes will tell you, that Storm knows no boundaries, so why, then, should those who plied its depths, witnessed its mysteries and patrolled its reaches be held within the walls of the Overworld? Anyone who searched, navigated or explored the Storm was as one in their knowledge and their ignorance, and any who needed help, or had it to offer, was a brother and friend.
Thus was born the Brotherhood of the Storm, known as the Harbingers in the Dark Kingdom of Iron, but called many other names by many other Wraiths from the lands outside of Stygia�s calling. Indeed, there was purportedly a time when almost every Dark Kingdom held at least one Haven, and all Wraiths who plied the storm were entitled to at least apply for an audience to be considered for Apprenticeship. Those of the Kingdoms of Ivory, Jade, Sand, Clay, Flint and Iron were as one when they met to speak of their travels, and anyone caught in the storm and needing aid was given it, regardless of who they were.
Sadly, those times have been over for ages and age, and yet the Code these ancient explorers, heralds, messengers, scouts and navigators remains to this day. It remains a very simple one indeed, and within its unwritten lines are the philosophies that rule the brotherhood. All Apprentices must memorize them, and to advance in Degree beyond that stage they must live them.
As you would have done to yourself, do unto others; as you do unto others,
do for yourself.
Anyone who helps you in time of need is your friend; anyone in need of
your aid is your friend.
Anyone who knows more than you is your teacher; anyone who knows less
than you is your student.
Never assume you know enough; never assume you know too much.
Respect the Storm and the Storm will respect you; understand the Storm
and you will understand yourself.
Such is wisdom.
|
Before most people who play WOD games on a regular basis run to the nearest toilet to be sick, remember that this is, most likely, not what really happened at all. Members of different Dark Kingdoms might occasionally help one another out, but having them all be great friends and members of some all-encompassing brotherhood is highly unlikely. What probably happened is less mythic, but more logical: as Argos-users from different Dark Kingdoms met in the Tempest they had a choice to cooperate or attack. Those who picked the former created temporary alliances, swapped stories and gave one another directions -- all of which was no doubt hampered by language problems. Over time, they�d meet up now and again and swap some more stories, and this would lead to the notions that (a) they were all brothers in the Storm and (b) they had a lot in common. But as for secret handshakes and a regular meeting place, forget it: how often do you visit folks you see on the downtown train? As for how the legend grew out of proportion, this is an easy thing to explain. The Harbingers have a number of traditions, and one of them is that they rarely, if ever, write anything down. Their internal culture is very oral, and everyone�s supposed to memorize what they need to know. After all, if danger�s looming you don�t have time to get out a notebook or pull out the map: you have to act -- NOW. And as with any origin, or any story, it tends to grow with the telling. When the Gaunts who told you the story aren�t around, you can let it grow so long as the important points stay the same. The audience remembers it and tells it and some of them let it grow, and maybe the finer points are exaggerated for effect. Before you know it, the simple flower�s become a wide garden, and the story�s just not what it used to be. So that�s how a story about meeting with other Kingdoms� sailors became a story about being friends with other Kingdoms� sailors, and then brothers with other Kingdoms� sailors. As unlikely as it sounds the Harbingers believe it, much like the Artificers� Cult of Nhudri believe Lord Nhudri to be a God. As for the truth -- in either case -- that�s entirely up to you. |
The ranks of the Harbingers, such as they are, are called Degrees. They are numbered from first to 25th, though it�s doubtful that any have gotten that high on this side of the Far Shores. The Degrees are not so much a standard by which pecking order is deduced as a statement of how much that Harbinger has achieved and learned.
In order to advance in rank, the Harbinger must do something: this can be as simple as memorizing the code and giving examples for each one (First Degree) to as difficult as finding something that no one has ever seen before in the Tempest, and giving the Guild accurate directions on how to get there and see it for themselves (20th Degree). She must present evidence of her having learned or done this something before a group of Harbingers of higher rank, and they decide whether this something is sufficient for an advance, or not.
A First Degree Harbinger is roughly equivalent to an Apprentice from another Guild, and the Fourth Degree could be considered a Journeyman -- with the pun most rightfully intended in the Harbingers� case. Past that, a brother must rise to the Ninth Degree to become considered a Master in others� eyes. All Degrees beyond that state are just reaffirmations of the Guildwraith�s dedication to the brotherhood�s code.
The Brotherhood does not have much in the way of a standing body of upper-echelon Harbingers who issue commands for �lesser� brothers to follow. In fact, all Harbingers are trained to be as self-sufficient as possible, making a regular regimen of orders and commands highly unnecessary. If something needs doing, someone is supposed to do it, and the first Harbinger on the scene who recognizes that problem is the one who is supposed to do it.
Much like there is no central authority, there is no center of power, either. Each Necropolis, tempest platform or isle large enough to accommodate one has a resting place known as a Haven. All instruction and training goes on there, and its location is known only to those who have reached the First Degree. It is there that the Guild can meet, discuss matters, welcome brothers in from the storm, and hold its presentation ceremonies.
By and large, the Harbingers are set to no schedule and issued no regular duty schedules. They are free to go and fulfill their calling, whatever that might be, so long as they uphold the code in all aspects of that calling. Of course, in the case of a serious emergency the brotherhood can call for a local or meeting to discuss the problem and find a solution for it, or issue a standing order. Since the Brotherhood tends to be so spread out and incommunicado half of the time, though, attendance is compulsory only if you were there to hear the summons.
In such meetings, those who bring any matter to the attention of the others have the floor, as opposed to those of the highest rank. Anyone has the right to speak and be heard at such a thing: those of higher rank merely have their words considered all the more for the experience of the one who utters them. Solutions to the problem are discussed, a vote is taken to see which one will be followed, and messengers are sent out to neighboring havens to let them know what they are doing. Those Havens may do whatever they like with the information, and their decisions in the matter are respected by all brother Harbingers, even if they are directly opposite from one another.
In spite of the unorthodox methods by which the Harbingers conduct their Guild, the other Guilds still have a face that they can connect to them. He is the august Gaunt known as �Lord� Abd al-Karita: attainer of the 20th rank of the Brotherhood, and a man who commands incredible respect from his brothers. All of the other Guildmasters hail him as a fellow Guildmaster, and accept his word as they would accept that of any other sort of person, but in truth he is just as much of a messenger as the Guild he represents. He can no more guarantee �his� Guild�s cooperation in any matter than he can command the Sun and the Moon to stand still in their places -- he can only lend his words to the nearest Haven, and hope they will be respected and influential to the ones beyond that.
Notable Groups:
The Harbingers are a very equivocal and kindly group to work with, at least so long as one upholds the code and does not try to consciously break it. Minor things can be sternly admonished or questioned, but there can be no worse crime in the eyes of a brotherhood based on trust than those things which totally betray it. Brothers who do often find themselves in for some rough justice, and this is carried out by the stern, anonymous Guardians of the Code.
The Guardians are a very secretive group. Any Harbinger of 9th rank or higher can be asked to join, but no one really knows just what the other Guardians are looking for in a candidate. Those on the outside of the group do not even know who the Guardians are, as they always conceal themselves in all-enclosing robes and cowls made of viscous Tempest material while performing their duties. This shadowy stuff also has the tendency to change their voices, making such identification nearly impossible to make.
Whenever someone is suspected of betraying the Guild, a meeting is called to discuss the matter, and the Guardian will show up at this time. The Guardian is entitled to lead the prosecution, and the mentor, or peers, of the accused is in charge of the defense. If the accused is found not guilty, then nothing more needs to be said. If the accused is not in attendance, which sometimes can happen, then the matter is postponed until she is. But if the accused is found guilty, a punishment must be ascribed, and this falls to the Guardian to decide based on the severity of what was done.
The Guardians have been known to be less than merciful. In times of relative calm, minor infractions of the code are punished by being lowered in rank and assigned to some herculean task -- such as �volunteering� for convoy duty in Spectre-infested areas -- while serious and criminal ones involve being chained tight, secured with a Nhudri�s Embrace and flung down into The Void. In these times of Maelstrom, being chained to a tree or flung headfirst into a gaping Nihil will do for the most egregious offenses, and there are any sort of dangerous and demeaning tasks for lesser ones.
The Guardians are not very popular at all, and it is for this reason that their members are not known but to other Guardians. The anonymity also provides them with a perfect opportunity to catch members in the act of crimes, and spread fear of being caught doing such a thing. They could be anywhere, watching you lie. They could be anyone, hearing you suggest cheating. Why take the risk of proposing such a scheme to a Guardian?
Current History:
The Harbingers were amongst the most active Guilds when the 6th Great Maelstrom erupted. That fact should never, ever be forgotten, and the losses they suffered in that moment should be held forever high as examples to all. Perhaps only the Pardoners can make a similar claim, were they not so humble as to avoid doing so.
Their numbers were in the breach and on the line when the Imperial Navy went to pound the strange, forgotten isle of Enoch -- which many higher-rank Harbingers knew of, of course. When that dread place exploded with the fire of a terrible relic weapon, it was a Harbinger who flew over the London Necropolis to warn of a wavefront from Enoch. And when the Labyrinth exploded, and the horrible waves of the Maelstrom�s outbreak reached them, it was they who leapfrogged sailors to safe berthings, or perished in the attempt.
They were fighting Spectres in the streets of Stygia. They were carrying orders to and fro. When the battle had died down, and things calmed before the storm came back, they were the ones who reported in from the nearby Necropoli. And they were the ones who returned to the byways to give words of comfort and support to the places from whence they�d came.
Their attitude was as matchless as their bravery. No word of anyone deserting their posts was reported, and no grumbling or discontent was heard. All of them stood their ground, or air as the case may be, and went down fighting or doing what they could to make certain others were spared that terrible thing.
When the battle was over, the brothers who had called the Isle of Sorrows their Haven regrouped and took their things elsewhere. Abd al-Karita, who had just barely survived the conflagration that took place, was taken to a place of safety to rest and heal. And though it would be several months before the other Guildmasters would hear from him, it was not very long before they would see the Harbingers back where they belonged: namely, everywhere.
Of course, some of their activities had to be curtailed. Any promises or contracts they�d made to do things in the Storm were all canceled for obvious reasons, at least for the time being. The byways were taken with much caution, and no one in their right mind went anywhere in the Tempest if it could be avoided. Like they had done in any Great Maelstrom before, they readapted to the Shadowlands, and began to teach old Arts that were more suited to this time.
In time, Abd al-Karita received an invitation to come to a reformed Council of Guilds, and he did indeed. During the meeting he was a strong but somewhat quiet presence, as was his usual manner. If he was pleased to see the Artificers lose control of the floor, he made no sign of it, and seemed genuinely saddened that Lord Ember was not there.
For their part of the agreement, he shrewdly agreed to say that his fellows would aid those in need of rescuing without asking for a fee. Of course, this is what they would do anyway, and as a result he was able to keep the Harbingers amongst the recognized Guilds with that service. If any of the other Guilds had any complaints about such a maneuver they said nothing -- a fact that made many Havens laugh when they were told of it.
He also said that he would see if his fellows would offer free instruction in using Argos, though, as he stated, many of the uses will not be useful for some time to come. Phantom Wings do not work in Maelstroms, and the Tempest is someplace that very few would brave at a time like this. All the same, the other Guildmasters were gratified at this announcement and paid the warnings no mind.
And so, they have continued on doing what they have been so famous for for so long.
Current Activities:
Like the Pardoners, the Harbingers never suffered too terribly from the ban on the Guilds. As such, they are behaving really no differently now than how they did before, though their havens are once more adorned with the gilt plaques and proud signs of their trade. There is also a measure of more pride than before in their voices when they say �yes, I am a Harbinger� if asked.
During the most recent Council of Guilds, Abd al-Karita made a promise that the Guild would continue to aid those in need of it, which they would do anyway. He also said that they would teach their Arts to all who asked, and this has also been done. Why they would do such a thing is a good question, but it has a simple answer: the Guild is starting a heavy recruitment drive.
The Harbingers suffered high casualties when the Storm broke out, and the act of performing their duties since then has taken an even larger bite from their numbers. And so, while teaching their new students, they keep an eye out for anyone who seems to have a true knack for using their Arcanos. Anyone who does is watched to see how they behave when faced with certain situations, and anyone who passes such surreptitious tests is approached to try out for an Apprenticeship.
All the same, al-Karita suggested to the others -- most of whom agreed with this -- that such Arts beyond the Wings not be taught to those outside. The most basic of things would be enough, and anything past that would give too many foolhardy Wraiths just enough rope to hang themselves in the storm. Apprentices alone should be taught those higher things.
On their own, the Guild has taken up their old calling of heraldry. They feel they must spread the news of Stygia�s fall, and word of what�s being done in its place, to every corner of what was once a part of the Dark Kingdom of Iron. News must be spread. Messages must be carried. The old network of messengers must be reestablished so the process of rebuilding can truly begin. They are still charging for messenger duty, of course, but are doing so at reduced rates.
The Guild�s chief source of inquiry these days is based on reports of return traffic from the Far Shores. There�s word spread that some ships have come back, bearing news. What that news is, and who�s telling it, is something they feel they must hear for themselves -- especially when one considers that the only Wraiths capable of getting from there back to here must be very adept Harbingers.
And as for a larger project: now that the Dark Kingdom of Iron is no more, those who look back at the tales of the old times would like to see such a wide, all-encompasing brotherhood brought together once more. For it was entanglements with one�s homeland, rather than internal stresses, that are said to have brought that age to an end.
Though the brotherhood�s code was written in such a way as to promote charity, the Dark Kings who held the Brotherhood�s members in fief were not so charitable. Those who were caught aiding �the enemy� were punished by their own governments, and yet those who did not help their �brothers� were punished by the Harbingers� Guardians of the Code. It was a no-win situation for those whose Fetters were still held by their people, or could not turn their back on their homelands for other reasons -- some difficult for Stygian Wraiths to follow.
And so, many foreign contingencies of Wraiths were boiled down to the few who�d escaped the dragnets their own governments. Some of these yet remained until the Far Shores called to them, ages past, but the days of looking at a mass of brothers from different corners of the Underworld, flying through the Storm on wings, kites, skiffs and flying carpets, or looking like great winged animals or fish, were no more. Now, some say, the time has come to extend a hand to those Kingdoms once more and say �come and be one with us again.�
Only time will tell if this offer is taken up.
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The Argos Art known as �Phantom Wings,� which allows flight in both the Tempest and the Shadowlands, is traditionally depicted amongst Stygian Wraiths as creating a pair of gossamer wings, much like angels� wings, to mark its use. However, what a lot of Wraiths don�t know is that the wings are NOT what allow flight: the wings act as a conduit through which the Wraith accesses what gives her the power of limited flight, whatever that might be... As such, it�s not necessary for the wings to look angelic at all: demonic wings, batlike wings, birdlike wings, butterfly wings and anything else imaginable are all perfectly acceptable. Further, it�s not even necessary for the wings to be wings, especially since Argos-users in different Dark Kingdoms often materialize different things.
The only rules seem to be: the �wings� cannot be larger in total mass than the Harbinger herself (so while a rocket pack, surfboard, birdlike carapace or large iron pot would be acceptable, a car, Concorde or train engine would not); a Wraith must be Incorporeal to use the �wings� in the Shadowlands; the �wings� cannot act as armor; �wings� will not work in a Maelstrom whose current Force is higher than Force One, as the Wraith is incapable of controlling flight under such conditions, and the �wings� will shatter or shred from the psychosomatic stress (using �wings� in a Force One Maelstrom is cause for constant Dexterity + Athletics or Dodge rolls to avoid falling debris and the like, too). Storytellers should encourage their players to decide whether their Argos-using Wraiths use the common paradigm for their wings, or materialize something else, based on what their characters are like. |
Current Political Situation:
Saying that the Harbingers are well-loved and respected by the Wraiths they move amongst is like saying that everyone likes something cold on a hot day, and that�s when they DON�T need their asses hauled out of the Tempest. Even during the height of Stygian oppression of Guilds, no one -- not even a Deathlord -- would dare bother a Harbinger. That respect, trust, and perhaps fear, continues to this day.
If you asked them, they would say that, being apolitical, they are on good relations with all their fellow Guilds. Of course, that�s what they�re supposed to say, and many do. But in reality there are those who their rank and file would rather deal with, and those they would not.
As such, they are on very good relations with the Artificers, Monitors and Pardoners. The Artificers have always been a source of material goods for their trips, the Monitors have always been excellent helmsmen in the storm due to their ability to judge their Fetters� distances -- just don�t let them look at yours -- and the Pardoners because everyone needs a good �cleansing� when they come back to shore.
Almost everyone else is grouped under �useful.� The Alchemists have, of late, fallen under question for their ability to appear out of nowhere without being seen in the Tempest. While this is hardly cause for hatred, some speculation as to their becoming an alternative for the Guild�s time-honored efforts has been making the rounds. Still, if anything goes wrong for any of their number, they need help as surely as any others.
But there are exceptions to �useful.� The Solicitors are bad news and, though they say one should help anyone, there have been instances where a boatful of green-eyed refugees are left to the storm�s mercies. The Mnemoi were often left to this fate as well, and though the Pardoners -- and Abd al-Karita, who was at Stygia when it fell -- swear that it was all a hoax that went badly for Charon and the Mnemoi -- many of the ordinary Harbingers still feel that they�re best left for the Spectres to eat. It will take a while for that perception to change.
