Guilds for adventurers

Cartographers guild

Principally concerned with mapping and exploration of distant lands for colony and plunder, their presence in more well-known areas turn attention more towards the discovery of lost and hidden places, the types adventurers tend to find. With time their pursuits have branched into knowledge and information of other kinds, and a good cartographers guild library can look like a jungle of strange papers and inscrutable writings. Technically the leader of the guild is the ever-absent Choriam Bangra, currently believed to be searching an underground jungle for an entrance to the Eternal Path. The true power is held by a supposedly temporary council, the eight Chief Scribes.

Olaf the Meat Tenderiser by Ricardo Robles

Butchers guild

One of the most powerful food guilds in the land. Any butcher worth their salt will have guild certification, and for many taverns the certification is a mark of prestige. In the adventuring world however, the butchers guild is mainly known for their meat markets, willing to buy all manner of huge dead beasts (as long as they can be proven edible), and even employing a good number of alchemists. The guild is headed by the Kythel twins, who are known for taking joy in cutting apart large monsters.

Salvagers guild

Once a lower-grade offshoot of the builders guild, this group has found renewed purpose in stripping the oldest, abandoned places of anything potentially valuable. The leader is elected semi-democratically, with votes given to guild members based on their performance. Currently the guild is headed by Saliiz Mernir, known for keeping such a myriad of personal items that their office is almost akin to a junk heap. Their diligent style of precise leadership sharply contrasts with that of the previous head, Erham Loen, who was more of a hands-off, minimalist type.

Early Mourning by Patryk Olas

Burial guild

There are countless places deep in the earth where the dead are left in old stone halls and caves, lost to their gods. This small but spirited group has dedicated themselves to gathering the abandoned dead and giving them their proper rites. They are generally hostile toward practitioners of necromancy, with certain exceptions. There are necromancers in the guild, known as the Stewards, who use their art exclusively to gently guide the dead toward a proper resting place. Many of the guild's funerary rites include sanctification of various kinds to prevent future necromancy, and they usually give rites based on the culture of the one who died, if they can find it out. Word of the burial guild's Grave Tower has spread far and wide, a rising catacomb where the honored dead are interred and the occasional meetings of the guild leadership are held.

Sitting hijabit fashionista by Rabia El Mouden

Mercers guild

Once focused on solely women's fashion, their stakes have broadened to include not just fashion but all manner of far off cultures. It is said by some that a spider controls the guild, though they vehemently deny such claims and believe the rumor was started by their rivals in the weavers guild. Officially they have no overarching leader, only localized chapter heads in different areas. 

Mages guild

Less a meeting of the minds and more a club of magically well-wishers, mostly low-ranking nobles and bored merchants seeking to fill empty days with some mild intrigue. They might have a bit of money for purchasing a fanciful trinket, but their prices can most likely be matched or bettered by a wealthier patron or more practical-minded organization. Their etiquette rules are extensive and stringent.

The Storyteller by Lucas Sorrenti

Storytellers guild

Collectors of tales and folklore, finding their nearest outpost can often reveal the legends of almost every village for miles around.