Silver Shield Mercenary Guild

[Velaryon]

In order to help make things peaceful, control the monster populations in the area, and provide ways for adventurers to coordinate, the Silver Shield Mercenary Guild was chartered in late 1372. The first Guild outpost opened in Darromar, the capital of Tethyr, in 1373. Outposts were opened in Zazesspur and Myratma in 1374, and a new outpost in Riatavin opened in early 1375.

While actually a private company, the Silver Shield Mercenary Guild operates under approval of the crown, and is subject to Tethyrian law. The Guild accepts missions from any Tethyrian person, business, church, or other organization, and posts the mission for one of its members to take on.

Once accepted, a mission is graded by a Guild clerk on its expected difficulty on a scale of 1 to 10. This rating is posted along with the mission. Obviously the clerk cannot foresee everything that will happen on a mission, so the ratings are not always accurate, but they generally serve to tell Guild members how much trouble they can expect from a given mission.

The Silver Shield Mercenary Guild takes a very hands-off approach to its membership. There is no membership fee, but prospective members must meet the requirements established by the head office in Darromar. Once accepted, applicants are issued a license, and may accept any posted job either individually or as a group.

[Velaryon]

The official rules of the Silver Shield Mercenary Guild are few, but non-negotiable.

1. Anyone may post a job to the Guild, subject to Guild approval. The Guild will not accept jobs that violate any Tethyrian law, nor will any individual Guild Outpost accept jobs that violate the local laws of the city. Should a job be accepted, a contract will be drawn out with the client stipulating the exact requirements for fulfillment of that job.


2. The client that posts a job must deliver the full amount of the reward to the Guild before the job will be posted. The client is given a receipt, and the reward is held in Guild vaults until completion of the mission according to the contract, at which time it is paid to the agents who completed the mission.


3. The Guild takes 10% of all rewards paid, which is deducted from any money given to the Guild by the client. In the case of non-monetary rewards, a fee is assessed to the agents upon payment of their reward equal to 10% of the reward’s estimated monetary value according to Guild appraisal.


4. Clients may choose to contract exclusively with one party, or allow an open bounty to be paid to the first agent party to complete it successfully. Such details must be established in the contract.


5. Jobs may only be accepted by licensed Guild agents. To obtain a license, agents must meet the requirements established by the head office in Darromar. Once issued, a Guild license is good at any Guild outpost in Tethyr.

[Velaryon]

I made a change to rule 3. Now, the 10% is taken out of the reward before it's posted. This is because I kept forgetting to deduct the Guild's fee during the game.

[Thallatos]

I'm guessing that it is not possible to do a job before making a contract with a client and try to make it legal to be a guild job afterward.

[Velaryon]

You mean negotiate directly with a potential client and then take the mission to the Guild? Why would you? That would just entitle the Guild to 10% of your payment. And as Guild agents, you are independent contractors, so there is nothing preventing you from negotiating another job directly with someone interested in hiring you.

I suppose if you really want to, you could take such a request to the Guild and cut them in on your action, but the benefits of doing so elude me.

[Thallatos]

Oh ya then there is no reason to go to the guild with it afterward. As long as it's all legal it's all good. Thanks for the information.