Chapter 12: Guilds and Factions
The Guild House of Punchy Bastards was smaller than Raine had expected.
Of all the factions and guilds that had courted them after they had made their appearance in the Inner Worlds, Punchy Bastards stood out for two reasons. One was the name, which was terribly irreverent compared to most of the guilds that jostled for power inside the great factions which ruled the Inner and War Worlds, and the other was that the invitation had come from an Alum. The first and so far only one they had even seen.
Not that they’d skimped on investigating the guild in question once they’d gotten the invitation — which had consisted of the Alum appearing, remarking they should join, and vanishing again. Punchy Bastards was incredibly elite, with no clear recruitment policy, but also entirely insular. They owned exactly one town on each War World, and that was it. No politics, no maneuvering, no recruitment drives or pitches. They didn’t even owe any fealty to the big factions, being entirely independent.
The latter point was one of the most important, as they needed to avoid being locked out of other factions or being expected to follow along with some god’s plans. That narrowed their options considerably, and the two of them coming as a set narrowed things even more. The specialty guilds that focused on fire or ice weren’t particularly enticing, nor were the specifically combat-oriented ones. So far their most likely options were exploration guilds, but those were not particularly high profile.
Punchy Bastards was, though, and the reputation was more than enough to bring them to its central hall on War World Lek, surrounded by mountains that reached tens of miles into the sky. They had to join some organization or another, that much was clear. Beyond the extra costs they needed to pay to use buildings as outsiders, some aspects of the highest ranks were just not available to anyone without an affiliation. Like the resurrections they’d earned.
Compared to other Guild Halls, it wasn’t ornate and oversized, but someone had clearly put a lot of time and effort in personalizing it. The standard white block had been transformed into a solid-looking building of dark grey metal, with sturdy columns and large windows, albeit ones that were opaque from the outside. There was also some level of sensory obstruction, as they couldn’t tell what was inside, though it didn’t exhibit the obvious wards seen in other cities.
“Do we just walk up and knock?” Leese asked over the link, and Raine sent back a mental shrug as the pair went to do just that. The door opened at Raine’s touch, swinging open silently in front of them, and the moment they passed the threshold all the protections fell away. They could tell who was inside, and it was more than they had ever expected.
There were four distinct Alum signatures, as well as a dozen Azoths, in an interior much larger than the exterior would suggest. There were crafting areas, sparring rooms, lounges, bedrooms, and everything that would normally be seen in a city, but arranged inside a Guild Hall. The rooms were brightly lit by not only the suns shining through skylights above, but by windows opening onto other War Worlds — windows that seemed to be portals as well, making the Guild Hall more of a Nexus than most capital cities. The Alum that had suggested they drop by appeared in front of them with a whisper of essence, and they actually had time to [Appraise] him.
[Shiel-Ruyu the Punchy Bastard – Alum]