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Guild of Birders

"Pardon me, my Lady. Could you please avoid touching this flower — we could lose you to raptures."
— Discourse of a Provost of the Bird Catchers to visitors on Immobilis

The youngest of Cadwallon's official guilds. Founded in 992 to regulate the catching, transport, and sale of exotic fauna from the Immobilis archipelago — the chain of islands east of the city where Desire's dreams seed Garden-strange life into the world.

What They Do

  • Bird Catchers' field operations — capture, breed, and ship rare birds, mammals, reptiles, and arthropods from Immobilis to the Cadwallon market. The most valuable exports of the archipelago after slave-cargo and dream-wood.
  • Quarantine — every specimen entering the city must be inspected. The Birders maintain holding pens at the [[Marina]] and the Buoyancy Bay docks.
  • Provost training — the Provosts are the senior catchers, trained to handle Garden-touched specimens without falling into rapture. Most are former Voyagers or Daïkinee forest-walkers.
  • Botanical samples — the same Provosts also collect the addictive flora the Guild of Tailors uses for noble fashion-fabrics. Officially this is "shared expertise"; in practice it's a small monopoly the Tailors pay handsomely to keep.

Headquarters

  • The Provost's Hall on Immobilis — fortified compound on the main island. Holds breeding pens, the central archive of species records, and the Provost council chamber.
  • Cadwallon branch office — small, by the [[Marina]] docks. Mainly a customs and inspection post.

Why They Exist

Before 992, Immobilis fauna was traded by anyone with a fast boat. Several catastrophic releases — addictive moths into Heaven Heights, a Garden-vine into Petropolis, and the infamous rapture-flower incident at the ducal court in 991 — forced the Duke to charter a regulating body. Den Azhir signed the founding writ as one of his early acts; founding the Birders was popular and demonstrated competence.

The Real Job

What the Provosts actually study

Immobilis is a magical-grove archipelago — every island is a shoot from Desire's prison. The Provosts are the only profession in Cadwallon with sustained, dispassionate exposure to Garden-touched ecology. They have opinions about what Desire is dreaming. They don't share them. But the senior Provosts are quietly the best living source of intelligence on Desire's current state — and the rate of Garden activity has measurably increased since 999. They know. The Duke knows they know.

Relations

  • Duke Den Azhir — direct patronage. The Duke considers the Birders his eyes on Immobilis.
  • Guild of Tailors — close commercial alliance over the dream-flora.
  • Guild of Ferrymen — operational partner. Every Birder shipment goes by Ferrymen vessel.
  • Voyagers — recruiting overlap. Many Provosts are former Voyagers; the two organizations exchange information freely.
  • Guild of Thieves — antagonistic. The Thieves smuggle uninspected Immobilis goods; the Birders confiscate and prosecute.

The escaped specimen

Something got loose during the last shipment. The Birders are paying free leaguers under the table to recapture it before the public finds out. The specimen has been quietly killing dogs in Crimson Dress.

Why the rate is climbing

A senior Provost contacts the party privately. The yearly catch census shows Garden-touched specimens climbing 30% year-on-year since 999. She wants to know why. She knows asking inside the guild will get her replaced. She'll fund an expedition to Immobilis if the PCs can keep their mouths shut.