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Guild of Blades

"We sell weapons. We sell hands to wield them. We sell loyalty by the season. The cheapest of these is loyalty."
— Mottoof the Span hall

The arms-and-soldiers guild. Sells weapons, armor, military goods, mercenary contracts, and private security across Aarklash. Cadwallon's most visible commercial muscle and the guild whose troops most often appear on Rag'narok battlefields. The most ethnically diverse of the major guilds — Blades hires everyone who can fight.

What They Do

  • Arms trade — weapons and armor from the Blacksmiths enter the Blade catalog and ship to every fightable culture on the continent
  • Mercenary contracts — Blades fields its own companies under guild colors. The trading posts of the guild's companies raise their oriflammes at the start of the Time of Banners each year.
  • Private security — bodyguards for nobles, embassies, and visiting dignitaries
  • Military training — the Welding Arc and the Shooting Range in Thunder Vale are partly Blade-run. The Blades also run private salles d'armes in Crimson Dress (Drakaër).
  • The Field of Honor — formal dueling ground in the [[Free District]] of Drakaër. Bladesmasters arbitrate.

Headquarters

  • The Span hall in Ogrokh — the central trade hall. Vast covered market, attached barracks, embassy of Akkylannie across the square. Blade companies muster here at the start of each campaign season.
  • Trade posts at the harbor for outbound shipments
  • Salles throughout the upper city for individual training

The Khaurik Argam Arrangement

The Blades operate from Ogrokh under a standing fee paid to the Khaurik Argam family in exchange for control over military activities in the fief. The arrangement was unstable for years until the Khaurik Argam founder's policy of permanent loyalty proved the family wouldn't seize Blade property. The arrangement has held for over a century. The current succession crisis under Kurn Khaurik Argam threatens it.

The Thunder Vale Crisis

The arms-makers' war

Since the regency power-grab by Dazomet (Kurn's goblin godfather) in 1002, the Thunder Vale Shooting Range has shifted production from dwarven weaponsmiths to goblin craftsmen at Dazomet's encouragement. The Blades' senior council is divided:

  • One faction wants to back Kurn and restore the dwarven smiths (preserving traditional quality and the Tir-Nâ-Bor relationship)
  • One faction wants to side with Dazomet's goblin smiths (cheaper, faster, and politically protected by No-Dan-Kar)
    The Duke's intervention has frozen the situation. The next move triggers a Thunder Vale civil conflict. The Blade companies are quietly choosing sides. So is the Blacksmiths' guild.

Isabeau Soma — The Hunter

Isabeau Soma, niece of Vanho Soma and daughter of the murdered Anon Soma, joined the Guild of Blades and works as a senior operative. Officially she handles diplomatic security contracts working with [[Brehnan of Alahan]], the Alahan ambassador, at Whitehaven in Heaven Heights. Unofficially she is the spear-point of the Soma vendetta against the Usurers and the hunt for Sophet Drahas.

She owns (but rarely visits) the Last Dance cabaret in Heaven Heights.

Allies in the Rag'narok

The PHB lists: all peoples. The widest alliance roster alongside the Ferrymen — Blades sells to anyone who pays. Cadwallon's commercial neutrality runs through the Blades as much as the Ferrymen.

Relations

  • [[Khaurik Argam]] / Ogrokh — long-standing landlord arrangement. Strained by the 1002 succession crisis.
  • Guild of Blacksmiths — supplier and partner. Where the Thunder Vale war goes, both guilds follow.
  • Alahan embassy / [[Brehnan of Alahan|Brehnan]] — strong working alliance. Isabeau Soma is the bridge.
  • Free Leagues — primary professional rival and recruiting pool. Many free leaguers are former Blades; many Blades wish they were free leaguers. Mutual professional respect; occasional contract disputes.
  • Militia — ambiguous. The militia regards mercenaries with suspicion; the Blades regard militiamen as undertrained civil servants.
  • Drakaër family — strong. The Field of Honor and the [[Light Cavalry Academy of Lanever]] both operate under Blade arbitration.

Isabeau wants a team

Isabeau Soma has new intelligence on Sophet Drahas's hold on the Devil card and the Talisman of Shadows. She needs a small, deniable team that isn't on any guild's payroll. The job is suicidal. She is paying like the Soma family is going to spend itself out of existence to settle the vendetta.

The contract from the wrong side

A Blade company is offered an extremely lucrative contract — written in good faith, by a respectable client. Halfway through the work, the team realizes they are protecting a Drahas operation. They can finish the contract and earn what they were promised. They can break the contract and lose Blade standing. They can renegotiate with the original target and learn who set up the contract in the first place.