HistoryThe young acolyte Beliy Senneca returns quietly to Hydlea from his time cloistered with the Grand Mages of the Crystal Way. Remembering with consternation the difficult path of the newcomer in this beautiful and prosperous land, he heads straight to the sewers to begin the tedious task of kicking rats until they roll over with a slight whimper. Ever so carefully he skins the varmint, carefully removing their tails and eyes while he works. It isn't that long before a slew of the beady eyed beasts gather to nip at his modestly covered feet in mob fashion. Soon he knows it will be time for him to visit the other Realm.
A cold and bewildering place, the Death Realm offers many an opportunity for the hapless visitor to lose his footing, to be returned once again face to face with the Death Guardian. Tis he who Beliy had come to see in the first place, knowing that the hulking beast will be all too happy to offer him a few meager coins for his trappings. Though a much easier destination for his wares, Beliy knows the Arena is no place for one unpracticed in the art of combat, and that he surely will have to, like it or not, visit the Other Side many times anyway. So, he is content to sell his rat parts to the Guardian he has becoming accustomed to visiting. Slowly he makes his way down the long, narrow pathways and up the circuitous stairways to find the portal back to the Other Side-- that of the living.
After many of these round trips, the mage-to-be manages to raise the funds to purchase a pick axe and pays the town smithy some of his hard earned money for a bit of instruction on how to dig for gold. But this frail young man is so very bad at mining, he knows many long days and nights in the sewers lay ahead still, so that he can, day by day pay for more tutoring in the finer points of mining. Beliy slowly feels his mind that he had spent so long sharping with the Mages becoming duller and duller with each swing of his pick.
One night, after a long day in the sewers and a doubly long night in the mines, Beliy was fellowshipping with his new neighbors in front of the smithy's shop when along came a Dwarf who called out, "Looking for newcomers! Who needs work?" Quickly Beliy queued up behind an unfortunate chap who he overheard being sent to the next town over for some errand or another. Having been there some years before, Beliy dreaded the thought of being sent there, knowing how very little endurance he had after his time studying the Arcane Arts. The town the stranger had been sent to lays over a perilous mountain range, the path filled with many nasty rouges, bandits, and justs plain thugs-- not to mention many impossibly large beasts.
With trepidation Beliy stepped up to the strong looking Dwarf and swallow hard. "Lets take a walk Beliy," he said confidently. Unsure what the Dwarf could possibly have to say, he followed none the less to a nearby park bench. "I've seen you around here a lot, Beily," he stated as he settling himself onto the bench. "How are you doing?," he enquired. Thus began a long conversation with the total stranger seated before him. He quietly took a seat on the ground at his feet, recounting his life story up to that day, and try as he might, found himself completely unable to contain his frustrations. The Dwarf listened quietly, interrupting only to ask strategic questions intended to size up the young acolyte. "Beliy, I believe you to be of pure heart" , he concluded. "I will lend you enough money for you to complete your mining training. You can repay me when you are able." This the kind Dwarf volunteered, completely unprovoked by the mild mannered Beliy. Astounded, before even seeing the seemingly huge sum of money his new benefactor was about to offer, Beliy stammered, "Good Sir, if you do this I shall repay ten-fold for your kindness as soon as I am able. Count on that!"
Without hesitation the wealthy Dwarf opened his money pouch and produced four golden circles which he readily handed to Beliy before wandering off. The next morning Beliy raced to the smithy and paid in full the rest of his beginner's mining training. Twas a turning point, to be sure, for the frail Ylian with so many large dreams. But, he soon found, not the complete answer to his prayers. His magic was hardly strong enough to make an impression on even a clacker. and pursuing further study was even more expensive than he realized.
From odd job to odd job Beliy wandered, kind to all. He was able to repay his debt to the Dwarf soon enough, and met many of his friends. This independently wealthy dwarf no longer craved the explorer's lifestyle, and was happy with his games of merriment and chance. Beliy knew that if he was going to find an occupation, he would have spend less time throwing dice and more time in other pursuits. He was greatful to sign on as the lacky of a benevolent Dark fighter. Together they ran through the hinterlands, the Dark one teaching Beliy many survival skills such as how to bring down unwitting prey, and especially how to spot thugs who would easily give up their weapons. They would split the booty always, selling it readily for the low prices the local merchants offered. There was, never any doubt, however, that the Dark one needed Beliy much less than Beliy needed him.
Then, one night Beliy found himself back in the local tavern, dice in his hands once again, slinging back fine Darvinian Ale. That night the young student of the Crystal would lose nearly everything he had worked so very hard to earn. The dwarf's friends were reluctant, ney, hostile to the idea of taking the young one's last golden circle, but for Beliy it was a matter of pride. He always paid his debts.
T'was the next morning Beliy took stock of his seemingly sorry life in this fine city. He had learned to mine gold, iron and coal, he produced steel to make his own dagger, had become servicable with his trusty Opal and Sapphire encrusted axes, and had made some headway towards learning more about repairing simple weapons, a skill his father had taught him years before. Yet he felt lost in this beautiful place. "Friend," he said, "sell my axes-- keep the loot, just demand a good price!" He knew that he would no longer have need of them. The time had come for him to return to his own path, that of the Light-- healing others, doing acts of kindness, and espousing the ideals of teamwork and demonstrating the strength that can be summoned when friends and neighbors pool there psychic energies towards a common cause. That day The Yliakum Exemplar Seneschal was born!
PurposeThe Exemplar Seneschal can be found in their shelter located just up the first set of stairs on your right as you leave the plaza towards the north gate.
Their soul purpose is...
"To give a hand up to the newcomers to Hydlea"...as the Dwarf had once done for Beliy. Citizens of Yliakum are a helpful lot, certainly. Well, most of them are anyway. Most who have settled here are always happy to take a moment out of their busy schedule to answer a few questions from a traveller, and may even gift them a weapon or a bit of tria to help them on their way. But The Exemplar Seneschal believe that perhaps just a bit more effort will add strength to the fabric of our great and wonderous land.
Like a weapon crafted at the local smithy shop, if you sharpen the blade and hastily assemble your parts, you will produce a sword or dagger that is certainly servicable. In the hands of the right warrior, that blade may well slay the mightiest of beasts. But most will wear out quickly and be of little value. Newcomers are much the same. Answer their questions and they will smile and wander off happily. You walk away knowing that you have done a good deed, and feeling quite satisfied with yourself. Then the weeks pass, and you look around and that traveller has moved on to parts unknown rather than settling down and becoming an established citizen.
When you craft your weapon, if you work your blade a bit, folding it many times with great care, a much finer weapon is produced--one built to last. Tis much more likely that blade will be the one that slays the mighty ulber menacing our city's residents. Newcomers to our land are much the same, we feel. Spend some time with them, guiding them as they become stronger and more confindent, and they are much more likely to become a valuable member of our community. That is exactly what The Exemplar Senseschal hope to do.
The idea is give counsel to newcomers who have a sincere interest in settling in our city, within the confines of our sanctuary's classrooms-- away from the hard working citizens of the plaza. There the newcomer will find refuge and encouragement from the Exemplar Seneschal. Trained staff will conduct lesson's in small groups. These lessons will have very defined objectives designed to help our student's learn the fundamentals of making their way in our land, and how they can become valuable contributors to our society.
Should they wish to join the Exemplar's, they will offered a short-term membership as a Fryer within our ranks. Highly skilled craftsmen, miners, rangers, magic wielders, and fighters will provide valuable training, goods, and yes maybe even a few circles to those who show promise-- in exchange for them completing quests and tasks for The Guild. They will be given an introduction to the benefits of joining a guild, shown the importance of being prepared to take up arms to defend the Guild's honor or the safety of their new home, and taught the proper conventions of good conduct in our land. The ironic ultimate goal however is
to graduate these newcomers to other professional guilds. Nothing would give Beliy greater satisfaction than to see these newcomers outgrow the Exemplar Seneschal and move on-- for, as we all know, there are plenty more coming.
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[OOC]
I've gotten very polarized feedback from those I've discussed this concept with so far-- they either seem to love it, or think it is destined for failure: "It's been tried before", "everyone already helps noobs", "that's what our guild does already [when we are not doing this or that]", "there isn't enough of a foundation there to make a guild succeed" are all comments I've heard before, so if that's what you're thinking about now, that's fine. I'll spend the 20,000 tria and have a smashingly fun time failing while you do other things.
If on the other hand, you'd like to pitch in and help, contact Beliy or Tolol in game.
Essentially the idea is much like the current adopt-a-newbie concept currently being promoted now, though I've been letting it germinate for some weeks in my head now. Basically-- Help the noobs to learn to create the character they envision and then learn to roleplay it responsibly. Ideally after a newbie has been in our guild two or three weeks perhaps, we can send them your way with a few tria in their pocket, some experience and npc training, and perhaps a quality weapon-- ready for action. If we do succeed, we will need a basic understanding of many of the established guilds, if we are to refer our graduates to them. So, even if you're already in a guild, and not particularly interested in joining, stop and introduce yourself to me so that we can get a feel for who to send where.
