[GUILD] The Academy of the Sword

[Anumesa]

The Academy of the Sword

Not too long ago a lemur named Irido came to the city of Hydlaa. A traveller from another floor and a son of rich merchants, he too wanted to start a business of his own and follow in his family's footsteps. When he reached Hydlaa, he conversed much with the traders there as well as the blacksmiths. He learned of the current decline of the weapons market and of the vicious rogues that wandered the roads between each city. Irido, being the good person he is, decided he would end both problems at once, thus creating the Academy.

Goals
-To create a school where citizens can learn how to craft and wield the sword, using their skills to benefit Hydlaa.
-To help create and maintain a balanced weapons economy, benefitting crafters and warriors.
-Train more warriors capable of riding the roads of evils such as the rogues.

Ranks

Head Merchant – The head instructor who calls the meetings of the Merchant's Circle. In rank, he is equal to the Merchant's Circle except for his duty of calling the meetings.

Merchant's Circle - These members are similar to a Board of Directors, it is their duty to determine the current focus of The Academy and to deal with certain problems and issues that may occur...The number one concern to them is the students of the Academy and their quality of education and life.

Master Smith– This is the instructor of all the smiths, he teaches them how to strategize in marketing and get a upper hand in today’s economy.

Swordsmaster – The law demands that one knows how to defend oneself. The Academy has a swordsmaster available for this very purpose, and also to teach their students to defend themselves and others in a time of need.

Trader – These members sell the wares of the Academy to raise profits benefitting the quality education.

Blacksmith – These are the regular blacksmiths that are always willing to take an apprentice under their wing.

Swordsmen– These highly experienced men and women guard the blacksmith stalls against rogues. They also may take an apprentice.

Apprentice – A student in The Academy.

[[OOC:

The Academy's true purpose is to be a war machine for the Fallen Kingdom. This is unfolded in three products: weapons, weapon wielders, and money.

Of the Academy ranks only the following know of the connection to the Kingdom, and each has their own purpose:

Head Merchant - His/her real purpose is to remain as the single person who keeps in contact with the Kingdom, giving them names of incoming members to The Academy and names of members recommended for the Kingdom.

Merchant's Circle - They, along with the head merchant, decide who is ready for acceptance into the Kingdom. They also organize the removal (i.e. murder) of anyone who does not "fit" into the standards of the Fallen Kingdom, or who becomes a problem for The Academy.

Master Smiths and Swordsmasters - These leaders slowly mold the members and set them on the path to become eligible for the Fallen Kingdom. Students are secretly tested to see how they would react to certain situations, and if they do so favorably then they are recommended to the Merchants Circle.

All other rankings below these are oblivious to the alliance between the two guilds. If they are found to know about the Alliance but are not suited for moving on to the Kingdom then they are killed.

The 'Corruption' Process

To see how well someone at The Academy might fit in with the Fallen Kingdom, a Swordsmaster or Master Smith will send the person on a variety of tasks, each one becoming increasingly illegal to test the persons crave and will to gain power (similar to how the Black Flame quests work). The nominee will be sworn to secrecy and told beforehand of the consequences for breaking that promise.

If they continue down the path sucessfully then the Swordsmaster or Master Smith will recommend them to the Merchant Circle.

If they fail, either by giving up or being uncomforable about breaking the law, they can stay in The Academy as long as they promise never to speak of the situation. If they made it too far they could be expelled from the guild or killed. If they speak of what happened death is the punishment.]]

Recruitment

The Academy is always open for recruitment, willing to take any young and aspiring blacksmiths and/or warriors. You must only show your passion to learn and your willingness to master such skills obediently as an apprentice. 




***Disclaimer: All that I contributed to this was the edits (there were a lot of them) and the purple (there's a lot of that too) 

[Colinb]

Rinasho demands credit for rank descriptions nao!

[Shadow1490]

Sounds nice.
But I wonder if you should've told people about the FK connection

[Duraza]

But I wonder if you should've told people about the FK connection

We had that part put in the brackets and labeled OOC for a reason. If someone chooses to ignore us because of that specific knowledge that they had not gained because of an IC event then thats up to them.

Besides, if we hadn't mentioned the real purpose of this guild I'm sure it would have been shot down quickly 

[Velh Krome]

purpose is to be a war machine for the Fallen Kingdom

Well worded! Looking forward on its progress!

* Velh Krome rubs his hands

[Ralleyon]

Why is is called "The Academy" ?  It only seems to address the (would-be) merchant and crafter characters as far as I can see from the guild ranks.

[Velh Krome]

As I understood it, the governing guild is the Fallen Kingdom, and this sort of undercover spin-off has a simple purpose:
Educate them, make use of them, exploit them!
The name just sounds too innocent and unobtrusive to me, simple, dry and direct - fitting!

[Zan]

I don't like the name much either to be honest ... it's too generic and explains nothing about it's purpose. In medieval times crafters would never have even come close to an academy, they were trained 'in the field' not in an intellectual organisation of scholars. An Academy makes you think of books, history, art, studying and such .. not hammering away in a smithy.

Everything else looks good to me.

[Tuxide]

I concur, the name sounds generic since there could be more than one such academy in Yliakum.  An "academy" makes me think of a military academy, however, so it would be suiting.

[Zan]

I thought of something else ...

Dakkru isn't supposed to be all that secretive, she's not like the Black Flame. The Goddess of Death likes to make an appearance as far as I know and enjoys attention, even if it's given in fear.

In that aspect I think the guild here is leaning a bit away from the Dakkru concept and turning it into a twin sister of the Black Flame. Not sure if that is such a good idea, unless the Fallen Kingdom isn't connected to Dakkru anymore?

[Duraza]

Why is is called "The Academy" ?

The reason its name like that is because thats the real purpose of the guild. An Academy to 'teach' people how to become suited to join FK. It was also purposely made to be such a general term (instead of something specific like The Kingdom Academy or Academy of Hydlaa) more from an IC arrogant point of view. Most in FK have quite an ego (though I've no idea where they get it from) and this is almost a way of showing of their ego by saying that this guild is 'the only' academy. Hence it is The Academy. One could ICly wonder about the name and perhaps even get suspicious about the guild. However, thats not an OOC mistake, it's an IC one created by the characters who designed the guild.

In that aspect I think the guild here is leaning a bit away from the Dakkru concept and turning it into a twin sister of the Black Flame. Not sure if that is such a good idea, unless the Fallen Kingdom isn't connected to Dakkru anymore?

I understand what your saying Zan and I assure you that too isn't an OOC flaw in the guilds design. Its another IC problem.... But I won't speak much more about that 

[Zan]

"The Academy" isn't much better than "The Academy of Yliakum", both are generic terms without any specifications. Yours is only a bit less arrogant, yes. How about "Academy of the Forge" or something? At least that says something specific about what's being taught there and leaves room for other types of academies to develop as well. It even sounds flashy!

Of course if you want to be seen IC for being egotrippers who live above their standing, then you can keep the name.

As for the second one .. I trust you there.

P.S.: I do know why the FK has big egos .. that's because your main way of recruiting includes stroking those egos and luring them with promises of becoming bigger egos

[Anumesa]

Its not just a specific academy though, it also teaches swordsmanship and how to fight. So changing the name to "the academy of the forge" or something similar would leave out those aspects. When we were coming up with the name (i actually take credit for it  ) I wanted it to be intentionally vague. The name The Academy sort of brought to mind suspicious men in black suits and that whole idea of ulterior motivations and a certain level of secrecy (yes i know there are no black suits in Yliakum ). That along with the ego of the Fallen Kingdom makes it an appropriate title to me

[Ralleyon]

I understand your reasons, but I still disagree.

It's the same thing with The Organization. You may be the best players in PS, you may have very nice guild ranks and background story, but the name is still too generic. Think of it this way - you're deliberately removing part of your guild's identity by not giving it a name which represents it in the Planeshift world.

[Zan]

No, no .. think of it another way. You're deliberately withholding other guilds to form an academy by claiming to be "The one and only Academy" in name. Anyway, I made my point now and I'll drop it.