Guild of Fighters

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The Imperial Guild of Fighters is the oldest and largest mercenary organization in Tamriel chartered by the Empire.

History

The Fighters Guild originated with the military campaigns of the Akaviri Potentate Versidue-Shaie in 2E 283. Faced with widespread revolt against the reign of the Potentates, Versidue declared universal martial law, ordering all local lords to disband their armies. It took thirty-seven years to defeat the last provincial militia. By then, the Legion was battle-weary, the treasury was empty, and the pacified districts were defenseless against the hordes of bandits and deserters this war had brought forth.

The Potentate was approached by his kinsman, Dinieras-Ves “the Iron”, a veteran of the Dragonguard. Accompanied by a small company of experienced soldiers, Dinieras-Ves proposed the founding of an organization of warriors-for-hire (based on a similar institution in Akavir) who could operate across the Empire without ties of fealty to local powers. A neutral force without the civil obligations of the Legion, the so-called Syffim (‘soldiers’) could support themselves with fees, even tithing part of their profits to the Empire to refill the treasury.

Despite being yet another power grab of the Akaviri, the impartial and proficient Tsaesci sword-masters proved quite popular to a population used to dealing with fickle, corrupt, and ill-trained guards. Originally intended as small, mobile companies consisting entirely of Tsaesci, the demand for these services caused Dinieras to open the ranks further, first to Nords and Akaviri-blooded Nibenese, and later to all races. This obligated the Tsaesci to organize training in the martial arts for members who would otherwise tarnish their reputation, which in turn caused entrepreneurial members to offer training and membership to other outsiders.

By 2E 321, this model organization had proved its effectiveness throughout Tamriel, gaining support and the attention of other professional organizations such as the Mages Guild. By the end of the year, the first Guilds Act was ratified, renaming the Syffim to the Fighters Guild, the name under which they had become known to the populace.

Their military monopoly was short-lived. Only three years later, Versidue’s weak-willed successor Savirien-Chorak allowed the provincial powers to reconstitute their militias. Dinieras-Ves disappeared during a sojourn into the jungle, and his successor was fell victim to a political purge. During the Second Interregnum, the Guild fell apart into local chapters, with members even fighting against each other in the Pretender Wars. Partial unification would wait until the reign of Uriel I, but despite his best efforts, the Guild chapters were only reunited along provincial borders, and the supreme authority of the Master in Cyrodiil remains ceremonial only.

Currently, the Fighters Guild in Cyrodiil remains a prestige traditionalist institution sponsored by local noble families and responsible for training and employment of mercenaries, and is being challenged by private mercenary organizations of the Imperial trade companies. Outside of Cyrodiil, the Guild fares less well: the Morrowind chapters are challenged by the native institutions and the Empire's instability, the Black Marsh chapters struggle with corruption and association with unseemly elements, while the Skyrim, High Rock and Hammerfell chapters have failed to become the dominant mercenary organizations compared to local mercenary companies. The Valenwood chapter is shuttered entirely after a collapse of leadership over obscure, possibly illegal activities.

Structure

The guild is made up of regional branches with independent leadership and lack of a pan-province or pan-Tamriel authority. Each branch is led by a Guildmaster and consists of one or several chapters and smaller outposts and offices. Individual chapters are ruled by Guild Stewards. Guild’s outposts and offices are ruled by Warders. Guild chapters have either free-standing guildhalls or ones established under lease from local authorities.

Ranks:

  • R0 Associate: members of the lowest rank, provided with services and discounts and allowed to do jobs for the Guild Stewards. NPCs of this rank are usually low-level citizens staying in guildhalls.
  • R1 Apprentice: members who proved themselves in at least one contract.
  • R2 Journeyman: more experienced low-ranking members.
  • R3 Swordsman: experienced fighters allowed to do more difficult jobs.
  • R4 Protector: skilled and experienced mercenaries allowed to do all kinds of jobs. NPCs of this rank are often appointed as guards in long-term protection contracts.
  • R5 Defender: outstanding and highly skilled mercenaries. NPCs of this rank are often appointed as contract managers or leaders of fighter groups in large jobs.
  • R6 Warder: higher-ranking members allowed to recruit and re-admit members and give orders. Each Warder answers to a Champion or a Master.
    • Vanilla game has no NPCs of Warder rank, but they are mentioned in the Guild’s rules as those who can re-admit you after being expelled and have generic dialogue related to recruitment and giving orders.
  • R7 Guardian: responsible for leading a Guild chapter, defining the types of contracts in it, recruiting, re-admiting and promoting members, giving orders and solving legal disputes. Answers to a Master.
  • R8 Champion: similar to Guardian, but has more independence in the Guild’s administrative decisions and can hire a Warder as their deputy. Answers to a Master.
  • R9 Master: highest-ranking members responsible for overseeing regional branches, defining the types of contracts in their branches, appointing and dismissing Guild Stewards, and sending their chapters’ cut and reports to the province’s Proconsul.

Titles:

  • Guild Steward – head of a guild chapter, Guardian or Champion rank.
  • Guildmaster – branch leader, Master rank.
  • Vanilla game establishes that guildhalls may have low-ranking members responsible for accepting contracts from citizens. They can be called contract managers.

Each Guildmaster is responsible for appointing and dismissing Guild Stewards in their chapters. The Guildmaster’s position is inherited by their second in command Champion. In case their deputy is absent or refuses to take the new position, or when a new Guild branch is established, the Guildmaster is appointed by the Imperial Census and Excise with recommendations from senior guild members. In more traditionalist guildhalls, especially in Cyrodiil, Guildmasters are replaced by their heirs or members appointed by their sponsors.

The Fighters Guild can receive contracts from all citizens. Contracts can also be sent from other provinces and between different branches. Guildmasters and Guild Stewards can define the types of contracts in their chapters. Citizens who contract with the Guild and have a dispute may appeal first to the Guild Steward who accepted the contract and second with the authorities of each province - the regional Imperial Magistrate or the province’s Proconsul.

The Fighters Guild aims to establish a monopoly on mercenary training and employment. The Imperial Census and Excise is responsible for incorporating mercenary companies. According to the Silence book, in certain regions the Guild is involved in training the Imperial Guards. One of the Mages Guild subfactions, the Mercenary Mages, has a close relationship to the Fighters Guild and assists it in contracts and training.

Implementation

The player can join the Fighters Guild in any guildhall. Quests are available in most guildhalls from the beginning, with some of them being locked to the Swordsman or Protector rank. Upon reaching the Warder rank, each Guildmaster starts offering a short series of quests dealing with the guild's global affairs in their regional branch. Upon reaching the rank of Guardian, one of the Guildmasters in each province starts offering the province's endgame quests that lead to the player becoming the new Guildmaster of that branch.

The East Empire Company and other trade companies may hire the Fighters Guild for permanent protection of their halls in addition to the Imperial Guards. In the vanilla game, the Guild's mercenaries are also hired during the construction of Redoran and Hlaalu strongholds. This practice is more established in eastern provinces, where the Guild has a monopoly on mercenary work, rather than western provinces and Cyrodiil, where local mercenary companies and power institutions are more active and developed.

The Fighters Guild claims the majority of bounties posted by regional Imperial authorities and distributes them between members in a centralized way. While independent bounty contracts from local authorities may exist in certain regions, the Guild does not encourage freelance mercenary work.

Morrowind

The Morrowind Fighters Guild has six branches:

  • Vvardenfell branch, led by Sjoring Hard-Heart in Vivec and then by the player, is the newest branch in Morrowind. Its first Guildmaster, Percius Mercius, was replaced by Sjoring roughly a year before the game's events. Concerned about the guild's survival after the upcoming Imperial collapse, Sjoring made an alliance with the Camonna Tong to enrich and protect the guild, and convinced the Guild Stewards in Balmora and Vivec to act against the Thieves Guild and the Imperial authorities. Sjoring secretly aims to assassinate the Vvardenfell Thieves Guild leaders and then act against the Camonna Tong's bosses to control all crime on Vvardenfell.
  • Narsis branch, led by Micarya in Narsis, is the most Imperialized branch in the province. The Guildmaster Micarya, formerly a Cheydinhal FG member bound to the Syffim Way, left Cyrodiil after the Simulacrum out of disappointment in the Nibenese Guild's leadership. She limits Imperial influence on her chapters and tries to increase the Guild's independence to prepare for the upcoming troubles from Cyrodiil. Her ambitions face resistance in Kragenmoor, where the guild chapter is being run in western style, and Hlerynhul and Andrethis, where the guild chapters have fallen to Hlaalu schemes.
  • Mournhold branch, led by Joccathe of Bladed-Hymnals in Almalexia, is the largest branch in Morrowind, split after the Guildmaster's recent departure. Facing hostility of the natives towards the Guild and questioning the fundamental purpose of its presence in Morrowind, Joccathe, a Redguard philosophical warrior-monk, left the Guild to a retreat of meditation in the Velothi Mountains. Without her in charge, the guild chapters in Mournhold district have been split between the eastern traditionalists in Akamora and Mervayan, who try to integrate the Guild into Morrowind's society and politics, and the western opportunists in Andothren and Almas Thirr, who have fallen into the pockets of the local rulers to improve their standing.
  • Telvannis branch, led by Galan Brandt in Firewatch, was recently expanded from a single Firewatch chapter after the foundation of Helnim. Seeing the local Legion's incompetence and Telvanni's unpredictable moves, the Guildmaster Galan Brandt has stepped in to protect the citizens where the authorities fail to maintain order and safety. His ultimate goal is to establish the Guild's outpost in Port Telvannis to make a profit by serving the local Telvanni wizards and act on the Empire's behalf when necessary.
  • Velothis branch
  • Deshaan branch

Cyrodiil

The Fighters Guild in Colovia has four branches:

  • Anvil branch, led by Palagrius Vinicius in Anvil
  • Kvatch branch
  • Skingrad branch
  • Chorrol branch

The Guild in Nibenay has major chapters in Cheydinhal, Bravil, Leyawiin and the main headquarters at the Serpent Hall in Cyrodiil City. Of special note is the Imperial Akaviri Theater in Cyrodiil City, whose initiation rituals precedes acceptance into the eastern guildhalls.

Skyrim

The Skyrim Fighters Guild has five branches:

  • Markarth branch
  • Falkreath branch
  • Haafingar branch
  • Nimalten branch
  • Windhelm branch

Valenwood

According to the Words and Philosophy book, the Fighters Guild in Valenwood was disintegrated during the Simulacrum.

Sources