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The Guilds of the Wilds...
Artisans
Guild Hall: Greenhaven
Guild motto: "Take in the beauty around you, and create beauty of your own."
The Artisans are creators of fine works. They are artists, writers, potters, bards, bakers, glassblowers, tailors, and jewelers. The Artisans Guild is one of the most diverse in the Wilds, but so many creators being under its umbrella also makes collaborative work much easier. Members of this Guild are often found in other Guild halls, and it isn't uncommon for an Artisan to practice multiple crafts.
Curriers
Guild Hall: Greenhaven
Guild motto: "Go steady and swiftly, one step at a time."
The Curriers are swift messengers. They hold their duty above all else, and will persevere through difficult weather or terrain where most others might give up. They are steadfast and reliable, but rarely enjoy staying in one place for long. Though their official Guild Hall is in Greenhaven, smaller Halls are stationed all over the Wilds so that every Islander has access to the currier service. The other Guilds recognize the Curriers as a vital part of the Wilds, and they are given special right of passage along busy roads by most islanders for their service.
Curriers often join expeditions into the untamed parts of the island as well. With their physique, they make excellent trailblazers, and can run messages between expeditions and base camps.
Healers
Guild Hall: Golden Grove
Guild Motto: "Do no harm and treat everyone with equal dignity."
The Healers' Guild is made up of doctors and herbalists sworn to heal the sick and injured, regardless of who they are or how they came of ill. Healers are compassionate, honest, and practical, and one can be found in every village. Their Guild Hall is in the Golden Grove, which has the highest abundance of medicinal herbs and mushrooms currently known, and Travelers seeking medical supplies are often welcome to come by for medical kits during fairer seasons. Though the Alchemist of Sundew Apothecary isn't officially a Healer, the Healers' Guild does respect her skill and knowledge, and may call on her aid during especially difficult times.
Farmers
Guild Hall: Golden Grove
Guild motto: "The seeds of today shall bear the fruits of tomorrow."
Tillers of soil and tenders of vine all find their place in the Farmers' Guild. These are hardworking creatures whose hands turn earth and nurture life. They are centrally located in the Golden Grove, though a few have struck out to try their hands at making homesteads in other regions. The Golden Grove's mild climate is ideal for growing many varieties of crops, including the staple Redberries that are fermented into wine.
Fisherfolk
Guild Hall: Azure Lake
Guild motto: "Respect the waters and they'll respect you."
The Fisherfolk Guild might seem laid-back, but they have deep knowledge of the rivers and lakes, and use that knowledge to provide all manner of meat for the Wilds. Though most are concentrated in the Azure Lake region, there are also smaller halls along the beaches, and in the Moonglow Swamp. Though they have secrets they guard, like any other Guild, they will also happily teach anyone to fish who shows a willingness to learn, believing that a core part of their Guild is also to provide the gift of self-sufficiency to any creature.
Not only are Fisherfolk skilled anglers, but are also stalwart conservationists, and the dominating topics in many Guild meetings have been about how to care for the waters so that they might continue to provide for future generations. Best not be caught littering in the lake.
Lorekeepers
Guild Hall: Greenhaven
Guild motto: "We learn while we teach, and anyone can be our teacher."
The Lorekeepers' Guild comprises the librarians, teachers, historians, archeologists, botanists, and anyone else whose want is to learn about the world and preserve that knowledge for others. Lorekeepers believe that everyone has a right to knowledge, and are not in the habit of discriminating against others for their perceived lack of it. Each community usually has a teacher, typically an older Lorekeeper who can no longer travel, but most Lorekeepers are devoted to the study and archival of whatever their chosen subject. One of the highest aspirations for a Lorekeeper is to have their works published in the Grand Library in Elderbough City.
The Lorekeepers have one extra duty among their communities. They are both scholars, and mediators. If ever there is conflict that cannot be resolved through normal means, a Lorekeeper will often be called on to help all involved reach an agreeable resolution.
Lumberbeasts
Guild Hall: Teal Pines
Guild motto: Let your axe swing true, and thank nature for her gifts.
A guild of strong-built creatures, the Lumberbeasts' axes swing true, providing woods used in everything from construction to fine crafts. Trained in the harsh cold of the Teal Pines, their bodies and minds have been conditioned for hard labor. Lumberbeasts respect those who put in the work, but they also respect the earth and natural world.
Lumberbeasts are the staunchest defenders of arboreal life, and don't take kindly to creatures who disrespect the land by littering or doing harm to young trees.
Masons
Guild Hall: Ironclaw Workshop (Teal Pines)
Guild motto: "Use the right tool for the job, and work with your tools, not against them."
Stonecutters, architects, blacksmiths, and pavers. Any creature with a hand for stone- and metal-work find a place in the Masons' Guild. Products crafted by a Mason tend to be hardy and reliable, just like the Masons themselves. They believe hard work is honest work, and their work ethic shows in their creations. The Ironclaw Workshop is a sprawling hive of activity that carves its way into the mountainside,
Miners
Guild Hall: Foot of Mt. Nimbus
Guild "motto": "Strike your picks against the wall, unearth the world's gifts for all!"
If you've ever heard cheerful work songs echo up from cracks in the rocks, you've likely been hearing the Miners' Guild hard at work in the depths of the Wilds. Miners spend huge chunks of their days underground, and as such, know how to navigate the Wilds' labyrinthine underground cave system. The Miners' Guild is full of adventurous and optimistic creatures, whose tireless work songs bring light to dark places, and whose picks reveal rare gifts of the earth.
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Other Groups
In more recent times, there have been groups formed in the Wilds that don't fall under the official Guild charter. These are loosely-affiliated peoples with their own motives and beliefs, and which may or may not feel as obliged as the Guilds to help Travelers or each other.
Gloomdwellers
Location: Underground
The Gloomwalkers are creatures which have completely forsaken the surface in favor of a life of spelunking. Some are ex-Miners who found their paws better suited to treading tunnels than forest thickets, but many were born underground, and now generations of Gloomdwellers live their entire lives beneath root and soil. They sometimes come into conflict with the Miners' Guild when mining operations cave in tunnels or disrupt their lives, but they mostly keep to themselves. If one were to spend time with them in the gloom, they would hear them speak fondly of things which most creatures take for granted, like the soft glow of mooncap mushrooms, the gentle echo of falling pebbles, or the song of the wind through the tunnels in the quiet hours.
Stargazers
Location: Moonwatch Monastery
The Stargazer Monks devote their time to the study of the heavens. Their monastery houses a telescope constructed during ancient times, advanced beyond what the Islanders now know how to construct. The monks have learned how to operate it, however, and have a fairly complete starmap after centuries of work. Lorekeepers often pay them visits to exchange news for their specialized knowledge, or occasionally, to join their numbers and learn of the stars.
Vagrants' Guild
Location: Unknown
The Wilds is not without hardship, and not all Islanders are fortunate. The Vagrants' "Guild" is a loose collection of the Wilds' forgotten creatures. The unskilled, unsociable, or simply unlucky comprise its ranks, and none in the Wilds might truly guess its number. Vagrants will do anything to survive, including break the rules that hold communities together. They will lie, cheat, and steal to keep themselves and their found family from starving, and have managed to become quite a nuisance. Even those who show sympathy toward them are not looked on favorably by other Islanders, but most Islanders know that the problem of the Vagrants' Guild runs much deeper than just a few vagabonds galivanting through Elderbough like they own the place. Though their "Guild" is spread throughout the Wilds, there are rumors that they make their hideout in Darkleaf Manor.
Wayfarers' Guild
Location: White Lily Inn
Wonder and mystery have always surrounded the Wilds, inspiring wanderlust in many a creature. In recent times, the influx of Travelers to the Wilds have also spurred a greater interest in exploration in its people. The Wayfarers' Guild started as a few intrepid explorers gathering in the White Lily Inn between expeditions into the swamp, but the Inn quickly became a hub for explorers everywhere to meet and organize due to the Moonglow Swamp being so close to the Deepwood.
Smaller outposts have since cropped up in the Teal Pines, to explore Mt. Nimbus, and the Azure Lake, to plunge its depths. But the heart and soul of the unofficial Guild remains in the Inn, and Travelers especially often find a home here.
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The workers of the Wilds...
The Wilds are full of many kinds of people with all sorts of wants and needs. In ages past, the creatures quarrled over resources, territory, and fair compensation. Oftentimes in these conflicts, the smaller voices would be drowned out by the louder ones, or those who had too much would have neither incentive nor inclination to offer anything to the less fortunate.
These schisms came to a head during an especially harsh winter. Striking lumberbeasts in the Teal Pines, who believed the farmers and fisherfolk of the Golden Grove and Azure Lake were not compensating them fairly, had refused to send lumber down the Cyan River. Meanwhile, the fisherfolk were accusing the farmers of damming up too much of the rivers that fed the lake, threatening its ecology and making it impossible for fish to migrate up the rivers and breed. These three guilds bickered long into late autumn, until the rivers had frozen over, preventing necessary firewood from reaching the lower regions. It was only after a sudden snowfall came rolling down Mt. Nimbus, and darkening clouds overhead warned of worse to come, that everyone set aside their issues and emergency action was taken. Lumberbeasts from Teal Pines cleared out an area of old growth that could be distributed as firewood. They worked tirelessly with people of other regions pitching in to make sure everyone had heat to survive the approaching blizzard. The hardier woods were used as building materials by the Greenhaven architects to fortify any home that might not withstand the blizzard, and both farmers and fisherfolk set up makeshift stalls at the Topaz River Bridge, between Golden Grove and Azure Lake, to make sure every creature had food.
Even with their efforts, the blizzard brought with it a harsh winter, and there were still those unfortunate who did not make it to the spring. Once the thaw had begun, and the Islanders emerged from their homes to assess the damage, several craftspeople looked on the events of the previous autumn with shame and regret.
It was those craftsmen who held counsel in Elderbough's branches, each representing a different craft. Here, they set aside their frustration and opted to talk instead of shout. Each brought forth their grievances while also stating in plain terms what they believed their craft was worth, and in turn, each listener accepted the others' suffrage as valid and trusted they evaluated themselves and their work without ego. From this starting point, they began negotiations in good faith, with respect to each other, but representing the dignity of their station and the people they would come to represent.
After much talking, listening, and just a little wine, a charter was drafted and signed. The first Charter of Guilds, that would thenceforth protect the rights and dignity of the workers of the Wilds, as well as promise fair aid and collaboration between the Guilds in times of crisis. The Charter was long and precise, and underwent many iterations before finally becoming something everyone was satisfied with.
Now, a copy of the Charter resides in every Guild Hall across the Wilds, just as valued by every Guild as their own Guild's charters. The original Charter can also be found in the Elderbough Museum.
