The Pathfinders

More of a guild than a church, The Pathfinders are present all across Astoria, wherever trade and travel are found. Their guild halls are most prevalent, however, on the edge of civilization, on the borders of the untamed regions of the world. While they venerate Avandra above all other gods, they do not worship her in the traditional sense. Rather, they seek to adhere to her commandments of taking fate into their own hands and following the winds of change through services rendered to adventurers, merchants, and other travelers, in both the civilized and uncivilized lands of Astoria. Well versed in both geography and history, and highly trained in the art of cartography, members of The Pathfinders have near-flawless sense of direction and navigational skills, making them highly sought after guides both on land and sea.

Dangers of the Job

The life of a Pathfinder is not an easy one. Despite the guild's strict regulations on dangerous assignments, Astoria's untamed regions are often fraught with peril. Tasked with guiding their clients safely and quickly to their destination, Pathfinder guides are often thrust into dangerous encounters with wildlife, natural hazards, and sometimes the enemies of their clients. Because of this, the life of a Pathfinder is sometimes tragically short. However, older members are seen as more reliable, as they have survived long enough to reach their current age, and thus, it is assumed, have guided their clients successfully a majority of the time (or were very lucky and knew how to hide, which is also a very marketable skill).
Despite the dangers and often-grim life expectancy, clients would be hard-pressed to find a Pathfinder who would trade any of it for a life of safety and leisure. Guild members are not contractually obligated to stay with the guild and may depart from their position at any time, with the understanding that should they do to, all rank and prior assignment records are forfeited. Most, however, stay until they can no longer walk the road, at which point they either accept a leadership position or retire to spend their lifetime of not-insubstantial earnings.

Structure

ORGANIZATION CHART NOT AVAILABLE

Culture

Walking songs

Membership in The Pathfinders appeals to those with wanderlust; those who enjoy the road traveled for the sake of the journey, rather than its destination. As such, the guild has many songs its members sing while travelling, both to embrace their love of the road and to ease its passing for those around them. The most popular of these is listed below.

The Road Goes Ever On
The Road goes ever on and on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

Public Agenda

The Pathfinders offer their services to any and all who seek them, so long as their coin is good and the guide(s) involved aren't put into any supreme danger. Prices vary depending on distance and current natural and/or geopolitical states, but it is rare that The Pathfinders will turn down a job (mostly because Pathfinder guides have a penchant for risk-taking in the name of seeing something they haven't before). In circumstances where the client requires a guide to a location the guild deems too dangerous, they will offer their services to a safe location as close to the desired destination as possible.
While guides are given basic combat training in order to defend themselves against the dangers of the road, they are instructed to never, under any circumstances engage in unapproved military actions or unsanctioned political agendas. As such, guides are very good at staying safely out of sight if combat involving anything other than natural wildlife breaks out, and have a (somewhat undeserved) reputation of being cowardly.

Though winds of change bring change of heart, the road goes ever on.

Type

Guild, Adventuring

Alternative Names

Church of Avandra (Colloquialism)

Leader

Sengras Finchey

Leader Title

High Windspeaker

Subsidiary Organizations

• The Council of Eleven

Divines

• Avandra

Ranks
Windspeaker
Chief Pathfinder
Adjutant Pathfinder
Trueseeker Pathfinder
Far-Ranger Pathfinder
Longbounder Pathfinder
Stoutstride Pathfinder
Tenderfoot Pathfinder