The Red Blades
One of the first New Mercenary Guilds made after the conclusion of The Border Wars, The Red Blades have grown a long way from where they started. When The Council of Mercenary Observance first was devising the idea of the Adventurers Guilds, Balthazar Blade was actually on their mind.
A staunch opponent of the war, he had frequently spoken out and rallied in the capital city of Agartha, his home city and also the base for some of the countries most horrendous war acts, such as cruel mortal experimentation, weapons of mass destruction, and pardoning vitriolic serial killers as "special officers."
As he rallied, he had an almost supernatural charisma about him, rallying together people of many different races and walks of life under his ideology, and with the war over the Council thought he'd be the perfect person to pitch their plan to.
To their delight, he agreed with fervent joy and began to use his innate talent for seeking out potential along with his natural and infectious charisma to create that guild that would become The Red Blades. Building it up on the ideal of equality and equal opportunities, he would often travel the world to find interesting guild members to recruit, much to the dismay of his more business-minded friends who, while happy to be the aides to this endeavor, wanted him to realize just how much paperwork he made them do.
As the years have passed, that eye for talent has curated a select but highly skilled group of Guildmembers, which pushed The Red Blades to the #1 Mercenary Guild position, standing above all the rest. This is also due in part to their location giving them plenty of jobs to work with, but the skill of the members cannot be underestimated.
Of course, the guild also has a wide amount of non-official members who operate out of the guild space, while not reaping the benefits of membership, but still goes to raise the public opinion of the guild as a whole.
As of 1008 AC, the Guild has 30 Active members. All of them are notable in their own right, but there are two big names that just about anyone interested in the guilds knows:
- Agathon Fianna - An Agartha native, and former member of The Mad Dogs military branch. He was one of Balthazar's first recruits and is a mountain of a fighter. Despite being only human, he's been able to go toe-to-toe with anything that's thrown at him but still stays humble, kind, and courteous.
- Marion Mayden - Another native of the Agarthan City, Marion is a Dark Elf from the Underdark, and while not as outwardly kindhearted as Agathon, is a strong fighter and defender of the people, although she keeps a stoic face, and occasional sneer, all the while.
Structure
Guildmaster Balthazar Blade oversees the operations of the guild, along with his right and left-hand aides, Ebbe Dickinson and Garen Björkman who assist with recruitment procedure and the more bureaucratic side of guild-running.
Culture
The main Red Blade guildmembers treat each other like an extended family and extend that care and camaraderie to the people they serve and protect on their missions. Treating each other that way is actually part of the guild Credo, where rule #1 is to treat everyone as your equal.
Public Agenda
The main goal of The Red Blades is to secure and enrich the people of Edda, especially in their home city of Agartha.
Assets
From years of operating as the strongest Mercenary Guild, The Red Blades have quite a store of reward money and special items that can be used. Alongside that, their status and reputation far exceed any monetary wealth they have. There are also the vast connections that they've curated over the years, either as a group or the individual members.
History
When Balthazar Blade was approached by The Council of Mercenary Observance, he knew this was the chance to create what he had always wanted to. An equal place to curate the greatest talents he could find in order to keep a true, equal peace.
So, he grabbed his two closest friends, former business people who were out of luck once the soldiers had begun to return home, and set up The Red Blades with them and the sponsorship of The Council. Then, he began his journey.
He traveled all across Edda, through prosperous metropolis' and war-torn hamlets. Wide grasslands and treacherous mountains, and even across planes, looking for individuals who triggered his sense of greatness, all the while training his own skills.
By the time he returned, the Guild had been officially started, and he had almost an entire caravan of recruits with him, leaving his friends a bit beleaguered at the amount of official paperwork they needed to do.
In the years that have followed, The Red Blades's inner circle has stayed pretty consistent with where it started, with new members coming in and the reach of the guild expanding to previously unheard of lengths, all due to one goliath with a vision and an oppritunity.
Ære Fra Likhet (Honor from Equality)
Founding Date
979 AC
Type
Guild, Adventuring
Alternative Names
The Founding Guild
Training Level
Semi-professional
Veterancy Level
Decorated/Honored
Demonym
Red Blades
Leader
Leader Title
Parent Organization
Location
Comments