Zone Guide

Zone Guides are highly demanded on Strugatovka. Mostly because there aren't a lot of them, but many refuse contracts when they are too dangerous. And their line of work is extremely dangerous to begin with. They are guides-for-hire, and anyone may ask for their services for the right sum.
They are paid in advance and will guide you to wherever you want, or to fetch whatever you want, and then guide you back. Many Guides ask to respect one simple rule : do as you are told if you want to make it back alive. Each year, hundreds of people are lost to the Zone. A vast majority of them were not Guides.

Perception

Purpose

The goal of hiring a Zoner is to get to dangerous locations on Strugatovka. Be it in The Zone, or in remote places with grim history. It is usually to gather artefacts, or sometimes find specific items or lost locations. Many can bring great power, but a lot more can cause death, or worse.

Social Status

Zoners are more or less outcasts, and often rely on each other in small cells, as rivalries can exist between different groups. Some zoners are just scammers, others are raiders, some are actually agents of bigger, more powerful factions.

Demographics

It is said that one person in a hundred is a Zone Guide. But again, there are no official sources for this metric.

History

Guides exist since The Zone was declared a prohibited and unsafe zone. But some like to recall the Strugatov Brothers as the first Guides Strukatovka has ever beared.

Alternative Names

Guide, Zoner, Skulker

Type

Illicit

Demand

Many say you have to be crazy to call for Guide services. Or desperate.