Order of the Hunt
The Order of the Hunt is a guild of Bounty Hunters from Cheliax, not an order of Hellknights as it might sound. Bounty hunter guilds can be important to any country’s criminal justice system. In a time before extradition treaties and global watch groups, bounty hunter guilds allowed both governments and individuals to achieve assistance in bringing criminals to justice.
Members Wanted!
For 50 gold per year, members enjoy access to the guildhall, a badge signifying their membership in the guild, access to all active bounties, the ability to collect on all active open bounties, access to the guild commissary, a single place to deliver bounties, networking with other professionals in the field, a surplus of helpful mentors, and access to legal services as needed.Code of Conduct
- Members will not accept a bounty from any non-sanctioned bounty hunter guild or source outside of the guild.
- Members will abide by the direction of senior members of the guild.
- Members will abide by local laws and ordinances while attempting to collect on a bounty.
- Once members have signed onto a closed bounty, they are considered “on the job” until completion.
- Members must stay in good grace and contribute to the guild's honour. Those who do not will be asked to resign.
- Members are expected to report other members who break the guild's code of conduct.
- Members will not commit any unlawful or egregious acts against other guild members or the guild itself, including theft, assault, slander, or murder.
Relationship with Other Entities
While people may not love the Order of the Hunt, they are well funded and organized. Since they seek to operate within the confines of local laws, their existence is much more tolerated than thief guilds and assassin guilds.Non-Compete Clauses
All bounty hunter guilds have non-compete agreements with the other bounty hunter guilds, although other organizations do not. Clients sign agreements saying they will not post bounties with organizations other than the guild, and will not make them public. This prevents violent altercations with multiple entities trying to fulfill the same bounty. However, this does not guarantee their client will follow this rule, and sometimes they don’t. If a client (anyone from a private citizen to a government body) breaks this rule and no guild members are hurt, incarcerated, fined, killed, etc., this results in the client being fined 100% of the posted bounty price. If something happens to a guild member thus, or the client refuses to pay the fee, they are blacklisted and are no long allowed to post bounties with the guild. In addition, all other bounty hunter guilds must blacklist the organization until recompense has been paid.Local Governments
The Order of the Hunt must worry about the local government where their clients reside and where their guild is located. To that end, they have a legal liaison who works with local governments to ensure compliance with all local laws and ordinances.Bounty Hunter Guild Network
Among other things, the Guild Masters of each guild is expected to have a friendly relationship with the guild masters of other bounty hunter guilds. Because they seldom take vacations, this results in them sending lots of letters, usually through journeymen bounty hunters. Over years, they establish close relationships with other guild masters, and bounties are shared between the organizations. If a guild master of another guild does not honor a fulfilled bounty, this can result in the two guilds no longer working together. Based upon who was in the wrong, they can even get blacklisted from other bounty hunter guilds as well.Structure
There are five ranks in the Order of the Hunt.
- Trailseeker: Starting place for guild members. Trailseeker bounty hunters cannot bid on closed contracts. To rise in rank, they must complete ten bounties and be sponsored by a guild member at the journeymen rank or higher.
- Craftsman: After successfully completing ten bounties, the member is upgraded to craftsman. They can now bid on closed contracts worth up to 1,000 gold. They typically work out of or near the guild, and, after completing 50 bounties are eligible to rise in rank, but must be sponsored by a member of master rank or higher.
- Sentinel: After 100 successful bounties, a bounty hunter is now considered an elite guild member. They are expected to travel more than lower and higher-level members, interacting with multiple guild locations. They can bid on closed contracts worth up to 10,000 gold. To rise in rank, they must complete another 100 bounties and be sponsored by a guild master. The location of the guild master determines where they will serve as a master.
- Master: Only the best bounty hunters ever receive this rank. They typically serve at the guild location where their sponsor is the guild master. They can bid on contracts of any amount. All master bounty hunters at a specific guild location have a collective “veto power” over the actions of the Guild Master. If they decide with a 75% vote something the Guild Master has done is unjust or violates the spirit of their charter, they can “discipline” the Guild Master. This happens rarely. If their Guild Master retires or dies, they are responsible for electing a new Guild Master.
- Grand Arbiter: These bounty hunters are guild masters. They no longer bid on bounties, but instead receive a tithe of every bounty fulfilled by the guild (10%) split between their personal and guild funds. As such, their responsibility is to run the guild and ensure their guild members are as successful as possible, as often as possible.
Sponsorship
To advance in rank, every guild member must be sponsored by a member of a higher rank. That member takes the sponsee under their wing and works together as a team to complete several bounties. During that time, the sponsor mentors the member. This period of apprenticeship can last as long as the sponsor deems appropriate. Every member who has sponsored members before has their own, unique reputation. The best sponsors are known to be helpful, insightful, and do not make the sponsee jump through too many hoops. Nightmarish sponsors treat sponsorship as a form of hazing and attempt to humiliate the sponsee as often and publicly as possible. Bounty hunters rising through the ranks can gain close friends or spited enemies from former sponsors.History
As a young woman, Elysia Thornheart had shown great promise and dedication as an apprentice within the feared and respected Hellknight order. She trained rigorously under the watchful eye of a senior Hellknight named Sirion Drakewood, a man who believed that his position granted him certain privileges. Unbeknownst to Elysia, Sirion harboured romantic feelings for her and attempted to make gestures that extended beyond the bounds of their mentor-apprentice relationship.
However, Elysia was steadfast in her focus on her training and duty. She rebuked Sirion's advances firmly but respectfully, determined to maintain the professional standards that were essential within the Hellknight order.
One of the defining moments of Elysia's life occurred when she was presented with a daunting challenge. As a condition of her initiation into the higher echelons of the Hellknight order, she was tasked with a trial that demanded the ultimate test of her abilities. She had to face a devil in single combat, a creature of darkness and malevolence that sought to corrupt the world.
With Sirion watching on, Elysia confronted the devil in a fierce battle. Despite her formidable skills, the devil was no ordinary adversary. The fight was gruelling, and Elysia emerged victorious but gravely wounded. Her injuries were severe, sustaining a jagged and disfiguring scar that traced its way from her left temple down to her jawline. Barely conscious, Elysia and Sirion returned to their outpost, Elysia hoping for recognition and validation of her feat.
However, Sirion seized the opportunity to further his own agenda. He refused to verify Elysia's accomplishment, leaving her claim unverified. With her honour and integrity challenged, Elysia found herself at a crossroads. She could remain in an order tainted by deceit and power games or forge a new path that embraced true justice and unyielding honour.
Elysia Thornheart made her pivotal decision in that moment of disillusionment. She left the Hellknight order that had become a shadow of its intended purpose, and, driven by her unwavering commitment to justice, she established the Order of the Hunt. This new guild would be built upon principles of integrity, fairness, and the pursuit of the greater good.
Under Elysia's leadership, the Order of the Hunt thrived. It attracted those who sought a higher calling and a noble purpose. Elysia's experiences with the Hellknight order had taught her the importance of staying true to one's values and not letting power or personal agendas corrupt the pursuit of justice.
With the passage of time, Elysia Thornheart's name became synonymous with the ideals she held dear. Her legacy was one of a woman who rose above adversity, overcame challenges, and established an organization that epitomized the essence of true justice in a world teeming with darkness and moral ambiguity.
After many long years building up the Order, Elysia has since passed on her mantle to a successor. The current guild master of the Order is a skilled and dedicated individual named Aldric Shadowclaw.
Infrastructure
The Guild Hall
Along with access to bounties, legal representation as needed, and comradery, another benefit of being in the Bounty Hunters Guild is access to the Guild Hall.
Work Lounge
The guild hall has an open lounge area, mostly filled with maps and books on local laws, where all of the open bounties are posted on the wall. In addition, there is a clerk with a ledger detailing closed bounties that allows guild members of the appropriate rank bid on those bounties. The lounge area has couches, tables, chairs, desks, and plenty of pitchers of water. It is there bounty hunters can research, take notes, and plan bounties before attempting to execute. While just a formality, there is also a bulletin board that contains things such as:
* Bounty hunters seeking partners “Half-Orc M, good with battleaxes. Seeking orc or human F for fun times taking dead or alive bounties”
* Wanted signs for goods or services
* Offers of assistance
Most bounty hunters will scribble their initials on any open bounty if they are going to pursue it. While just good manners, this lets other members of the guild know which contracts are being pursued by multiple other bounty hunters.
The Leader Boards
Every work lounge has a leaderboard for each rank of guild membership. Each member is ranked by the total number of gold earned times the number of successfully completed missions divided by 1 + losses. A loss is where the bounty hunter screw up a bounty (killed an alive only bounty), backed out of a closed, caused the guild shame, damaged the guild reputation with other organizations, or for other actions at the discretion of the guild master. It should be noted that Leader Boards are recognized only interior to that guild, and while high scores might be appreciated in other guilds they are not recognized by other bounty hunter guilds. Teams of bounty hunters must divide the wins among them, so a group of 4 bounty hunters who capture a bounty for 1000 gold all have 250 gold added to their score and ¼ of a completed bounty.
Example Score: A bounty hunter who has earned a lifetime amount of 23765 gold, across 63 bounties, with no losses would have a score of 1,497,195. However, that same bounty hunter with 2 losses would have a score of only 499, 065.
Since advancing in rank requires not only completion of several bounties, but also sponsorship by a guild member 2 levels higher than the member, the leaderboards are important indicators of ability and worth to the organization. Only those at the top of their ranks leaderboards are considered for sponsorship.
Holding Cells
Most bounty hunter guilds have holding cells; some even have representatives of the local law enforcement or members of the law enforcement of their client’s location on hand most of the time. Once the bounty hunter has delivered the mark to the guild, they are no longer responsible for that mark and can get paid.
Vault
The vault of the bounty hunter guild are the most secure place in the guild hall and store both gold, but more importantly records. They do use banks and other secure buildings to keep much of their wealth, but their records are also important. Most keep backups of all records somewhere off site as well. Guild members have their gold directly deposited into the guild accounts, and can deposit and withdraw money at will. They can also stash personal belongings there as well.
Commissary
A guild merchant will run the guild commissary, which is the guild store. There members have access to specialized tools of the trade such as manacles, bolas, nets, and even non-lethal poisons. The variety of inventory is somewhat more limited than armories, weaponsmiths, and other merchants but is designed entirely around supplying a bounty hunter with everything they need. Prices for mundane goods (such as trail rations) might be a little more than standard market, but in case the a member is in a hurry it prevents them from having to run around town buying supplies before leaving.
Founding Date
4697
Type
Guild, Fighter / Mercenary
Leader
Founders
Notable Members
