Guild of Wonders
The Guild of Wonders is one of Absalom’s biggest open secrets. On the surface, it operates as a tourist attraction featuring “amazing creatures”—truthfully, taxidermy sewn together to form various cryptids and hybrids. Without any advertising or marketing, very few tourists actually visit it—the building is nondescript, looks old and in poor repair, and has no signage, so most people keep their distance. The reality is that the guild is a school for assassins, spies, and saboteurs. Guild members often leave a taxidermy mouse, usually sewn with pieces of other small animals such as hummingbird wings, on the bodies of their victims.
The guild is owned by Scion Lord Celedo of House Morilla, though he doesn’t participate in any of its operations. Day-to-day functions and training are overseen by Celedo’s nephews Juartos and Donovar, and his niece Annasendra Varabelle. Juartos handles all of the guild’s financials, while Donovar takes care of logistics and administration. All noncombat training, such as stealth, infiltration, and poison handling is managed by Annasendra. The trio all teach various combat styles. It’s well known to everyone that when Celedo dies, one of the three will inherit the guild, and they jockey for favor as a result.
Membership in the guild is difficult to gain. Typically, existing members observe prospective members who have demonstrated some aptitude in the skills the guild values. The existing members then make a recommendation to the leadership, who investigates the prospect, their background, and whether they can be trusted. From there, if leadership deems the prospect worthy, then it will extend a formal offer of admission.
The guild has strict rules. Members do not operate on Absalom soil, and they do not take contracts on Taldan nobility, children under the age of majority, or priests of Calistria, Abadar, or Asmodeus. Uniquely, the guild offers Death Pacts—these contracts assure the purchaser that should the client be killed, the guild will hunt down and kill the murderer. If, after a decided-upon amount of time, the guild has not completed this contract, they put the money they were paid for the Death Pact up as a bounty on their mark. Death Pacts trump all of the guild’s other rules (including the prohibition against acting in Absalom).
Most nations throughout the Inner Sea region revile the guild, but also frequently partake of its services. Absalom itself tolerates the guild mostly because of its rule to never operate on Absalom soil. Most Westgaters are aware of the guild, or have at least heard the rumors, but tend to deny the reality and play along with the guild’s tourist-attraction cover. In secret and among themselves, however, they view the guild as a stain on the district, and everyone has their own thoughts on how the guild could be convinced to move to another district—preferably Eastgate.
The guild is owned by Scion Lord Celedo of House Morilla, though he doesn’t participate in any of its operations. Day-to-day functions and training are overseen by Celedo’s nephews Juartos and Donovar, and his niece Annasendra Varabelle. Juartos handles all of the guild’s financials, while Donovar takes care of logistics and administration. All noncombat training, such as stealth, infiltration, and poison handling is managed by Annasendra. The trio all teach various combat styles. It’s well known to everyone that when Celedo dies, one of the three will inherit the guild, and they jockey for favor as a result.
Membership in the guild is difficult to gain. Typically, existing members observe prospective members who have demonstrated some aptitude in the skills the guild values. The existing members then make a recommendation to the leadership, who investigates the prospect, their background, and whether they can be trusted. From there, if leadership deems the prospect worthy, then it will extend a formal offer of admission.
The guild has strict rules. Members do not operate on Absalom soil, and they do not take contracts on Taldan nobility, children under the age of majority, or priests of Calistria, Abadar, or Asmodeus. Uniquely, the guild offers Death Pacts—these contracts assure the purchaser that should the client be killed, the guild will hunt down and kill the murderer. If, after a decided-upon amount of time, the guild has not completed this contract, they put the money they were paid for the Death Pact up as a bounty on their mark. Death Pacts trump all of the guild’s other rules (including the prohibition against acting in Absalom).
Most nations throughout the Inner Sea region revile the guild, but also frequently partake of its services. Absalom itself tolerates the guild mostly because of its rule to never operate on Absalom soil. Most Westgaters are aware of the guild, or have at least heard the rumors, but tend to deny the reality and play along with the guild’s tourist-attraction cover. In secret and among themselves, however, they view the guild as a stain on the district, and everyone has their own thoughts on how the guild could be convinced to move to another district—preferably Eastgate.
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