\n== The Rise of the ShadowGuild – A fictional story by Dapollo==
The Wheelwrights Guild is the most powerful guild in the city of Galik. Heavily political in nature, the Wheelwrights rise to power has come through its various franchises that control overland trade into and out of the city. The Wheelwrights Guild is involved in several legitimate enterprises throughout the city that allows them to diversify their investments. The Wheelwrights are not-so-secretly known for their control over the largest piece of the city’s Black Market. Additional enterprises include smuggling, kidnapping, and protection rackets.
It was through such protection rackets that Duloth Armitage made his advance in power. Smarter than the average bully, Duloth saw opportunity and power in numbers, and began to take an interest in local politics. Duloth worked as a bodyguard and protégé to the former Wheelwrights burgher, Grath Morentis. Morentis frequently helped the former surface level thieves’ guild (known asthe Gray Deacons) fence their stolen goods for a percentage of the profits and permission to run his guild as he saw fit without interference by the Deacons. The Deacons were, at first, reluctant to provide such autonomy to “simple working men”, until Grath Morentis decided to make a demonstration of the Wheelwrights power by ordering a guild-wide work stoppage. Under the auspices of a political feud with the High Burgess, Morentis ordered the gates blocked by carts, and no exports to be made outside the city until his demands for a “Wheelmen’s Holiday” be declared, and a special coin be minted in honor of the working man. Much to Duloth’s surprise, Morentis’ demands were met.
More importantly the message was received by the Gray Deacons; a partnership with the Wheelwrights was definitely more enviable than having thousands of cudgel-armed strong men set against you. The Wheelwrights received their partial autonomy and a piece of the smuggling and fencing action. But despite their apparent victory in negotiations with the Gray Deacons, the Deacon leader, Rawling Jawks, had Grath Morentis murdered the next year as a reminder to the Wheelwrights that even though the Wheelwrights had earned the respect of the thieves’ guild, their burgher had ultimately insulted the wrong man. A power vacuum ensued amongst the remaining leaders of the Wheelwrights Guild that could have brought the whole operation down. The Gray Deacons jockeyed to get their agents in control of the Wheelwrights, as Duloth attempted to consolidate power among those who were loyal to Grath.
Shortly after the murder of Grath Morentis and quite coincidentally, an agent of the Vampires was sent to Galik to infiltrate the Gray Deacons and attempt to wrest control of the guild for his masters as had been done in many cities before. The Gray Deacons had come to the attention of guilds that worked in deep states even uncomprohendible to them, and they sought inroads to the lucrative markets of Galik. Though little is known of these guilds, the appearance of more vampirism and vampire agents was one hint to who they were. As a long-ago contingency should one of their agents fail in subverting a thieves’ guild, the vampires had planted an ancient stolen gem as a false treasure to both throw any pursuers off of the trail leading back to them and to punish those who had dared to thwart their plans. Among the agent’s possessions that the Gray Deacons thoroughly searched was found a coded map leading to a treasure cache that held the fabled Glimmer Gem stolen centuries ago from the Sultan of the Efreet. The Glimmer Gem proved to be the Gray Deacons’ undoing as the Vampires had intended.
After several weeks of bloodshed between the Gray Deacons and the fractured Wheelwrights Guild, the Gray Deacons suddenly vanished without a trace. No one can say exactly what happened to the powerful organization, though there are fearful reports that a mysterious fog emerged from the Deacon’s guildhall on Rogues’ Island and covered the entire city for a night — the night in which every member of the Gray Deacons simultaneously disappeared. Duloth Armitage quickly stepped in and took credit for the disappearance of the Gray Deacons within his guild and throughout the sewer ward, and was able to successfully sell the idea.
As an organization for whom time is not an obstacle, the Vampires sat back to watch the events unfolding in Galik to see how the situation would stabilize and who would ultimately hold the reins of the city’s underworld. Several organizations emerged of differing influence: the Shadow Masks co-existed for years with the Gray Deacons and have made some movements towards filling the old guild’s shoes, the Red Blades emerged as premier assassins but have taken only tentative steps towards replacing the Gray Deacons for fear of reprisals, but the Wheelwrights Guild more than anybody have assumed the reins of power in Galik’s criminal underworld.
The foremost among the Vampires’ agents, a vampiress named Felicity Bigh, quickly made contact with Duloth and showed him the services to his cause that she and her masters could offer. Immediately seeing the potential that her organization represented, Duloth took her up on the offer to a limited degree. The Wheelwrights would ally with the Vampires for their aid in exchange for useful information and a cut of the profits but would not bow to their authority. Duloth’s ambitions and pride prevent him from making such a deal at this time. With the Vampires’ assistance, Duloth was able to form the Shadowguild in order to organize the many competing elements of the city’s underworld and bring some modicum of order to their activities to the benefit of all.
So far the alliance has been a profitable one with Duloth cementing his position within his guild and the city and with eyes on the seat of Mayor of the Council — maybe even the High Burgher. For its part the Vampires is able to move within a city that it finds both compelling yet strangely fascinating with its plethora of extremely powerful individuals, any of whom represent a threat to the Vampires and its interests. For now it bides its time, aware of organizations such as the Greycloaks but not yet able to get a grasp of their power and the reach of their influence, and uses its alliance to gain access to the Wheelwrights’ enormous reach in trade and politics. More than one item or juicy information of interest from afar has fallen into the hands of the Vampires thanks to their connection to the Wheelwrights.
