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1. Overview
Quill & Seal began as a humble safeguard for merchants in Vasae’s bustling dockyards, protecting cargo and coin from piracy and theft. From these beginnings, it evolved into a continent-spanning institution — part bank, part notary, part overseer of contracts. Its scribes hold authority to validate oaths, agreements, and trade pacts across Siar’Morrin, their seals carrying as much weight as a king’s decree. To break a Seal is no small matter. Such actions are said to draw the attention of the Oath Keepers, a threat severe enough to maintain most oaths in check.
- Type: Banking & Contract Guild
- Base of Operations: Vasae, Shattered Kingdoms
- Core Purpose/Focus: Secure storage, loans, notarisation of contracts, continental trade oversight.
- Reputation: Trusted, indispensable, yet feared — to cross Quill & Seal is to invite ruin.
- Symbol: An ink-dipped quill poised above a sealed scroll.
2. History
Quill & Seal was founded out of necessity. In Vasae’s early days, its flourishing trade attracted piracy and theft, leaving merchants desperate for safe storage. From this, the guild’s first vaults were built. Soon after, its scribes began offering loans and exchange services, creating the framework for a banking system that transformed the marshland city into a financial hub.
The model spread quickly. Branches appeared in every major city, turning Quill & Seal into an indispensable network for trade and credit. Its reach expanded further when it assumed the role of Contract Overseer, a function once tied to the vanished god Eris. In taking on such a mantle, oaths made under the eyes of Quill & Seal began to draw the attention of the Oath Keepers — whether by design or divine consequence remains unknown.
Although the connection is now widely accepted, the guild itself denies any formal pact. Yet they do nothing to silence the fear such rumours inspire, and happily leverage the Keepers’ grim reputation to ensure their Seals are obeyed.
3. Leadership & Structure
Quill & Seal is rigid, bureaucratic, and layered:
- High Scribe: The symbolic head of the guild, based in Vasae, presiding over all operations and decrees, at least in theory.
- Seal-Bearers: Senior officials stationed in major cities, empowered to witness contracts and enforce the guild’s authority.
- Inkmasters (Inkers colloquially): Accountants, lenders, and archivists who maintain vaults, ledgers, and records with near-religious precision.
- Clerks & Runners: The lower strata, handling day-to-day paperwork, deliveries, and messages.
4. Culture & Practices
The culture of Quill & Seal is defined by precision, permanence, and fear of dishonour. Every action is recorded, every oath preserved. Its scribes view ink and parchment as weapons sharper than swords, their Seals binding kings and mercenaries alike.
Breaking a Seal is more than legal fraud — it is sacrilege. Those foolish enough to commit such acts often vanish. On rare occasions, witnesses report the grim intervention of the Oath Keepers, claiming to have seen devils descend upon oathbreakers to drag them away.
Within the guild, however, the subject is treated with careful ambiguity. Officially, Quill & Seal denies any connection to the Keepers. Privately, some scribes act as though the devils are unofficial partners — the unseen enforcers who guarantee their authority. Others whisper that it was never a pact at all, but a divine quirk of fate that bound the Keepers to their work. Whatever the truth, Quill & Seal has learned to embrace the fear: whether through belief, coincidence, or conspiracy, no Seal is ever broken lightly.
5. Key Figures
- Primary Seat: Vasae (Lake Serenith delta).
- Branches: Vitaurum, Flown, Cragport, Abdurii, Furrowton, and other major trade hubs.
- Influence: Extends wherever trade and contracts exist — from farmland loans to royal treaties.
6. Geographic Influence
- Areas of Operation:
- Allies & Enemies:
- Ally: Oath Keepers, allegedly…
7. Resources & Capabilities
- Military Strength: None of its own, but its wealth buys mercenaries and leverage. Many suspect the Oath Keepers act as their “hidden enforcers.”
- Economic Power: Vast. With vaults, loans, and contracts in every major hub, Quill & Seal stands alongside other economic behemoths like the Iron Concord and House Farmus.
- Special Assets: The utilisation of the Oath Keepers.