“Welcome all. We appreciate you making the journey to meet with us in person and share your wisdom. My name is Annette Rada, the Quartermaster of the Eternal Archive. With me are Martin, our acting Sectmaster and combat master, and Adam de Ranier, our Loremaster. We have asked you all here to discuss the establishment of a new guild for magic users and organizations. I ask that you first listen to our proposal and then we can begin discussions.

  Annette privately believed a more disparate group of people had rarely been gathered in Meristan society. Madam Sabrina sat opposite the sect officers at the foot of the table. The elegant woman was the strongest visiting cultivator from the modern era. Annette could see the echoes of Theresa Skycrest, who had studied at the same school. In contrast, a man named Pavan sat halfway between them. It was hard to make out his expressions beneath the bushy hair and beard. But the man had been keeping a swath of the countryside safe from spirit beasts along with his brothers. A girl of about 17 was across from him, giving her name as Claire. Her parents were both cultivators in the southern lowlands and had sent her along to hear the proposition. They ran a shop selling basic mana infused items like healing ointments and extra durable cloth. James and Cooper had brought back some of their wares that Devon had declared ‘trash but still better than anything else he’d seen recently.’ The enchanter had also joined today, complaining about having to rent a room at a fashionable inn since Martin refused to let him stay in the sect house. The rest were a motley assortment, only united in their ability to sense and interact with magic. Adam passed around packets of information to their visitors, signaling the beginning of Annette’s prepared statements.

  “It will not surprise anyone in this room that the presence of magic in the world has been growing stronger for a long time. The last few years in particular have seen a sharp increase in the number of magic users and the ease of practicing magic. This has led to a symmetric increase in dangerous beasts and useful resources.”

  The group watched without interrupting during her explanation. Pavan grunted and scowled when she mentioned beasts.

  “This puts us in an awkward position. We have the expertise to deal with these new challenges, but no authority to do so. We have no way to push back against being exploited by the larger guilds or the government. There is no way to regulate magic users and the naturally occurring resources we need access to and there is no existing infrastructure for us to share knowledge and get stronger. Recently, our sect was taken to trial on spurious grounds, and we were forced to make concessions because of this.”

  “We propose forming a new guild for magic users. With an established guild we can share techniques and make sure we are fairly compensated for our work.” Annette looked at the faces around the table. Some looked ready to join but there were more than a few concerning frowns as well.

  “Existing guilds will resist your plan, how will you get around that?” Madam Sabrina opened the discussion. Despite the hostile tone Annette could have kissed the woman. That was the exact place she wanted to start. The hint of a smile on the older woman’s lips told her it might have been intentional.

  “A good question and an important one. Our sect currently has a business arrangement with members of the Merchant’s Guild for exclusive distribution rights for products we create. We’ve already begun with some basic glow stones. Additionally, the Scholar’s Guild members are regular applicants to study the texts available in our library. If we leverage these relationships into support, I believe we can get past most resistance from that quarter.”

  “What’s in it for us?” Pavan’s voice was higher than Annette expected when the man finally spoke. “Seems like this is good for your fancy schools, but it's just another fee for me and my brothers to pay.”

  “Compensation and benefit structures are yet to be decided. We propose a method for sharing techniques and first access to certain cultivation resources gathered and sold by guild members. If we act swiftly, we can ensure other guilds and the government turn to us first for projects requiring a magic user. When the hunter’s guild needs assistance for a spirit beast or the mercenaries or merchants want guards with advanced senses.”

  Conversation continued from there. Annette answered more questions about what the benefits of joining such a guild would be or how much it would cost. Adam had ready answers when legal concerns were brought up, Martin only really entering the conversation when the discussion drifted towards beast culling. Devon even joined with an overview of how sect alliances had worked in the past, their proposal being similar enough. Over the course of the morning, Annette carefully nudged the discussion along the proper paths. It went from whether or not people would join to how they could set things up in the best possible way. A break was called for lunch and she was optimistic that the others would be willing to commit by the end of the day.

  **********

  George cursed himself as he showed up to the giant fucking mansion outside the city slums. He was late. Showing up later than he was told by a high-powered mage might have been the stupidest thing he’d done since fleeing the magehunters. These weren’t people who would take a lack of directions or a map as a good excuse. He was too late to bother with taking time to calm down. He sprinted up the steps and tried to knock without sounding frantic. He failed.

  A red-haired woman a few years younger than him opened the door. She wore a black outfit with a silver insignia embroidered on the shoulder. George felt something clumsily brush over his being while she looked him up and down.

  “I’m George, I was asked to come today by Martin.” His Meristan was still choppy but had improved leaps and bounds in the weeks since he arrived in Lanport.

  “Helene. They’ve already started. I’ll show you in.”

  George decided discretion was the better part of valor and didn’t ask who “they” were or what they had started. The woman in front of him wasn’t the talkative type, the silence only adding to his nerves. The entire building thrummed with magic. It was impossible to pay attention to anything else. He made the mistake of trickling magic up to his eyes to take in more details and was almost blinded from the intensity of it. He was led to a large meeting room with a dozen people already inside. The terrifying one, Martin, was there. Thankfully his power was hidden away. Everyone else was giving off the presence of a mage. Even the people standing on the side as servants were mages. George had the distinct feeling of walking into a lion’s den.

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  “George! Come join, you’re late!” At Martin’s command he walked over to the empty place at the table, where a full lunch spread was laid out. His mouth watered at the aromas filling the air. The past months living mostly on stew of dubious quality and dried trail rations made the feast irresistible. He was digging in before he was fully conscious there was an entire conversation happening around him. He had no idea what they were talking about. A lot of what sounded like trade agreements and somehow also school. Most of it went over his head. George tried not to let that show. Nodding along as everyone discussed whatever it was.

  He couldn’t hide forever.

  “George, what do you think? Would you join with those conditions?” Martin asked him.

  George froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. The master mage’s eyes pierced right through him. But he knew all too well what agreeing to something before understanding could lead to. Life as he knew it had been torn away once before.

  “Umm, join what, Master Martin?”

  The noise around the table cut out. Everyone turned to stare directly at him.

  “The guild. Did the kids not explain it to you?” Martin turned to look at the people standing along the wall but they all looked as confused as he did.

  “Apologies. I was not aware of a guild. I came to Merista to ask for protection and a place within your group.”

  “Why don’t you and Martin go have a little chat then while everyone else keeps the momentum up on this project.” A prim looking woman with eyes like knives made the suggestion, and at the nods around the table George supposed he had little true choice in the matter. He stood and followed after Martin. Hopefully not to his death.

  *********

  “Sorry about that confusion everyone, let’s keep going.” Annette said.

  They finished lunch and spent the afternoon in further debates. It became clear that a couple of the visiting cultivators had no interest in participating. They stopped contributing positively and kept bringing up questions that had already been asked and answered. Tensions reached a boiling point a few hours later.

  “I can’t believe I’m sitting here listening to everyone fall for this horse shit. You want more power for your sect and are using us to get it. I’m done.”

  The man stormed out. Followed by an older woman draped in silks. “I’m not going to share my family’s secrets with people who will take and abuse them.”

  The two dissenters left and Annette cursed like a sailor inside. Externally she kept her face placid. Those two weren’t overly important, representing smaller groups of one or two families. But their leaving meant they were now in a time crunch. If word got out, other groups would organize against them. Or in the worst case scenario, an alternate guild vying for the same level of influence and carving out their own authority.

  “Ignore them for now, there’s not much we can do at the moment,” Madam Sabrina said. “Onto the important things, who is going to be in charge of this new guild? I’m sure running a sect of this size will take up enough time as it is and you won’t want to do it.” The witch’s voice turned saccharine at this last point.

  “The lady makes a point.” Pavan’s voice surprised Annette. He’d been silent for most of the afternoon. “Big schools like this one or Indell will be difficult to balance with the guild as a whole. Leaders should be chosen from among the independents. “

  Annette and Sabrina both stared at the wild-looking man. That was more astute than Annette had given him credit for. A mistake she would not be repeating. The debate was sparked and they went back and forth for ages. Annette pointed out that the larger schools had people already trained in large-scale logistics. The independent visitors didn’t want to sacrifice their own interests that easily. They settled on rotating appointments of five years for members in good standing with the requisite abilities. They spoke into the evening, took a break for another delicious meal, and agreed to come back the following day to nail down the rest of the policies. They would be using standard options for the most part, and needed to codify details before they created and signed the official charter.

  ********

  “Part of this is my fault for assuming, so I won’t be angry that you’ve come to my sect under false pretenses. Doesn’t mean I won’t be angry for anything else. Start explaining.”

  Martin’s face was no longer that of an affable man without a care in the world. Now George could see echoes of the magehunter captains, but so much worse. Sharp and uncompromising. He had the feeling he was seeing behind a mask that was usually set firmly in place. George started with a short bow, extra respect rarely hurt.

  “My name really is George. I learned how to access magic at a young age and was taken by the Laskarian magehunters, a group which I was forced to join. I hunted other magic users and convinced them to join in turn. When I heard about your sect and the rumors around what you could do, I took a chance. I ran. I made my way here with the intention of begging for protection. I’d be willing to work for your sect in exchange, or join this guild thing you were talking about.”

  Martin was staring. George could feel the eyes boring into the depths of his soul, and probably the stone wall behind him as well. The silence stretched and he began to fidget and glance around. When it felt interminable Martin spoke.

  “I had a run in with these magehunters, so I don’t blame you for leaving them. But I can’t just let strangers into the sect that admit they were trained by an enemy. How can we make sure you won’t be running off to share the information?”

  George felt himself deflate. This had been his last chance and if it wasn’t an option he had nowhere else to go.

  “Tell me this,” Martin continued, “why leave now, or at all? You were with them long enough to become a relatively strong cultivator. For this day and age at least.”

  George hesitated. This wasn’t going to paint him in the best light. But the face across from him said anything less than the full truth wouldn’t be an option.

  “I was found around 16. They took me from my village and everyone I knew. Sometimes it was fun. I mean, I learned magic. And I was helping the empire, keeping dangerous people away from folks like my family.” He glanced at Martin but the other man betrayed no sympathy, if he felt any at all. “I started getting harder assignments, to find other people and bring them in or eliminate them if I couldn’t. Things got more restrictive. The missions came with higher stakes and harsher punishments.

  “The last few years magic got easier and we all became stronger. But the missions got worse. A lot more elimination than recruitment. They made it clear they were always watching. If we broke the rules, punishments weren’t just harsh but cruel. No more contact with our families, even letters were restricted.

  “The final straw was when I heard a rumor about a monster attacking my home village. It was half-destroyed and I only found out from a rumor when another group went to hunt the monster. I ran. They hunted me. I came here because there isn’t anywhere else to go.”

  His breath shuddered through him and he realized he was crying. Great, he would die mortified.

  “You’ll swear an oath with the City Core not to betray the sect and we’ll work out a provisional membership. No secrets and you can’t stay in the sect house, but you can train and take missions for contribution points. And you tell us everything you know about what’s going on in Laskar. In a few months we will re-evaluate a path to full membership.”

  George leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. The relief was so great he didn’t trust his legs to work anymore. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than he could have expected.

  “Thank you.” The sincerity in his voice surprised even him. “I swear –”

  “Not here.” Martin cut him off. “The oath is a bit more involved than just saying the words, come with me.”