Inventor's Guild
Overview
The Inventors Guild is an organization of engineers, scientists, and creative thinkers (Think Archimedes, Gallileo, and DaVinci). They are an official guild, meaning they are able to control their own ideas and the selling of their inventions. Like all guilds they have a Guild Symbol, but they don't wear specific uniforms and you can't automatically pick one out of a crowd. As a guild they have different levels of membership--there are Apprentice Inventors as well as masters. Only the Master Inventors have access to the greatest secrets of the guild.
Info
The Inventors Guild came into being half a century ago, when the city was at war with its nearby trade rival. This enemy had a powerful navy, and the city knew that an invasion was imminent. The baron called together a group of engineers and alchemists and charged them with the defense of the city. They spent weeks designing innovated siege engines (some of which still stand overlooking the harbour today), along with a alchemical solution that would cause water itself to burst into flame (liquid fire). The defense of the city was a success, largely due to their creations, and the grateful baron presented them with an official charter, allowing the creation of a formal Guild. Since then, the Inventor's Guild has continued to create new machines and other wonders, drawing a great deal of attention.
Because so many of the Inventor's creations are still vital to the defense of the city, great care is taken to keep their forumlae and rituals secret. Rival cities have offered to make a prince out of anyone who can bring them the secret of liquid fire, and many would pay handsomely for the secrets of steam-beasts as well. Inventors are forbidden to leave the city for any reason. Instructions for creating secret devices are written in a code, as well as using alchemical-like metaphors to describe the process, ensuring that even those that break the code will understand little of what is written if they have never actually participated in the process.
Only the Master Inventors are permitted to participate in the creation of powerful steam-beasts, and each master completes part of the work in secret, so that even a Master Inventor, should he be captured by an enemy, could not reveal the total procedure.
The apprenticeship for an Inventor is longer than most guilds--new inventors may not apply for journeyman status for at least twelve years. There is a lot for an apprentice to learn, but the lengthy period is another method to dissuade spies from attempting to join the guild just to discover its secrets. An apprentice was once discovered attempting to copy the formula for liquid fire. His skull still hangs in a gruesome clockwork display on the guildhall tower.
You can't just pay an entrance fee and 'become' a member of the Inventor's Guild. You must be taken as an apprentice at a young age, or must be an accomplished engineer, alchemist or scientist already. Older apprentices are allowed to make and sell inventions that are well-known to the public, like regular siege engines, water arrows, or simple automatons for the guild parades. Only after years of study and work as apprentices are they allowed to try and become full-fledged Inventors.
Inventors all have their various areas of expertise. Some focus on the study of engineering, others study alchemical solutions, and others design outlandish steam-powered machines.
The Inventor's Guild Hall is located in the wealthier area of the city. This is where they have meetings and where high-ranking members do much of their thinking and designing. Most guildmembers tend to live in an industrial section of town, however, where the actual building of the machines is done in one or more factories. They favour large, blocky, redbrick buildings to work in. Around the edges of disctrict are all kinds of other tradesmen that the Inventors rely on -- metalworkers, gemsmiths, etc. They often construct parts for the Inventors--as well as building simpler inventions that have become common in the city--though they are not privy to any secrets themselves.
The Guild does not sell all of its inventions. The steambots they sell to nobles are ones that are already perfected. They have even stranger, 'elite' bots inside their factories. Who knows what other inventions are still on the drawing board? There is no shortage of rumours about what people have seen and heard from those factories.
Relationship with other Factions: The Inventors Guild is well thought-of by most of the nobility. The nobles benefit from the inventions on a regular basis, and they are happy to support their efforts. Some would like to get a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes, however, and fear that the Inventors could try to usurp power by creating their own army of steambots.
The Builders were originally very supportive of the Inventors, respecting their hard work and new ideas. The Builders do not support the creation of steambots, however, suspecting that their creation involves contact with spirits and does not honour the Maker. Many Inventors also publically disagree with Church doctrine about how the world works. The Church is now uneasy in its relationship with the Guild, with many Builders talking loudly about heretical practices and wolves in sheep's clothing.
