Guilds

The meeting of war had gone well - the guild's leadership had prepared the plan, and each noble knew their role. Though the enemy position was well defended, the combined force of The Black Hand's larger armies would be more than enough to open a breach in their defensive line. Once the line was broken, it was the smaller and more mobile armies such as your own which would wreak havoc amongst their supply routes. The guild had become expert at bringing down larger targets, and even fledgling forces could be used to devastating effect against armies many times their size.

In games in which guilds are enabled (at the time of writing, Guilds, Maxim and Valid) this screen will display options relating to the creation, management and ranking of guilds. A guild is a collection of kingdoms who unite under one banner to further their agenda as set out in the guild charter. This agenda could be to fight for their God, to position themselves as powerful rulers, or to hire themselves out as mercenaries; each guild generally has a different view on their role (and goals) within Islan. Joining a guild entitles you to its protection, as unguilded kingdoms are generally seen as 'landfarms' to be picked upon at will. Perhaps the greatest benefit of joining a guild, however, is the training and comradeship provided by the better guilds in the game.

To view guilds, the '[Faithname] Guilds' or 'All Guilds' buttons shown above will display current guilds and give you the opportunity to view their charter or, if the guild is of your faith, to apply for membership. Often guilds will have further requirements for application, which are detailed within their charter.

The rankings button will display current guild rankings in the game, as well as the population of each guild. Using the war button will display a list of currently active war declarations between guilds - though this is not always an accurate indication of ongoing combat.

The 'create guild' function allows for the submission of a guild charter for staff approval. If the charter meets the game's requirements (as set out in Temper's Ball) then the guild will be created ingame as soon as it has been approved. During the creation process, you will be asked to enter a guild password which is used with the retrieve guild function. This allows for an existing guild to be instantly recreated, avoiding the approval delay for guilds which have already passed inspection. If a Guild Master (GM) forgets this password, it can be recovered using the 'get lost guild pass' function.

Finally, the contact information button will display emails and ICQ numbers for the GM and his/her assistant of all currently active guilds.