The Lancer Guild
The Lancer Guild is an international guild dedicated to providing easy access to reliable Lancer Services to the general public. They manage and consolidate contracts for lancer work into one place to allow lancers to bid on them for competitive prices.
Major Locations #
While offices that dealt with lancers could be found in nearly every major city, certain locations were the home of guild masters and served as places where the policies and future of the guild across Legere were discussed.
Major guild halls could be found in the Nameless Town, Destral, and Phovezila.
Revenue #
The Lancer Guild takes a small commission fee for each contract it receives, usually only 5% of a given reward. If the reward is non-monetary and unable to be portioned off, a fixed fee is provided to the guild depending on the difficulty of the contract as determined by in-house evaluators.
Services #
Registration #
The Lancer's Guild manages a registration of Lancers across Legere. This list is referenced internally by the guild to verify lancer identification in different locales, as well as keep track of complaints lodged against them when they're gone.
Registration is mandatory to undertake a contract from the guild, which includes a criminal background check. High profile crimes that might endanger most clients can disqualify someone for registration.
Contracts #
Contracts come in four types: Early Bird, Auctioned, Commisioned, and Emergency.
There are penalties within the Guild for failing to complete any contract due to incompetence alone. These can range from a small fee to the temporary suspension of a license.
On a fundamental level, the Lancer Guild recognizes that they can't stop it if people want to take contracts without going through the Guild to avoid fees. It doesn't intend to pursue that control, however. It is foremost a service that provides quality and access. They're not going to stop someone from seeing the details of a contract and going to the owner directly to strike a deal for the work. At the same time though, contracts not completed through the Guild aren't registered in a Lancer's achievements and they have the potential to be scammed easier, while on the flipside, the client doesn't have the assurance of punishment on malpractice or failure nor do they know if the Lancer is up to the task. Though it may be slightly less money for both ends, it is usually not worth the risk.
Early Bird Contracts #
Early Bird contracts are first come, first served. Sometimes they can come with requirements if the guild or client believe such is necessary, but typically contracts are open to those who believe they can take them.
Auctioned Contracts #
Auctioned contracts are put up on auction for a pre-determined time. Lancers can bid on what they wish for the contract, offering either a lower fee or higher quality of service to entice clients into signing them on.
Commissioned Contracts #
Commissioned contracts are directly handed off to a specific lancer. If a client wishes the services of a lancer they know to take on a job through the Guild, they can submit a contract to them for them to review and either reject or accept. The advantages to going through the Guild instead of just approaching the lancer themselves with the job is formality of process, accountability of a third party, and ease of contact should the lancer find themselves somewhere across Legere.
Emergency Contracts #
Emergency contracts are the most loosely defined forms of contracts that there are. The Guild wants to encourage Lancers to lend their aid in times of emergency if a form of contract cannot be completed in time. This contract is formed by a verbal proposal for aid and an affirmative response from the client. Most Lancer's keep to saying the same line: "I'm a (type) Lancer. Do you request my emergency aid?" After the contract is completed, the client is held to an honor system where they pay as much as they can afford to for how much they felt the job was worth. When a Lancer takes one of these contracts, he has to be prepared to possibly receive nothing in return. As such, taking these contracts is regarded by many as a symbol of honor.
History #
The Lancer's Guild formed in Phovezila following an increased need to consolidate monster hunters' job listings of more remote places into populated areas. The guild used the opportunity to rename the profession from 'hunter' to 'lancer' to fit the ever growing diversity of requests.
Jobs were traditionally first come, first serve, with some waiting on the first one to complete the request. It was like that way for years until the purview of the organization began expanding to international lands. The main headquarters was moved to the Nameless Town so it could remain more independent and sit closer to the further reaches of Legere, while also dodging as many taxes as possible. The new contract auction system wasn't established until a branch opened up in Destral using the ingenuity of local businessmen, where it was then made a standard.