StoneHeart
Contents
Hierarchy
- Chief
- Champion
- Brawler (From strongest to weakest)
Joining
Those wishing to join Stone Heart will have to show feats of strength, by a wrestling gauntlet. Losing does not necessary fail entry, but it does determine where in the 'totem' you fall. You will continue until you are defeated, making it possible for someone to start as the current champion.
Promotions
Promotions are earned through challenges and besting the person 'above' you. The foolish can go straight for the Champion. The chief will remain uncontested, as they are a guiding hand and manage the affairs.
Members within this guild often earned titles "the ___" based on what stands them out in a brawl.
- Arnfinnr the Winded came about because he would often get the air knocked out of him-- it became a running joke, especially as the man was a Hyfenblut.
Life in the Guild
Endless physical training in forms of classical gym work outs to answering dares by your fellow guild mates. In the frozen tundra they reside, this often meant braving the cold elements alone to prove you can, to do whatever thing they think you can't. Your position in the guild is constantly challenged by those beneath you, as you vie for something higher. But despite all of this, the camaraderie is tight and boastful, with many nights leaving your belly full of frothy drink.
Rules
History
What began as a band of people focused on the skill of surviving on nothing, often becoming very important guides to cartographers, melted away into a large group of macho men (and women) who desired to hone their physical strength to a religious fervor. They were wrestlers instead of just plain survivors. They chose to take on bears and other beasts with a clashing of weight. Boasts became their currency, and Dares their call to challenge.
Theirs was a lively life, celebrating their wins every chance they had and looking eagerly forward to the next chance to prove their might and flex their strong arms. At least, until the Virtuoso plague swept to them as well, becoming their undoing.
The Virtuoso's Effect
The corruption of Bjarke the Grizzled was a slow burn that caused a major shift in direction. No longer would they pit themselves against beasts, turning on their fellow members of The Tapestry. Capturing hapless people, warriors or not, and toss them into these pits for their own amusements, a pleasure that spread like a plague among Stone Heart until more than half of its members were just as blood thirsty as their founder. The other founder, Arnfinnr the Winded, struggled with the few members that desired to return their friends and family back 'to normal', lending their efforts to the greater fight against the Virtuosos as a whole upon realizing that it was not just their Maestro that had succumbed.
The Disbanding
Stone Heart never recovered like many of the Maestro-led guilds. Either because of the amount of deaths, the pain of memory, or the fact that Arnfinnr the Winded's status was unknown for so long.
Due to the nature of the guild, very little of it is left to be seen. The guild banner is in many records, but there are no cultural artifacts that represent them (no special architecture, pottery, etc) Their impact on The Tapestry seems to be only by their way of life and the oral and written recollections shared to the 'mainland'.
Awards and Recognition
- Settled the region of Otkrytoye Polotno
- First established The Games that Coldhaven continue to this day
- Potentially the root of the guild system as it is seen today.
- Renowned members: Kyla the Small Wonder, a halfling who could wrestle with the best and traveled outside of Otkrytoye Polotno to prove it to EVERYONE (and did!)
