Ryan stepped into a room in an uproar, a jubilant uproar to be sure, but still an uproar. William had already broken the news it seemed and Ryan was surprised that in the few moments he had spent with John William had found the time to do so. He had clearly wasted no effort on preliminary explanations and sprung the news on the gathered members without further ado. Well, time was short and they had doubted that they required everyone to cooperate in the founding of the guild. Ryan checked the timer on the System Message, they had about two minutes and change left.

“Everyone, settle down!” William shouted to the group and surprisingly, a few moments later quiet resumed in the room. “We have no idea how the process will work but the System change should go live in about two minutes. I’d like to be the first guild to register on earth so please, everyone remain here and be ready to contribute if need be. The council has already drafted an initial charter if it should be needed and the decision to found a guild is a done deal. Naturally, everyone here will be invited to become a member.”

Ryan continued watching the countdown timer and by what he could observe, every member of the raid group was anxiously doing the same. As the seconds ticked down Ryan wondered what benefits and obligations being in a guild might bring. He had been a member of several guilds in most of the MMORPGS he had played in his prior life and hoped that the System’s analogue would provide a similar structure and benefits. If not, they could always reverse this decision, hopefully.

The timer ticked down to zero and for several drawn out moments nothing happened. An obnoxious ping and red text flowing in the periphery of his vison indicating a System Announcement had been made. Scant seconds later, before he could even open the announcement a golden notification accompanied by a pleasant chime superseded the red notice.

William Dafoe Hunter and Lizzy McCullough are attempting to found a Guild. They require the assent of 8 Players above Level 10 to continue. Select Yes to become a founding member of the Guild.

Yes

No

While he read the notice the number of required Players skipped down to six, then five as he dithered over his decision for another second. Would becoming a founding member complicate any future possibility to leave the Guild? Deciding to trust in his brother Ryan selected Yes as the number of required Players dropped to three.

…Congratulations. You are a Founding Member of the first Guild formed on Planet Earth…

…achievement earned – Forerunner Founder…

… guild achievement earned - Forerunners…

“We’re first.” he thought. It was a relief to now that they’re tentative plan had come to fruition. Ryan just hoped that the rewards would be juicy. Before he could even inspect the achievements a new pulsing red notice attracted his attention.

Guild alert: Possibility of incompatible Titles detected in Guild membership. Please resolve the situation within 30 minutes to avoid dissolution of Guild. Titles affected: #######*/Liberator. *Title information hidden until all Players grouped at achievement have made an election.

“Well…shit.” Ryan heard William’s subdued curse. “Looks like we’ll need to make a choice sooner.” William’s voice continued. “Can everyone affected please meet in the adjoining room again. I don’t want to have to kick anybody.”

When the combat group and the council gathered again William explained that the System had offered to unilaterally remove all affected parties from the Guild roster, which would revoke everyone’s achievements. “So,” he continued “I spoke to Alexis a moment ago. She and I will reject the Title, as Ryan has. In effect it means that anyone who absolutely insists on the Liberator Title will need to be removed from the Guild although I’d really prefer to avoid that situation. So I suggest we just call for a show of hands, whoever insists on the Liberator Title just raise your hand.”

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Deafening silence greeted his announcement. Ryan could see that Celeste and Carmen weren’t happy with how the situation had turned out, but as they had suspected earlier the two separate Titles we’re incompatible within the Guild framework. In short order everyone rejected the Liberator Title and Ryan was greeted with a new message.

…title earned – Exsolutus…

Ryan, not unlike any of the others, immediately inspected his Character Sheet and selected the new entry. Title: Exsolutus. Title earned for electing to reject a Title granted as achievement. Requirement: Rejected Title must provide significant benefits to the Player against imposition of compulsory quests. Effect: Player cannot be issued compulsory quests unless required to protect critical System resources. Player earns 5% extra Experience from all sources. Ryan considered the seemingly innocuous primary effect of the Title and considered that he had indeed managed to dodge the proverbial bullet by insisting on his choice, protection from compulsory quests might prove to be a godsend down the line if he had properly interpreted the effects of the rejected Title. The 5% extra experience and extending that protection to the Guild was just the cherry on top.

“While I am at it I might as well check the new achievements.” he muttered to himself.

Achievement: Forerunner Founder. Achievement earned by Players founding or joining (within one planetary revolution) the first Guild on the planet after System initiation. Player will receive a 5% discount on all purchases of knowledge* from the System store. *Knowledge includes Skills

Guild Achievement: Forerunners. Guild achievement earned by the first Guild founded on a Planet after System Initiation. Reward information restricted to authorised Guild personnel, contact Guild administration for access.

Ryan noticed that William motioned for everyone to follow him back to the guild at large, obviously excited to continue with whatever process the guild formation seemed to require next after they had dealt with that hurdle. As soon as John, the last to leave the little room, rejoined the assembly at large William spoke up. “Ok, everyone here has joined the guild and by now has had ample time to review their achievement. Now, for the next few steps. Lizzy and I are interim Guild leaders and have the sole mandate to change how the guild operates. We have one planetary rotation, that is one day, to register a guild charter that regulates the guild’s inner workings before the system implements the default settings. I suggest we regulate the administration of the guild on the same basis as we have regulated ourselves so far. For that purpose we have drafted a preliminary charter that everyone should review. We’ll meet tomorrow at lunch to vote on it. In addition, we have to choose a name within the next hour. Lizzy has suggested that we name ourselves after the Title that the raid group has earned which is applicable to the entire guild. I second that decision and have made the Title effects visible to all guild members. We’ll vote on the title in half an hour. Before we get to that I have also made the information on the rewards for Guild Achievements accessible to any member, at least on a case-by-case basis. The System did not allow me to make a blanket rule for Achievements and I guess there might be good reasons to withhold some information at a later stage, who knows. Oh, and before I forget. We also need to register a guild crest within the next hour. Anyone good with design? We’ll vote on any designs once we’re done with the name, if we don’t we’ll receive one of the default crests. The Council will be available for any questions.”

Ryan was amazed that his little brother had managed to spew out that many words in one uninterrupted session while barely taking a breath in between. William was most definitely giddy with excitement judging by his verbal diarrhoea. Ryan had no particularly strong opinion on the name of the guild but it was apt to name it after their Title as it would remain one of their defining features. He decided he would vote for it and immediately moved on to what interested him far more, the reward for the Guild Achievement.

Guild Achievement: Forerunners. Guild achievement earned by the first Guild founded on a Planet after System Initiation. A plot of land has been reserved in the FIRST CIRCLE of untranslatable (City of aligning and diverging interest where songs are sung, stories are shared and beverage flows in rivers and blood is a mountain – closest translation) City of Guilds on Prime* for purchase at 25% discount by the Guild. Guild may elect to purchase a plot in lesser circles. Plot is reserved until stasis period ends. *description inserted by Guardian Calyx.

Ryan considered the reward. From what he could determine from the kludged together information they had received an option to purchase a discounted plot of land in the most prominent district in a city that housed the headquarters of many, if not all, guilds operating within the system that had reached Prime. The value of the reward might be immense in the abstract, he thought, but it wouldn’t help the Guild, and by implication him, reach Prime at all. With a bitter snort he told John, standing right beside him. “I wonder how many Guilds actually ever cash in on that Achievement.”