The Adventurers Guild of Eschbach

At present the Guild has roughly 25 members, coming from a number of backgrounds & species. They usually form small bands of different classes, abilities, and experiences.

There is no formal equipment used by them.

This in part is created by the different personalities & specialists found within the ranks. Armour is common to some degree (especially shields & helmets) and many have daggers, hand axes or similar. Those that are warriors regularly make use of lighter more flexible armours such as padded & leather armour along with those rogues that aren't affiliated with the Thieves of Frankia . Some rely on heavy armour and heavy weapons such as great swords and great axes, while others might prefer short swords, longswords, bows & crossbows of different weights. Armour such as studded leather, chainmail, and breastplates care common.

Some are mages of one sort or another, with the odd wizard, sorcerer and warlock present. This allows for a range of magic to be used to either boost the warriors or to attack enemies at a distance. They usually can concoct, make or identify magical items that can be used by themselves or others. A stockpile of general common items used in spell casting is kept in a vault below their guild hall. There is also a library to study new spells and to create grimoires for use on the road, as well as disseminating such spells & useful goods amongst the guild.

Daggers and hand axes are found throughout the organisation, as they are handy versatile pieces of equipment as much as weapons. Clubs, spears, quarterstaffs and sickles are also found due to the ease of creating & maintaining them.

Short swords and long swords are common amongst the ranks followed by rapiers. There is a stock of battle axes too due to the effectiveness of the weapons. Great swords & great axes are present too, but not that common, being used primarily by those with the heaviest armours and /. or the strength & training to fully utilise them correctly.

Short bows and long bows are found with some having the skill to use them. Handy as much for hunting as well as in battle, they are regularly used. Rarely seen is different crossbows, as not that common and generally viewed as a weak man's bow.

Other weapons are able to be produced for them by the local Dwarven blacksmiths of the Ludger clan. They can easily produce metal armour as well as weapons such as maces, warpicks, and halberds. If needed they will happily produce other goods along with the local leatherworkers, and carpenters.

Horses are available and regularly hired out, sometimes free depending if they are in the good graces of the stable masters and / or local Council & ruling Duke. About three of them own a cart, and selectively bred horses raised by the de Rais family. This generally gets whispers from the others calling them "Glory Boys" and "Dandies" though never to their faces.

No formal command structure is found in the Guild, though for each subgroup within it generally has one that will speak up for the rest. They usually defer to those same individuals to make decisions.

Saying this, the guild has an intrinsic flexibility naturally built in so that if one were to leave or die, another can step in and take over. If it needs a leader, the most experienced member or members will take over and even the local Duke can being an ex-adventurer himself, and some members of the local council can fulfil the same role, being ex-adventurers themselves.

The tactics used by the guild members vary wildly and are regularly unorthodox to say the least. Small teams usually operate on their own and have preferences unique to them. As most of the teams are usually mixed with spellcasters, rogues and / or warriors of some type, they eventually get a mix of skills that synergise over time, and the same that operated together during or before sign-up will develop this further over time.

Regularly working alone like this means the guild will rarely fight as one, and on the battlefield as a whole they will spread out into small pockets where needed. Sometimes the teams will split up into constituent classes so a team of warriors will form a fighting front along with spellcasters at the back, rogues harassing the enemy while they & the rangers will act as scouts & hunters. Sometimes the latter two, along with some of the warriors may find themselves as a core of archers. Spellcasters may plant themselves in units of warriors so as to bolster the warriors with spells and surprise the enemy from within the unit.

Almost any can and will lead other units, especially in the case of local military assets such as the Frankish troops, the Burgeaters of Frankia being the local military unit. Militia units & freemen units are sometimes led by them making up bodies for larger military formations.

The guild can supply training where the members can pick up training with other members, and call in training from the Burgeaters, the local mages whilst supplying train for these too.

Most of the training is unorthodox as they're the ones usually designated for "special operations", ranging from all out war, to hunting down monsters, to scouring ancient ruins for treasures. They can gain further training in spotting traps, guerrilla warfare, survival techniques, unarmed combat, horse riding, specific weapon / armour / spell use, and the like.