Editing Guilds

The D'ni '''Guilds''' were originally established by [[Ri'neref]] after he and his followers arrived on Earth. They were based on the Guilds on [[Garternay]], but with much more stringent regulations on their behavior, in an effort to curb inter-Guild competition and instead focus the Guilds on what Ri'neref saw as their true purpose: meeting the needs of the people and glorifying [[Yahvo]]. Over time, these regulations were gradually relaxed, and the Guilds grew more powerful as a result.
 
==Governing power==
Originally, the [[Guild Council]] was an organization that worked in tandem with the King, drafting their own legislation and approving construction and regulatory proposals made by the King. However, after King [[Kerath]] abdicated the throne in [[6977 DE]], ending the [[List of D'ni Kings|reign of the kings]], he transferred full power to the Guild Council, appointing five Great Lords to lead it. After that, the 18 Major Guilds - each represented by 19 Guild Masters and one Grand Master - ruled D'ni completely. Kerath had argued, "D'ni is the Guilds," and he could see no other organization better suited to rule D'ni until the coming of what he believed to be the true Great King – he strongly believed that King [[Ahlsendar]], thought by many during his reign to be the prophesied Great King, was in fact a fraud and a liar.
 
Just prior to the [[fall of D'ni]], Guild Master [[Aitrus]] of the [[Guild of Surveyors]], with the help of his wife [[Ti'ana]], began proposing measures that would give some of the authority of government back to the commoners of D'ni. This was met with considerable resistance from the entrenched aristocracy behind the Council, but the measures passed. Unfortunately, nothing is known at this time about what these measures actually did to empower the general populace.
 
==Structure==
===Major and Minor Guilds===
As on Garternay, there were 18 Major Guilds. However, the Major Guilds in existence at the founding of D'ni were not the same as those that existed at the time of the fall. The Guild system was designed to be flexible, enabling the Guilds to best meet the needs of the people they served. In addition to the 18 Major Guilds, there were also numerous Minor Guilds. These Minor Guilds did not have a voice in the Guild Council, and the extent of their influence is not presently known. It seems that the Minor Guilds were developed for much more niche training than the 18 Major Guilds, such as actors, musicians, and burial workers.
 
===Member ranks===
Ranking in the Guilds is slightly unclear, but there were clearly many levels of rank, including, from lowest to highest, Cadet, Guildsman, Guild Master, Grand Master, and Great Lord. There was also a Guild Captain rank according to research on [[Teledahn]]'s history<ref>Douglas Sharper. ''[[Reference:Douglas Sharper, personal journal|Personal journal]]''. [[Uru: Ages Beyond Myst]]</ref>, but its place in the hierarchy is currently unclear. Rank was indicated by symbols sewn onto the cloaks of the Guild member. 8 symbols – 4 to a side – indicated the lowest rank, while the Great Lords had only one such symbol. Rank was not based on age, but it is unclear exactly what requirements had to be met to move up in the ranks of the Guild.

===Eligibility===
Membership in the Guilds was typically reserved for the upper classes of D'ni society due to the high monetary cost of enrollment. A scholarship program was instituted in [[4721 DE]] by King [[Demath]], requiring the Guilds to accept a certain percentage of students who passed the entrance exams but were unable to afford the price.
 
Women were not allowed in the Major Guilds, though there was a failed initiative to include them in [[3523 DE]]. This was met with considerable resistance by [[Shama]], the wife of King [[Ti'amel]], and as a result of her arguments, the proposal was dropped. However, a proposal several years earlier in [[3500 DE]] did enable women to join the Minor Guilds for the first time, though prior to that they had been allowed to participate unofficially (as actresses, for example).
 
==Heraldry==
Each Guild had its own symbol and color. On July 31, 2007, the DRC released information regarding the colors used by each Major Guild at the time of the fall of D'ni. However, information on the official symbols used by each Guild was not similarly released, and most are still unknown.
 
==Lists of Classical Guilds==
===Major Guilds===

In [[2488 DE]] the [[Guild of Miners]] replaced the [[Guild of Fine Artists]], which was split into the Minor Guilds of [[Guild of Artists|Artists]], [[Guild of Actors|Actors]], [[Guild of Sculptors|Sculptors]] and [[Guild of Musicians|Musicians]]. The following Guilds made up the D'ni Council at the time of [[Fall of D'ni|D'ni's fall]] in 9400 DE:<ref>"[http://www.florestica.com/hpotd/characters/guilds/index.html The Guilds of D'ni]", The Lost Library of D'ni. Accessed on November 19, 2019.</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Guild !! Colors !! Known Ages
|-
| [[Guild of Writers]] || <span style="color: #000000;">▇</span><span style="color: #D33029;">▇</span> black, dark red trim || [[Yakul]]
|-
| [[Guild of Maintainers]] || <span style="color: #A13952;">▇</span><span style="color: #A13952;">▇</span> burgundy || [[Gahreesen]]
|-
| [[Guild of Ink-Makers]] || <span style="color: #C22CBF;">▇</span><span style="color: #C22CBF;">▇</span> purple || [[Venalem]]
|-
| [[Guild of Books]] || <span style="color: #FBE0B5;">▇</span><span style="color: #FBE0B5;">▇</span> pale cream || [[Meanas]], [[Trases]]
|-
| [[Guild of Miners]] || <span style="color: #1040AC;">▇</span><span style="color: #1040AC;">▇</span> royal blue ||
|-
| [[Guild of Surveyors]] || <span style="color: #00A6E4;">▇</span><span style="color: #00A6E4;">▇</span> pale blue || [[Minkata]]
|-
| [[Guild of Legislators]] || <span style="color: #FF3334;">▇</span><span style="color: #FF3334;">▇</span> crimson || [[Gadar]]
|-
| [[Guild of Messengers]] || <span style="color: #FFDE5D;">▇</span><span style="color: #FFDE5D;">▇</span> yellow ||
|-
| [[Guild of Cartographers]] || <span style="color: #00BBD6;">▇</span><span style="color: #00BBD6;">▇</span> turquoise ||
|-
| [[Guild of Caterers]] || <span style="color: #01A992;">▇</span><span style="color: #01A992;">▇</span> emerald green || [[Er'cana]], [[Er'duna]], [[Er'jerah]], [[Hereas]], [[Shimas]]
|-
| [[Guild of Healers]] || <span style="color: #FFC6A9;">▇</span><span style="color: #FFC6A9;">▇</span> salmon pink || [[Books of Birenni]]
|-
| [[Guild of Mechanists]] || <span style="color: #A96421;">▇</span><span style="color: #A96421;">▇</span> brown ||
|-
| [[Guild of Analysts]] || <span style="color: #FF6600;">▇</span><span style="color: #FF6600;">▇</span> orange ||
|-
| [[Guild of Stone-Masons]] || <span style="color: #CCE6B7;">▇</span><span style="color: #CCE6B7;">▇</span> pale green ||
|-
| [[Guild of Engineers]] || <span style="color: #817B1D;">▇</span><span style="color: #817B1D;">▇</span> green-brown ||
|-
| [[Guild of Linguists]] || <span style="color: #FFFFFF;">▇</span><span style="color: #FFFFFF;">▇</span> white ||
|-
| [[Guild of Archivists]] || <span style="color: #FBBB26;">▇</span><span style="color: #FBBB26;">▇</span> gold ||
|-
| [[Guild of Chemists]] || <span style="color: #B3E601;">▇</span><span style="color: #B3E601;">▇</span> lime green ||
|}

===Minor Guilds===
* [[Guild of Actors]]
* [[Guild of Architecture]]
* [[Guild of Artists]]
* [[Guild of Bankers]]
* [[Guild of Burial Workers]]
* [[Guild of Educators]]
* [[Guild of Illusionists]]
* [[Guild of Musicians]]
* [[Guild of Sculptors]]
* [[Guild of Zoologists]]

==Restoration of the Guilds==
On July 31, 2007, the [[DRC]] opened the neighborhood of [[Kirel]] to explorers. The neighborhood was at one time the DRC's base of operations in D'ni, but now serves as a gathering place for all explorers interested in the Guild system. The DRC has outlined five Guilds which they believe are the most important to be resurrected in this new D'ni being built today. Four of these are Guilds that existed at the time of the Fall, while the fifth – the Guild of Greeters – was created by explorers in 2003 to work and guide with new explorers through their initial explorations of D'ni. The full list is as follows:
* [[Guild of Cartographers (restored)]]
* [[Guild of Greeters]] ( <span style="color: #49AD4A;">▇</span><span style="color: #00ADEF;">▇</span> green with cyan trim)
* [[Guild of Maintainers (restored)]]
* [[Guild of Messengers (restored)]]
* [[Guild of Writers (restored)]]
Other D'ni-inspired Guilds have been restored without the backing of the DRC: the [[Guild of Archivists (restored)|Guild of Archivists]], the [[Guild of Linguists (restored)|Guild of Linguists]], and the [[Guild of Healers (restored)|Guild of Healers]].

Other fan-promoted groups are the [[Guild of Linguists (restored)#The Guild of Instructors|Guild of Instructors]] (dedicated to teaching the [[D'ni language]]) and the Guild of Sleepers (close in scope to the Guild of Greeters).

No longer active groups are the the D'ni Zoological Society, the D'ni Musicological Research, the Guild of Caterers, the Guild of Astronomy, and the Musicians Guild.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Guilds]]
[[Category:D'ni culture]]