1.27 – Tour

“Okay,” Sammy said. “So. I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about the guilds, and it’s my job to clear things up. What do you think of them?”

Sammy had guided Natalie out of the large entry hall, where freshmen candidates had been swarming the various tables ready to be greeted by guild officials. It seemed Natalie had skipped the line through an odd, if fortunate, series of events. And she was getting a full tour, rather than the casual, canned discussions she’d been hearing back at the hall.

“What do I think of them?”

“Like, in general.” She shrugged. “Your perception.”

Natalie thought about it. Well, Harper had been pretty frank, so her appraisal was probably the right one. “They’re places to socialize and train with people who fill a similar role to you, practically speaking. But … they’re basically frats, besides that. Or sororities. Whatever the co-ed term is. Party houses,” she finally landed on.

Sammy gave her an amused look. “If this was an official tour, this is where I’d tell you no. That you’re wrong. And on the record … I did.” She winked, then took a stern voice. “The guilds are professional organizations, and we don’t throw parties, we throw ‘school pride’ events.”

“The getting hammered part is coincidental.”

“Officially, yes,” Sammy said, grinning. “But no, really. Even if we have lots of members join who only care about … our less professional side, that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to offer.”

They’d been walking through a wide hallway, and now Sammy veered them to the left, through a set of open double doors.

“For example!” she said cheerfully. “The library. Honestly, it might be the most comprehensive collection of books in the country, for our specific niche. Delving commentary, combat styles, class and role duties, anything you could imagine when it comes to tanking. And plenty of general advice, encyclopedias, and so on, too.”

Natalie blinked around at the shelves piled with tomes of miscellaneous size and color. Like the rest of the guild, the room was in good order: clean, organized, and well-lit … though the iron-bar windows were a bit out-of-theme with the interior.

Like Sammy said, it was a staggering collection. Many times larger than what could be found back at a town like Tinford, so Natalie was more impressed than the average Tenet newcomer.

“Though, if I’m being honest,” Sammy said, “the library doesn’t see much use. Probably more than the fighter’s guild does, but our sort tends to be a hands-on type. Still, the amount of insight in these pages could last lifetimes. I really ought to get in here more often …”

The words piqued Natalie’s interest, because, she realized, if there was a place she could find information on paladin classes—how exactly patrons worked, if they ‘worked’ at all—it would be here. Or if not here, then Tenet’s main library, or one of the other guild libraries. But the tank’s guild, a certain possibility.

Not that it was high on her list of priorities, but having somewhere to start was nice.

“How do you find what you need?” Natalie asked, walking up and inspecting the nearest shelf. A Study of Armor Durability and Maintenance, one dark-blue spine read. The one next to that was, The Mechanics of Defensive Equipment: Form, Function, Design.

“We follow the same decimal system the rest of campus does. Though … sometimes things get misplaced. You might have to do some hunting if you’re looking for something specific.”

“Decimal system?”

Sammy tapped the bottom of a book spine, drawing Natalie’s eyes to a series of numbers scrawled on a white slip. “There’s a catalog at the front desk, if you want to hunt manually. But it’d be easier to ask Nelle or Fay. Those are our librarians.”

“Two? For this whole mess?”

“Tenet handles most of the inventory stuff. Nelle and Fay just deal with … our half of responsibilities.” She shrugged, as if she didn’t know exactly what that entailed.

“Do you have to be a member? To check anything out?”

“To even get in here, actually,” Sammy confirmed. “We’re open for freshmen, today, and the next few days, but after that, members only.”

She wasn’t surprised. Hoarding information had been a way of life for the guilds, back in the day. Less so in the modern age, but not entirely gone. Knowledge was power, as the saying went. Why share with the competition?

“Which actually segues to the main point,” Sammy said. “Membership, and what you get.”

Natalie nodded, prompting her to continue.

“There’s actually two tiers,” Sammy said. “Everyone on campus has to align with a guild, but most people, it’s a superficial relationship.”

“So, members in name only,” Natalie said. “Then, there’s full members. Like you. People who work for the guild?” She smirked. “The frat-slash-sorority members.”

Sammy, like before when Natalie’d called the guild that, seemed amused. “You really shouldn’t call us that. Especially if you join. We have an act to keep up.”

Natalie snorted.

“But yeah,” Sammy said. “Full members. Being aligned—‘half members’—means you get access to the training rooms, library, and other basic utilities, but being a full member is … well, a job, but with benefits. Depending on your position in the guild, you could get a room,” she gestured above them, toward the ceiling, where Natalie could guess the bedrooms were, “a token stipend, access to the treasury, and … well, a bunch of other stuff.”

“Treasury?”

“A communal one,” Sammy said. “I guess it’s not even the first day for you guys, so you haven’t gotten the Tenet tour. You’ll need to rent out a treasury room, assuming you don’t want to sell everything the moment you get it. If you’re a full member of the guild, you can store stuff in ours.” She hesitated. “Though, if you’re storing a bunch of junk, some of the upper years would probably get annoyed. Even if we have plenty of space.” She shrugged.

“Huh,” Natalie said. It sounded useful, even if she didn’t know she was sold on trying to become a full member. She already knew she’d probably align with the tank’s guild, but further? She didn’t know. “And what’s it take to get in?”

“There’s a few things. Minimum academic standards, your job responsibilities, whatever they are, and stuff like this.”

“This?”

“Event days. Showing the newbies around, or … whatever else is going on, where the guilds need a presence.”

“And how often’s that happen?”

“Not super, but not rare, either. Every few weeks? But you don’t need to go to every one. It doesn’t cut into your time too bad. Tenet wants us delving, first and foremost. But it’s not a free ride, either. It’s work.”

Natalie hummed in consideration. “Doesn’t sound awful, I guess.”

“It’s not.” She shrugged. “But I’m biased. I picked it, didn’t I?” She gave a sheepish smile. “And, there’s a few extra benefits. Being on the ground floor for … whatever’s going on, can be nice.”

“The parties,” Natalie said.

Sammy nodded. “Like I said, it’s poor form to say it out loud, but it’s half the reason most of us join up.” She gave Natalie a pointed look. “It can be hard to get alcohol onto campus, you know. Security looks lax, but it’s really not. So …” She raised her eyebrows, emphasizing the point, though Natalie just found it funny how she was tiptoeing.

“And you’re at the parties, often?” Natalie asked.

Sammy grinned. “Oh, here and there. Everyone needs a break once in a while.”

“When’s the next?” Then, even more forwardly, “The next you’ll be at, I mean.”

Sammy just gave her an amused look. “I see through you, freshman. You’re just trying to get out of the barracks for a night.” She quirked a teasing eyebrow. “But I suppose I’m feeling benevolent. There’s one tomorrow, and maybe I’ll give you a place to stay, if things turn out.”

Natalie grinned. She liked the sound of that.

“Sounds like a plan.” She wasn’t excited just because her class was encouraging this. Sammy was cute, friendly, and honestly, a good connection to have, considering her place in the guild. Natalie’d gotten lucky, being guided her way by that blond boy.

“Anyway,” Sammy said, coloring slightly at the bluntness of the exchange. “Let’s keep the tour going.”

“You said there’s training rooms?”

“Sure. Let’s go check them out.”