Clerks

Clerks
Hidden away in town halls, libraries and other similar places, the Clerks are the lifeblood of Thistleland. Generally uninterested in the rivalries and conflicts outside, their main interest is keeping Thistleland organised and connected.

Overview
Composed entirely of hard working, often meek individuals, Clerks often have a reputation of being skittish, shy and introverted. While this may be often the case, the faction does have a wide variety of people.

The Clerks are known to be the single most accepting of the three founding faction of The Adventure Guild, accepting membership from whomever applies and meets the requirements for organising paperwork and organisational skill. As such, the group is well liked and accepted in almost all places it has entered.

The official stance of the Clerks is that of neutrality. As long as they are able to continue organising the local day to day paperwork on the settlement they are in they will pose no real threat. However, if they are prevented from their work, the offender can expect an extremely eloquently worded formal complaint in their post.

The main organisation is mesh: Each clerk will pass messages and information freely to others, where a resolution will usually form out of careful deliberation of the returned information. While the Clerks have no real chain of command or structure they are required by the Guild to have a formal leader. This process is selected by a system of voting, though generally speaking when someone has been selected there is little reason for anyone to vote for another Clerk.

The current Head Clerk is a somewhat shy and distracted Armadillo called Jake, who is known to have little interest in power, and who spends so much of his time organising the Clerks own paperwork and communications that he is scarcely a factor in general Guild decision making. It is said he lives and presumably sleeps, in the Guilds headquarters in Guildtown, only bothering to eat and drink whatever is passed to him as he works.

It is almost always the Clerks that pass information from settlements to the Guild regarding threats to Thistleland, and the same Clerks that receive bounty notifications from the Guild in Guildtown. These Clerks will then deal with local Adventurers and Adventure Scouts regarding bounties and roles the Guild or the settlement require, and when fulfilled will organise the payment.

While some Clerks use more advanced organisation tools, most prefer books, using mechanical printing presses, scrolls, quills and ink. While such tools can slow their work, many Clerks prefer this medium as a more "reliable", permanent and cost-effective method for record keeping. Their general neutrality stance also means many Mage organisation tools are rejected with a letter of appreciation. A result of this is the largest use of space with Clerks is the storage of books, scrolls and other paperwork related to their activities and roles, all neatly organised and labelled naturally.

Due to their roles, the Clerks are often considered the unofficial banks of the smaller settlements in Thistleland, both due to the money stores they have as well as the meticulous record keeping. Only in larger towns and cities do traditional banking establishments have the opportunity to establish themselves.

The Clerks sometimes often find themselves the local towns judges and courts, their neutrality and intelligence being a deciding factor for many disputes. They also organise regular Guard recruitment and management in smaller settlements, as well as handle the payment for Guards and other officials.

One of the Clerks duties locals seldom enjoy is that of tax collection, both for the local settlement as well as for the Adventure Guild. Despite this, there are rarely people who refuse the benefits of the Guild, local Clerks and town guards.

History
The Clerks of Thistleland were once a loose organisation of people in the various settlements who kept records, assisted with paperwork with local businesses and generally ensured business and organisation in the settlements proceeded smoothly. Settlements often paid Clerks voluntarily for their vital work.

When The Adventure Guild formed, it was realised that good paperwork and organisation would be vital to keeping both the Guild and indeed Thistleland at large safe. As such the Mages suggested to the Adventurers to include a third group of people as founding members of the Guild. The Adventures agreed, having used individual Clerks on pre-Guild work for vital information, and the various Clerks of Thistleland were asked to form an official group to represent themselves.

Once the Clerks were an official faction, they were provided with considerable space to organise and work, space which has only increased over the years with the vital nature of their work. While Adventurers and sometimes Mages may make comment that the Clerks now use more floor space in the Guild's headquarters then all other factions combined, such comments are usually in good humour.

Relations
Due to their focus on work that benefits all of Thistleland, the Clerks generally do not have any real focused enemies within Thistleland. Often attacks on the Clerks and their buildings are either intended to disrupt other local factions organisation, or are attempts to frustrate the Guild as a whole. Between this and the rarity that Clerks leave the safety of their workplaces, there are very few cases of Clerks being killed, or even injured. Most attackers will go out of their way to restrain rather then harm a Clerk.