The young lady stood watching the craftspeople forging steel, turning wood, cvarving stone, and marveled at the their skill. A young man saw her watching, and thinking himself clever, walked to her and said, chuckling, “Looking for a future husband?” “No” she replied. “I’m looking at the craftspeople that I will lead.” The young man was taken aback “YOU? Guild Grandmaster? HA!” “We shall see”, she said. “We shall see”.
Appointment
Once a candidate has passed all the tests that are adminstered to them, they are elevated to Guild Grandmaster. This is done formally at a ceremony overseen by the King of Orsholon. Because of the rare and important nature of these events, they are scheduled on separate days, with enough time for the Royal Family of Orsholon to travel to each one if needed.
The ceremony is attended by members of the public, esteemed members of the government, and it is considered a day off work for all guilds. Much fanfare surrounds the actual appointment, and the day is one of great celebration.
Duties
The Guild Grandmasters oversee all the guilds in their region. This includes visiting the various guild houses, inspecting the work of the craftsmen, ensuring standards of each guild are met, and acting as a liaison between the guilds, merchants, and governments. They review guild standards and revise them if necessary for safety or quality reasons. Most goods will carry a guild mark, indicating the item has met guild standards. But a special mark is awarded to exceptionallly crafted items. This mark bears the name of the Grand Guildmaster, and such items can easily garner premium prices, sometimes as much as 10x-20x the standard price.
This mark is not given freely, as the mark indicates a personal recommendation of the item by the Grandmaster. An item that is endorsed by the Grandmaster that is not of the highest quality reflects very poorly on the Grandmaster and the guilds in general.
Qualifications
A Guild Grandmaster oversees all the various crafts in his region. To achieve this title, an individual must exhibit exceptional skills in at least five different and varied skills that represent the craft guilds. The skillsets are:
Skill categories
– Metalworking
– Leatherworking
– Textile arts
– Culinary, brewing and distilling
– Animal Husbandry
– Agriculture
– Pottery and masonry
– Bookbinding, cartography and scrivening
– Woodworking
– Glasswork
– Decorative arts (painting, sketching. sculpting)
As can be imagined, the individual who can qualify is normallly older than the majority of craftsmen, to allow them the time to achieve the requisite level of skill.
Removal
A Grand Guildmaster will be removed if they are incapable of upholding guild standards. In addition, if a Grand Guildmaster is found to be intentionally lowering standards, or worse, selling their mark for endorsement, they not only lose Grandmaster status, but are shunned from all guild work for life.
Requirements
The main requirement is to pass examinations administered by existing Guild Grandmasters who have the requisite experience in the areas that the candidate seeks recognition. A candidate must have already achieved Guildmaster status in the 5 disciplines of their choosing (they may choose more, but only 5 will be tested per application).
The examinations are held at the end of the summer each year in the regions for which the candidate seeks recognition. If they fail the test for any one of the disciplines, they may not apply again for two years, as it is believed that this is the minimum time to refine the skills they are lacking.
If they fail more than one test, they may not return for examination for five years. If they fail more than two tests, they are forbidden from reapplying, as it is considered a waste of the other Grand Guildmasters time. For this reason, applicants are usually hesitant to apply unless they are very confident in their ability to pass the tests. Failing more than two tests is alse considered a negative mark against them, and they may potentially lose their Guildmaster status.
