The Amahi
The Amahi are the Artificer's Guild in Osuvanne. While the main headquarters are in Vol, the bulk of their production facilities are in the industrial town of Blademarket. Smaller guildhouses may be found in most major towns and cities.
History
With the fall of Tamarand the gold in the north and the fall of the Trispired city of Tinch on the Abbatchtka continent, the humans of Osuvanne were left mostly unmolested by the rigours of magic. The tribe in the northern lands, the Amahi, were known to be the most intellectually curious of the human factions which led to discoveries of technological wonder. Some say the Amahi discovered the wheel. Unkind observers might also mention that they patented it, copyrighted it, and viciously sue anyone who suggests that they got there first. However the Amahi gained their reputation as tinkerers and inventors, they keep it with traditional teaching of suitable children and apprenticeships.
Historical records suggest that members of the Amahi were instrumental in the production of the Windsails that led to the prototypes of airships that were developed to supplant the Air Genasi of Crystallen's method of travelling across the world. Other notable inventions include the infamous Longhurst Enchanted Spellthread, which for a given value of enchantment can hold magical power for a time. For more mundane artefacts, the furniture produced by Forchantey is considered masterful, and commissions from the great and the good followed. Recently, the furniture maker seems to have halted production of new items.
Cogglesbroom
Whilst the education of new artificers of any kind is a useful thing for the guild to accomplish, the cost of the education (or perhaps, the price of failure) is tantamount to a life of poverty unless work is developed for the guild. Despite this, accidents do happen, and the Amahi have a generous system in place to look after the widows, widowers and orphans that may be produced by the artificer's incessant dabbling with the technomantic. Some children are brought to the guild rather than be cast out onto the streets, joining a sub-group of the guild known as the Cogglesbroom. The current "Sweep" of this group is Lellivand Moss.
Locations
Blademarket
Home of the guild headquarters, Blademarket could be described as a company town. Here in the center of the city at the crossroads the extensive guild building can be found. Featuring a tall clock tower, home of the twin bells 'Toil' and 'Play', the guild can be seen throughout the city with the bells ringing out every hour. Around a central quadrangle there are 3-story buildings containing dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, workshops and offices. This is where the young sprockets, new tinkerers and alchemists, are trained in the mechanical and chemical arts.
Dwardle
The Waterfens district, South of the Wain Bridge contains the small guildhouse known as The Swage. A modest affair with a small lounge for members and offices for guild business to be conducted in, it can be a place that members can call upon in an emergency or for guild business. The master of the guildhouse is a female half-elf/gnome called Wintala Loramenor, she ensures that guild business is conducted to the highest standards of The Amahi.
The guild house is a small clocktower with a quadrangle of buildings surrounding the stained glass four story tower. During the events pertaining to the adventurers known as the Multiple Sarcasms, the guildhouse was damaged from repeated acts of vandalism from members of the town. The root cause of this anger against the Amahi is not known, but assumed to be related to the relationship between The Concurrence and the tinkerers' guild.
Traditions of the Amahi
Tools of the Craft
The first test of any guild member and student is the crafting of their first tools. While the guild workshops have plenty of tools for novices, the sprockets are taught to make their own and the creation of the first set of tools is a rite of passage in the guild and one that all members remember. Some tools may come and go, better ones made, but a guildmember will always have their first hand-crafted set somewhere in the workshop to remind them of where they started out.
Commencement
After finishing their training after at least 6 years of study, students are apprenticed to masters of the guild to further hone their arts. Alchemists, Tinkerers, Engineers and Artificers learn from the elders and more experienced masters all the nuances of their craft, as well as exposing them to the world outside of the guild HQ. Eventually after years of learning the arts, the student is given the Guild signet ring, with a cog symbol deeply engraved on it and released from their apprenticeship as a full-fledged member of the guild.
This is a special moment for any sprocket and is where they can truly start to call themselves a tinkerer and a member of The Amahi.
Guild Day
A commemoration of the founding of the guild. On this day, notable members and elders of the guild will convene at the guild HQ for a celebration of the guild. The guildmasters of all guildhouses will either travel or send representatives. In a part of the celebration started by Augustus Longhurst, special lectures and speeches are given to the Sprockets as they have a chance to see some of the legendary members of the guild. Key speakers in previous years include Tomanas Elborin and Massander Forchantey.
The day after Guild Day, the guildmasters will hold meetings and discuss guild matters, debate issues and make decisions.
Sweep's Confangled Mess
One of the traditions that Blademarket residents sometimes wish the guild members would leave to the history books. The guild can be a high pressure environment for students with huge expectations on them and a lot for them to learn. As such, the Sweep's Confangled Mess is a week where the students get a chance to let their hair down, relax and have some fun. It is a time of pranks, a time of tinkering for fun instead of profit, and a time to do things that throughout the rest of the year are discouraged.
The tradition has been reined-in the last few years after a student decided to attempt to infuse fire-enchanted spellthread with oil. The tenders were quick to put out the fires and only a few buildings were lightly burnt.
Notable Mundane and Magical Artefacts produced by the guild
- Longhurst Enchanted Spellthread
- Windsails
- The Arch in Vol
Student Houses
After the first year of training, students in the guild are invited to join one of 4 houses for the remainder of their study. This tribal affiliation leads to friendly competition and rivalry between the houses. The houses themselves are named after former leaders of the guild.
- Cogwright
- Harriden
- Longhurst
- Paleforth
Members
Known members of the guild are:
- Glazt; Guildmaster, Keeper of the scrolls, Master of the Technologick, and in search of a good cup of tea.
- Tomanas Elborin, the mining attendant of Blademarket.
- Owlswick Jenkins, Head of Cogswright house