[hr] [color=lemonchiffon][i][h1]|| The Guild ||[/h1][/i][/color] [hr] [center][img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cq1f-UjFhO8/Trod2fySA0I/AAAAAAAABCo/O4gLS4yTnRo/s1600/IlyaNazarov_105_large.jpg[/img][/center] A repurposed dwarven settlement once known as Ilya Nazarov and now known as the Ragnavault, the Syndicate’s guild hall used to be home to a small dwarven kingdom, and is still populated as such by many low level dwarves who assist in the upkeep and management of the Syndicate’s assets (almost like employees). [center][h3]Main level[/h3][/center] [u][b]The Halls[/b][/u] [center][img]https://7ce325fc0eff7c8df3f710e63c547aa3c2af31ab.googledrive.com/host/0B8F1xxaJXirTb19kekg5bU5uZW8/The%20Divide%20-%20dwarven%20passage.jpg[/img][/center] The Halls of the fortress are carved directly into the stone wall of the volcano, stretching throughout it like veins. They can take you to pretty much any location within the guild hall besides the Ragnavault itself, and thousands of rooms line them. Most of the rooms are located in the outermost tunnels closest to the surface to protect the low-level dwarven workers who live there in case of an eruption, but in the case of the nigh-invulnerable guild members who are all high-level players, their rooms are located far apart from one another in the heart of the volcano. The space afforded to a guild member is understandably far greater than the workers, and comes with much better furniture and customization options including fake skies to ward off depression due to living life underground. [u][b]The Dripper[/b][/u] [center][img]http://img09.deviantart.net/2228/i/2013/286/e/2/dwarven_caverns_by_elderscroller-d5wkmxn.jpg[/img][/center] A vast smelting mechanism utilizing raw magma from the heart of the volcano. Built into the heart of the fortress, it reliably produces iron and many other precious metals and minerals for the guild’s use. Toasty modified it from the dwarves’ original design and renamed it the Dripper after Odin’s magic ring Draupnir, which was said to multiply into eight new rings every ninth night by dripping liquid gold. [u][b]The Copper Hall[/b][/u] [center][img]http://orig15.deviantart.net/0189/f/2015/105/b/e/dwarven_ruins_by_4dimensional-d8puuz7.jpg[/img][/center] The banquet hall of the Syndicate. Sort of like the Round Table to their court of Camelot, so to speak. Built inside one of the gigantic mechanisms of the Dripper, the room is heated naturally by a stream of molten copper, which keeps the room at a comfortable temperature. Due to this feature copper tends to occasionally build up in certain areas, creating flows of solid orange metal built almost like benches. This (along with the metal’s use in minting) was what earned the room the name “The Copper Hall”. Aside from the ornate guildmaster’s chair at the head of the table, the table itself is magical to compensate for its plain appearance. Although it looks like a crudely cut slab of rock, it can grow large enough to accommodate any number of guests, and wine and mead flow freely from it. [u][b]The Brass Throne[/b][/u] [center][img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/43/94/67/4394671109a5edb34be91e5a92068681.jpg[/img][/center] The [i]personal[/i] quarters of the guildmaster, the Brass Throne is sorta like Toasty’s throne room. Modeled to be distinctly Japanese in its appearance to provide a sense of homeliness and familiarity, it’s where he does business with Shammura at his side, and anyone with a complaint or a suggestion is allowed an audience. Higher-ranking guild members need not knock or announce their presence, but the vast chamber is still considered to be just as much a private space as it is a public one. Out of all the rooms in the fortress, it is the largest. [center][h3]Lower level[/h3][/center] [u][b]The Underground Hotspring[/b][/u] [center][img]http://vinegaria.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/sol_bathhouse.jpg[/img][/center] More of a bath house, really, although the water that flows into it is indeed from an underground hotspring. Created more as a decorative piece than anything, it now serves as a luxury and a place of relaxation for the guild (the dwarven workers however have been barred from the premises due to their excess body hair always clogging the drains and leaving disgusting residue). Aside from just bathing it is a full spa and resort, and is available to all guild members and their custom NPCs to use. [u][b]The Bank[/b][/u] [center][img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/94/b5/e8/94b5e8bf65d9606c103c1c39a65061d6.jpg[/img][/center] This is where withdrawals and deposits are made to and from the Ragnavault. It’s a lot like a normal bank. Except, y’know, it just doesn’t look like that. At all. [center][h3]Upper level[/h3][/center] [u][b]The Librarium[/b][/u] [center][img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/dc/99/f3/dc99f30035495b9786411d08106f5baa.jpg[/img][/center] Nostromo’s domain. This is where all of the Syndicate’s vast knowledge is contained. It’s quite expansive, occupying most of the level, and is easy to get lost in, no thanks to Nostromo’s sense of aesthetics and design. [u][b]The Astrolab[/b][/u] [center][img]http://img07.deviantart.net/5d4a/i/2010/276/d/9/library_by_peyop-d2zzmbx.jpg[/img][/center] Loosely connected to the Librarium, the Astrolab is situated in the mouth of the volcano, with the only clear view of the night sky. It’s used to study the stars, or just to relax. [center][h3]Extra level[/h3][/center] [u][b]The Ragnavault[/b][/u] [center][img]http://img05.deviantart.net/e36a/i/2009/045/7/3/vault_of_the_dwarves_by_fhoop.jpg[/img][/center] The titular vault after which the fortress is named, the Ragnavault may have been the most ridiculously secure location in YGGDRASIL. Most members of the guild have never seen the inside of it and have only ever been able to withdraw predetermined amounts through a psuedo-automated teller machine, and for good reason. With a security system unhindered by things like real-life logic and budget constraints (not to mention the laws of physics), the Ragnavault in our real world or the New World easily surpasses even Fort Knox in terms of its impenetrability, requiring both a special key item to access (as the Ragnavault itself is its own dungeon unconnected to the rest of the world map except by means of transdimensional teleportation) and a special invisible ID tag hard-coded into your player character to prevent immediate self-immolation by the environment inside the vault. Once inside, you will find a massive 100-ton vault door guarded by a high-level dwarven sentry (level 85). He will ask you for the passphrase, parts of which are known only by the six founding members of the guild, who in the absence of the guild master must all be present to unlock the door. The door [i]will not unlock[/i] if the sentry is dead, as he is the only one who knows how to open it. The vault itself is actually the entrance to a vast cthonic labyrinth that is booby-trapped from floor to ceiling with instant death in many different and exotic flavors and absolutely festering with high-level monsters, including Helions. [center][img]http://digital-art-gallery.com/oid/62/640x403_11439_The_guard_of_a_vault_2d_fantasy_creature_picture_image_digital_art.jpg[/img][/center] With an average level of 90, Helions are the vault’s primary security system. Not only are they extremely high-level but they respawn endlessly, making them a challenge even for a group of level 100 players unless they have a specific item owned by the guildmaster which can pacify them, the Afterbirth of Arima. They can turn invisible, hide inside the walls, regenerate their wounds, inflict debilitating status debuffs with their bites, and worst of all, are only the underlings of four higher level monsters known as the Horsemen. [center][img]http://rpgsite.s3.amazonaws.com/images/images/000/001/733/original/Valfodr_render.jpg[/img][/center] The Horsemen [i]will[/i] attack you regardless of whether or not you have the item to pacify their soldiers, and will only stand down if you answer one of a number of riddles thought up by the six founding guild members. They lack the ability to hide themselves inside the level like the Helions but can teleport and have enormous strength as well as the ability to revive their fellow Horsemen at half health by sacrificing some of their HP. What this creates is a torturously prolonged battle full of crippling status debuffs and enemies who are not only big and tough but also frustratingly hard to land a hit on. If you survive that, you will be faced with the vault’s true guardian, the guild golem, who at this point is more of a formality than anything compared to the previous boss rush. While technically higher level than the Horsemen, most players consider him to be a much easier fight just due to the lack of frustrating mechanics. The treasure room proper is enormous, a full antechamber flooded with mountains and waves of gold coins forming valleys and peaks of rare items, some buried up to the hilt in ill-gotten wealth. While the Syndicate was by no means the strongest guild it was certainly one of the wealthiest, possessing a vast fortune in gold coins and many hard to obtain items. Including, it is rumored, one or two World Items, which are said to be housed inside the vault. [center][img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1c/1d/02/1c1d02c5aa04bafc2a547a60c63360ef.jpg[/img][/center]