I guess I should probably elaborate fully on the Derecho Riders as a band then.
Here's what I had set up in my mind - Vietmyke, feel free to comment or rule on any of the points I'm going to elaborate on here - I have no problem with changing or adjusting it.
The impression I have of the Derecho Riders is that they're kept around because the Guild prefers to have a leash on organized crime. If the Riders weren't around, somebody else - possibly arranged in opposition to the Guild - would be instead. A necessary evil, if you will. That said, their internal hierarchy and structure is about as close to illicit as it can get, which is manifest in their SOP. They have their own doctors for when it's too risky to go to a legitimate hospital or clinic, and their Quartermasters also double as fences for stolen goods. Their members don't have any real license or authority as guildmembers - they can't barge into a University and start stealing shit while whipping out their Guild Membership as justification. Which is to say, Riders are expected to commit overt crimes, but are not permitted to. They're merely 'allowed' to get away with any crime they commit successfully.
This would probably normally be considered unacceptable, but the Riders also keep a lid on the 'unregistered' criminal population. Take Kuro for example - he used to be a Highwayman up until he became a little too notorious for his own good. The Riders came and stomped his entire operation flat, and killed all his henchmen. He was brought onboard according to a chance whim. They do things like that all the time, while simultaneously fulfilling the demand for dirty business. In essence, their 'job' in the Guild is to commit crimes on behalf of the law-abiding populace. Perhaps a baker wants their neighbor dead? Or maybe a tavern owner finally decides they want one of their patrons to pay their tab *sooner* rather the *later*? There might also be discerning businessmen who need discrete assistance in private affairs.
The distinction between the Riders and actual criminals is that the Riders don't commit surplus crime. They only fulfill a basic quota defined by the public and the guild making use of their services. They keep the occurrence of random crimes down, and as a bonus the Guild gets to track and apply statistical analysis to their illicit activities. A comparison could be drawn between them and the Thieves and Assassins Guilds of Ankh-Morpork, I imagine.
To elaborate a bit on the part where I said they had their own in-house doctors - they're still committing actual crimes, so if one of them gets shot or cut on the job, they couldn't very well go to Helen's clinic. Law enforcement might be waiting there, or Helen might have an obligation to inform the authorities. So the Riders have their own in-house, back-alley doctors. They'll still use regular medical services when possible though (I.E., Nailtooth and the Boy in Red).
Also, you'll note in my first post that the Riders have an unusual Guildhouse. Like the Errant Knights, it's built into the actual Guildhall, but the official front entrance is shut and barred. The actual entrance is around the back, where deliveries are made. You have to get by a bunch of Riders posing as laborers and haulers (with standing orders to serve bloody noses to people poking around where they shouldn't be), and it was heavily implied that signing the Guest Registry at the secretary's desk just inside the entrance was a phenomenally bad idea.
The reason for that detail was to account for the Inquisition. They insist on keeping a registry of every single summoner ever, and a registry of any kind is not the sort of thing a Rider would want to wind up on. I imagine a large number of them are on the registry in any case, but it also wouldn't surprise me to learn there's a small handful of individuals using the Guild to hide from the Inquisition.
The Riders will gladly permit any members of the Inquisition who come in with a warrant or affidavit to apprehend/question a suspected summoner or person with a spirit of interest. . .IF the Inquisitor does not mind signing the guest registry first. All official visitors have to sign, or else can be barred entry, regardless of their authority or documentation. That people die horribly if they sign is besides the point. And according to the 'official' Guild record, the Riders would never harbor suspected unregistered summoners. They aren't permitted to do that, after all.
So it's somewhat hard to gain entry if you aren't a member or don't have an invitation. They even have their own system for broadcasting if an individual is a approved visitor. There's a tailor a street and a half down away from the Guildhall that will give out complimentary snazzy embroidered scarfs to people who know what to say.
As for their actual reputation, they're pretty transparently shady. I suspect that since members of the other Bands are not actual law-enforcement per-se, they have no obligation to stop Riders from committing suspected or ongoing crimes. Then again, they might very well interfere anyway for various reasons, offering their services to catch or apprehend the perpetrator. That way the Guild gets paid twice for the same job.
Riders who are caught by mundane Law Enforcement are disavowed. They don't get no help. You'll notice that four of them were actually executed during the siege of Icarael when all 'known and suspected criminals' were rounded up by local authorities. It's one thing for the Guild to hold the leash of organized crime. It's another thing entirely to call off due process (or what passes for it) involving an actual crime, regardless of whether a Guild Member was the perpetrator. That sort of thing would make the Guild unpopular pretty quickly. Though I do imagine Riders apprehended by members of other Guild bands are eventually remitted back to Rider custody after a brief holding period. The whole 'the Riders basically are criminals' tidbit is probably a fairly well kept secret inclusive to the Guild - the common populace would have no idea that the crook who stole their pendant was actually employed by the Guild. The higher echelons of power in the city-states would probably know about it though (it's hard to keep a secret like that from determined and rich investigators, especially when most Guildmembers would known).
So to a person like Helen - every Rider is basically a suspected and/or actual criminal in all likelihood. If Helen has ever been involved in any less-than-legal incidents, they were probably involved. She would have had to contact them if she wanted somebody killed or something stolen, by way of example. The one perk is, as a member of the Adventurer's Guild, she has limited immunity to Riders harassing her or else stealing/doing horrible things to her, even if an outsider contracts a Rider to do just that. The Riders go out of their way to protect the Guild itself from illicit activity, which is useful more ensuring priceless artifacts aren't stolen from the Band Headquarters or that important band members aren't stabbed to death in dark alleyways. As such, Guild members would have little to nothing to fear from Riders personally - they're there to make OTHER people miserable.
As for their history, I like to think the Riders originated from an actual band of Outlaws and Thieves who constantly plagued the Western City-States hundreds of years ago. Their leader controlled the Gargantuan Spirit Sharur, whose signature power was the ability to conjure and direct Derechos. The leader would aim a stormwall at a settlement or city, and then the entire band would ride in behind the wake of the storm, taking advantage of the chaos and confusion to pillage and loot. They became such a large threat that the Adventurer's Guild stepped in, tracking down the Riders between raids and meeting them in an epic battle on the plains. The Riders were broken and defeated, but the Guild propped up their leader as a Bandmaster and used their influence to curtail crime and banditry throughout the realm.
KactusPunch,
Crown Sage,
MarshalSolgriev,
SkyeOfStars,
princess,
flat lovenote,
Zeroth