A men's collective · the guild
Your trade is your weapon.
Not a job. A weapon. A job is something a man is given; a weapon is something he forges, drills with, and can be trusted to carry. A man who is dangerous at his trade feeds a household, hires a brother, and can afford to say no to dishonest money.
What a guild actually was
A guild was never a networking group. It was a body of working men who agreed on a standard and then enforced it on each other. It set the training, it vouched for the work, it protected the price from being cut by careless men, and it fed the widow of a member who died.
That is what this is. Men who agree on a standard — in their trade and in their house — and hold each other to it. A listing here is not an advertisement. It is other men saying: this one's work holds.
Rank is earned
Apprentice · Journeyman · Master
Apprentice
He is being taught. He shows up, he is corrected without sulking, and he keeps the tools clean. Nobody is impressed yet — that is fine, nobody is supposed to be.
Journeyman
He can be sent out alone and the work holds. He quotes honestly, finishes what he started, and answers his phone after the money has cleared.
Master
He is dangerous at his trade — and now he owes it forward. A master's real mark is not his own work, it is the apprentices he sharpened.
Four classes of weapon
Every trade in the guild falls into one of four. None of them outranks another — a man who repairs engines and a man who writes software are both carrying steel.
The builders
Trades, construction, machines, land, anything that stands up when he is done.
The protectors
Law, security, medicine, service, repair — men who stand between a family and a threat.
The makers
Software, design, media, craft — the forge is a screen or a bench, the discipline is identical.
The traders
Sales, brokerage, logistics, markets — he moves value and takes a lawful cut for it.
The guild oath
Six lines a man signs his name under
- 01My word is the first thing I build with.
- 02I quote honestly and I finish what I start.
- 03I sharpen my trade on purpose, not by accident.
- 04I cover my house before I decorate my life.
- 05I hand the edge to the men coming up behind me.
- 06I take lawful money, and I can afford to refuse the rest.