The Seekers

Origins and Purpose

The Seekers began as a small band of scouts and fighters who took on tasks that the Wardens of Rootwatch could not spare the numbers to address. Old records speak of a bad season when storms flooded the Verdwood and caravans vanished near the edge of Maer’thalas Ridge. The Council allowed a group of volunteers to work under temporary writ so the Wardens could hold the borders. The work was done, the caravans were found, and the band did not disband when the waters fell. Over the next years the Council made the arrangement permanent. The Seekers would answer threats beyond routine patrols, act where the law needed a longer reach, and bring back clear reports that could be entered into the books.

They operate with council sanction and report their outcomes in public. They do not belong to a caste. They work beside the Wardens, the Lake-Wardens, the Merchant Guild, and the Lorekeepers, but they are not controlled by any one of them. This position is both freedom and burden. The city expects the Seekers to step forward when others are bound by duty at home. The Seekers accept that charge. Their hall stands in Trailhome, close to Ezra’s Tavern and the training yards. Their doors stay open at dawn and close only when the boards are empty or when rites demand silence.

Their purpose is simple. Go where the city cannot spare a company. Find what is missing. Set right what can be set right. Name what cannot be set right and draw a line around it so others do not wander into harm. When the Verdwood turns restless, when Lake Selenmere stirs, when signs from the mountains press close, the boards at Ezra’s fill and the Seekers shoulder the work.

Structure, Oaths, and Law

The Seekers keep a plain structure that reflects their tasks. Runners are new hands who learn paths and signs, carry messages, and follow close orders. Hands are full members who can lead a small party and accept contracts without a captain present. Captains set terms with the Council, sign high risk writs, and carry the burden when a decision cannot wait. Titles do not carry privilege inside the hall. They carry responsibility and consequence in the field.

Before taking a first contract, a Seeker stands at dusk in the square at Trailhome. Ezra reads the oath from the board. A Lorekeeper witnesses and marks the book. The oath has four vows. Speak true in reports. Pay debts in coin or service. Bring your dead home if there is any chance to do so. Do no harm to shrines, flows, or the families who live under their shelter. The oath is short on purpose so it can be remembered when fear is high.

The Seekers do not stand outside city law. They work under written writs and standard contracts. They carry permits that allow weapons within certain bounds and they surrender those permits when a job is done. Disputes about payment go to the Merchant Guild. Disputes about magic go to the Lorekeepers. Complaints about behavior in the field go to a joint hearing in Trailhome where a councilor sits with a captain, a Guild arbiter, and a Lorekeeper. The goal is not to break the Seekers or protect them. The goal is to keep the lines clear so the city can rely on them without fear.

Work, Methods, and Gear

Most contracts fall into steady groups. Missing caravans in the Verdwood. Disturbed ground along the outer shrines. Reports of webbing and silent paths near the Varnhollow Peaks. Signs of Redfang scouts testing old passes above the Bronthok Reaches. Giant prints crossing fresh snowfalls in the Hulderhorns. Strange pulls or lights on Lake Selenmere. Each group demands a different rhythm and a different measure of risk.

The work begins at Ezra’s Tavern. Boards list the contract, the sponsor, the offered pay, and any known warnings. The sponsor might be a family, a caravan master, a warden captain, a lake-warden marshal, a Guild officer, or the Council. Parties form at the tables, then cross the square to the hall. Captains issue writs based on the board and the members present. Lorekeepers review plans that involve spellwork, maps under seal, or travel near sensitive flows. Wardens supply marks and fresh sign for current hazards. Lake-Wardens brief boat rules when water is involved. The party gears up and leaves before second bell if the case is time-sensitive, or at dawn the next day if there is time to prepare.

Methods are plain and proven. Mark every camp and turn with simple, shared signs so another party can follow without a guide. Record weather, beasts, people met, and the state of the paths. Avoid loud magic near the lake or over known flows. Leave shrines clean and note any changes for the Wardens. When dealing with neighbors, speak simple terms and keep promises within reach. If a line is crossed, withdraw rather than break an agreement that took years to make.

Gear reflects this approach. Most go light. Root-cured leather for quiet and weather. A mix of bows, spears, and short blades that will not catch in close growth. Climbing lines, hooks, and simple pulleys for ridge work. Resin-sealed maps and wax for fresh notes. Lantern stones for night signals and funerals. If the job leads into heavy snow or cliff country, the Embergrove supplies spikes, sled stretchers, and spare boot irons. If water is expected, the Lake-Wardens issue boat time and rope harnesses. If the work involves disturbed flows, the Cloister loans calibrated rods and requires a scholar to travel with the party.

Payment is posted in coin or goods. The Merchant Guild often holds escrow for larger sponsors so crews are not chasing pay across districts. Ezra takes a small fee from sponsors to keep the boards clear and the hall supplied with hot food. If a job yields found goods by right of recovery, the Guild weighs those claims in the Stall Hall with a Seeker captain present. This keeps tempers down and keeps the law clean.

Allies, Enemies, and the Long Memory

The Seekers work near many edges, which means they carry many ties. With the Wardens of Rootwatch the tie is daily and practical. Wardens mark paths, maintain shrines, and hold the gates. Seekers extend those lines and take on tasks that would pull patrols too thin. The two groups share signals and supplies, and they read names together at the winter rite. With the Lake-Wardens the tie is one of trust in harsh conditions. Fog hides mistakes and the water is both road and danger. The Seekers respect the lake oath and accept lake rules without argument when afloat.

With the Merchant Guild the tie is business. The Guild can make a hard recovery worth the risk or turn a long chase into a loss. Captain and arbiter keep close records so both sides can point to the same lines when memory fails. With the Lorekeepers the tie is careful and old. The Cloister expects prompt reports on unusual lights, changes in shrine behavior, and any new growth in forbidden grounds. In return the Seekers gain access to maps and sealed notes that keep them alive.

Beyond Naath, the ties are more fragile. The Rootchewer goblins in Snagroot are treated as neighbors. The Seekers trade news for stew and pass on with their boots still theirs. The Skeliri in the Varnhollow Peaks are treated with caution and distance. Parties do not enter their cliffs unless a council writ requires it. When that happens, the Seekers move quiet and leave offerings by marked stones. The Redfang orcs in the Bronthok Reaches are treated as a nation with its own law. The Seekers do not hunt trophies and do not take brands. If a pass must be crossed, they seek a neutral guide or send word first. The giants in the Hulderhorns are not treated as foes. They are treated as forces that must be observed and avoided. A sighting goes to the Wardens before anything else. A line marked by cairns is not crossed.

The Seekers carry a long memory of their own. The hall keeps a wall of tokens that were taken from the field when there was no body to bring home. A broken hook from a rope team that fell in a thaw. A water-worn tablet found near Selenmere where a boat went under. A warden cord tied to a spear butt from a patrol that never returned from the Wyrmshade. Each token bears a name and a day. During the winter rite a captain reads those names in the Boughring. Families and friends answer with one word that means present. After the rite the cords are moved to a lower beam and new space is cleared. The wall never stays empty for long, but it never grows without purpose.

Some of the city calls the Seekers reckless. The charge is not without cause. They go far and sometimes fail. Yet the boards keep filling and the hall keeps opening its doors. The city knows that a steady market, a quiet gate, and a clean path are made by many hands. The Seekers are the hands that reach past the last post when reaching is the only choice. They do not make grand claims. They take a contract, they leave, and they return if they can. When they cannot, the wall and the winter rite hold their place until someone else picks up the same work and tries again.