Music/Art Guild | Discussion

[Olivia Warrick]

Hello! So this is directed towards the prophets of Rynmere, but I'd love anyone's opinion!

So, this is Avrae, but this is my alt, Nikolaas. I was working on him and he's an artist/singer of Rynmere. I also know that there's another singer in Rynmere, I think, and surely more in other cities. And then I was looking through the factions and realized none of them focus on the arts! Blasphemy!

I don't know if any of you play Dragon Age, but in Dragon Age Inquisition, there's this girl named Sera, who works for an organization called Red Jenny. Red Jennies are everyday, ordinary people, like peasants- you know, maids, farmers, chefs, the like- who have reasons to be upset over nobles because they're mistreated. The Red Jenny organization is a network of spies, of sorts, but they also have all kinds of different people, including thieves. Their goal is simple- wreck havoc for the nobles! Steal a little from them in order to give back to the poor people they're mistreating, or spill their secrets to their enemies, or just cause some kind of humiliation to them. I thought on this when I came up with my idea.

What if someone (not necessarily Nikolaas, but I am offering up Nikolaas), made a faction for the arts. A gathering of writers, singers, musicians, artists. And at first it was just to get a network of artists and bring them together to perform different events and such in major cities such as Rynmere. But after he sees a noble mistreating someone lesser, such as a slave or one of the artists- he decides to use his newfound organization to strike back! It could be anything, from major revenge, to lowkey humiliation. The little people are the ones that go unseen, unnoticed. The most creative people, with the most reason to want to get a little payback.

Idk. I was just thinking about it, and I thought that:

1. A guild/faction of the arts should be made (whether or not they become more, they could just be a faction of artists, and that would be fun too)

2. My sadistic, shy little artist Nikolaas could twist it into something even more, an organization of sorts. (but this doesn't necessarily have to happen).

Keep in mind I am tired and haven't slept and this might make no sense, but I just wanted to share my thoughts and get feedback.

[Djinn]

Hey, so I thought I'd pop in here and offer some advice.

Firstly, I like the idea of a faction for the arts. Did you have an idea on the scale? Did you want it to be the Centre for the Arts of Idalos or Centre of the Arts of Rynmere? Do you see what I am saying? Do you want the artists' guild in each city to be connected to it?

Secondly, I don't think that advancing a single PC's goal is going to necessarily be the purview of an entire organization. If Nikolaas wants to use the faction to gather contacts and friends, and start his own low-key revolution, that's acceptable. But the entire Artists' Guild likely wouldn't be doing so, especially since a majority of their patronage would come from those they would then be looking to humiliate.

Personally, I like the idea of a world-wide guild, one with branches in each of the major cities, to promote and train new musicians, artists, sculptors, etc. It could even encompass acting, etc, and be a sort of Liberal Arts college. I really don't see the institution itself lending to the other idea, though. Maybe certain branches could, depending on what happens in the city...

[Olivia Warrick]

Ooh, big scale or small scale... I was thinking small scale just because it seems easier to handle, but I love the idea of it reaching out to all of Idalos if you think it could work. Maybe it starts with one city and then spreads out as it gains contacts or something. I love the idea of it being kind of a liberal arts college of sorts, training people in the arts.

And yes, that is true. Nikolaas' thing might be less the whole guild, more him and a handful of his contacts and allies. Or maybe even just a separate faction that looks out for little people or is a revolution against slavery. But my main idea here was definitely more of a music/art guild.

[Maltruism]

I could see it as having been started as an homage to an appropriate Immortal; say Zanik, who owns the domain of music, or Ilaren, who has sound, Thetros, who has passion.

It could be just starting out, with branches in just a few cities.

And I agree that using the medium of song too blatantly to foment criticism is likely to earn members a painful warning or worse.
The Aristocracy is not likely to grant much immunity to those that disparage their authority.
But that could be half the fun.

[Shards]

I think it's a great idea for some kind of player made guild. However, Djinn and Maltruism are absolutely right that the arts relies heavily on patronage whether it be for art, music or theatre and that usually comes from the wealthy. It would therefore seem counter productive if not disasterous to rebel against those that finance your profession, leading to many starving, penniless artists.

Further a player made guild to be world-wide would allow all PCs outside of Rynmere to take part if they so wish. I believe there are a couple, i.e. There is a potter in Sirothelle who would probably join.

Linking immortals to it as Maltruism suggests may help kick it off.

Hope that helps.

[Avrae Kyric]

XD Very good points. Yeah I'll probably keep the little rebellion to Nikolaas if he ends up going mad (I was thinking of giving him a Targaryen-like quality where he starts to go a little mad after a while. Or perhaps give him a mental disease like paranoid schizophrenia or something of the sort.)

But I do love the idea of making a world-wide music and art guild. The question is, how would one get funding or help from an immortal? Or a noble, if an immortal isn't willing. It would take a backer to get it going, and I'm not sure if that would be very easy to do.

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

I think the problem is that everyone thinks that a guild/faction is needed for everything in order to be able to influence things. Especially on a wide, global scale. In my opinion there are a lot of things which have to be taken account for an organization of that nature as we are looking at it. Logistics, influence, resources, manpower, etc. Things that a PC (or a group of) wouldn't be able to have on their own straight off the bat, hence why you are asking if a mod can take it up. It is easier to connect it to something central like an Immortal.

However, taking into account the politics and state of Idalos (a.k.a. Immortals hating people and each other or "War! War! War!") having an guild/faction for every other thing seems quite out of character. Especially when some locations are pretty much racist/xenophobic. There is nothing wrong with having smaller, localized things if you think about it. Especially if your goal is what you've described.

Arts, an example for the above could have various different schools. Even if Rynmere has one Institute of Arts, the people in it or who have already left it could have different interpretations of what they have learned. There are also many other sources of art. Those schooled informally, those from out of the city/country, those who just do whatever they want. This would lead to various different groupings as those with similar styles converge. Maybe for a large scale project they all wouldn't mind working together but on their own, each group has their own designs.

Or for a real example, (my history is actually pretty bad but this I think, is what I've read on the subject) the Greeks had many various different forums for "discussions" but in the end even Socrates/Plato had their own discussions of import with their own group of peers they could trust. There is nothing wrong with a PC having its own group of like minded people looking to secretly influence everything (like screwing around with the nobles) but publicly doing works which will make it look like they are part of the herd.

And I'm not even referring to those like the Freemasons. Those are big (imo, since they are well known to us all despite being "secret")

Point is, it isn't exactly advisable to have a big faction for everything. Especially when having more people means it being easier for you to get exposed as dissenters. The risks doesn't really justify the benefits you would get (if any) so why not just keep it small and manageable? You still get to share your goals and in this way you are sure that it is with people who actually care and are committed to it.

[Niv]

I actually agree with Nauta, Art is a pretty cultural and personal thing and it would almost be better if there was smaller fringe groups of artists than a huge massive thing. A guild or school for your region would be cool and encourage others to make guilds with clashing styles.

[Maltruism]

I agree as well.
It's basically the reason I proposed it being small-scale with only a few cities.
Sort of figuring they would be cities in the same general region, and not hostile to each other.

I had one other thought. I have another faction that is not written up beyond its existence in Etzos.
'The Fence' is a thieves' guild that has contacts or branches in other cities all over. They are not concerned about city-to-city politics or hostility.
They would possibly bankroll this Musician's Guild as a front for their nefarious activities.
They would contract halls in towns for performances that would leave some homes open for burglary.
As well as being a means to transport stolen materials inside of instrument cases and such.
It would be likely that some of the criminals would have enough musical training to be part of the troupe.
But many of the musicians would have no idea of the ulterior motive of their concert circuits.