Make no mistake, the Guild exists for one reason and one reason only. There is talk of justice and peace, but these are secondary concerns, byproducts of their primary interest. The Guild exists to maintain the production of Malifaux Soulstone above all other things. The citizens abide by Guild law because it offers some amount of protection, but no one is confused about the way this force exerts its hold over the City and its resources.
Blind Justice
For thousands of years, sorcerers have been a clandestine and erudite group. Their concerns lay with scholarly pursuits, experiments, and arcane ritual. Rarely did their interest lay with social or political concern, except where those issues interfered with their own private matters. In such times, these sorcerers would gather together to protect their shared interest and leverage their might against the world.
There has been no greater discovery in the history of man than Malifaux and its Soulstones, and there is no room for subtlety in its production. Desperate to control this priceless resource, conjurers, magicians, and wizards came together to establish the Guild in Malifaux. This organization would bring law and order to the chaos and violence of Malifaux. Above that, they would ensure that the Breach never closed again and that the supply of Soulstones was never again threatened. Under the strict authority of the Guild, a city was made anew in the ruins of Malifaux.
Witch Hunters Exceeding Authority?
Today, the Guild exists as a largely self-governing body on the frontier, far away from the meddling hands of the wizards that spawned it. Its first duty remains to the enforcement of a law that allows for maximum Soulstone production. Specialized branches have been developed to combat the unique dangers of Malifaux.
Who Are the Ortegas?
Chief among those dangers are the nightmarish Neverborn. So zealous is the Guild in stamping out the threat of Neverborn that almost anyone can become deputized as a Neverborn Hunter. The job comes with a rather high casualty rate as many deputies fail to survive even their first contact with these creatures. However, there are some who excel in this role, most notably the famous Ortega family who is credited with dozens of slain monsters.
A magic native to Malifaux, necromancy has proven to be a difficult issue for the Guild to police. The practice of necromancy allows criminals to act via proxy through their reanimated minions. This often makes it difficult to identify the perpetrator of a crime. The Death Marshals are the grim, stoic faces of final death responsible for hunting down these criminals.
The Guild Protects
While the efforts of the Death Marshals and the Neverborn Hunters are appreciated by Malifaux citizens almost unanimously, the Witch Hunters manifest the Guild's mistrust in the people they profess to protect. Common people have become empowered by the rich energies of Malifaux. These Arcanists represent danger to the Guild's establishment by practicing magics unknown and untested by Earth's ancient schools. Untrained and undisciplined, these rogue elements are as much a danger to themselves as to the general population, and many Arcanists quickly take to crime upon discovering their new talents. No citizen escapes the vigilant eye of the Witch Hunter, and in the eyes of the Guild, it is best to cut deep to remove this cancer, lest it spread.
Together, these bodies enforce the fascist rule of the Guild and ensure the obedience of the population. The Soulstones pour from the mines by the weary hands of its population, but it is the Guild and its benefactors who enjoy the riches of Malifaux, a fact that the citizens of Malifaux are unlikely to forgive.
Guild Fights the "Grafter" Menace
