The Mercenarys

The Mercenaries guild was established August 2nd, 1998, launching the English version of their website on this date. Founded by Merlyyn, the guild's guiding principle was "Our Unity is our Strength", a motto meaning that together we are powerful. Indeed, the Mercs were very strong, quickly becoming the most powerful guild at the time. Many of their members were made up of the highest-level players, giving them a distinct advantage. The design of the guild was that of strong men for hire which would kill others for a profit and protect their own. Their mission statement, unsurprisingly, was to make money, lots of it.

What was different about the Mercs from other assassin style guilds was that they would strongly adhere to a code of conduct which was pushed on all members. Those who joined the guild had to adhere to a professional conduct or face expulsion. The guild was not chaotic PKs killing everyone in sight but opportunistic money-oriented players who were courteous and respectful to those in the community, but ruthless in dealing with their enemies. This meant that killing without a contract was forbidden, unless attacked first, or was a target listed in the blackbook.

Those who paid for a contract against a player would appear in the blackbook as a special contract. If I recall this special blackbook was available only to members. The public blackbook was for those who attacked a Merc first without provocation or crossed them in anyway. The book was a sort of ledger of death were entrants would have their name, followed by the number of skulls which indicated the amount of deaths they earned before they were free again. Those who had 5 skulls would be killed forever on sight. Anyone who insulted the guild, attacked, or stole from a Merc would earn one skill while those who successfully killed a Merc would gain 3 skulls. Skulls were accumulative and could stack up to 5.

Death in Tibia is extremely harsh, so the Mercs were feared by the community as they delivered the ultimate punishment. To prevent the guild from turning into a game destroying nightmare, members were bound to uphold the 7 principles recorded below:

""§ 1 You are not allowed to be a member in another guild.

§ 7 Every member has to obey their superiors and the guildcouncil."

In return the guild offered fair treatment, fast integration into their ranks, protection from PKs, a purpose, a strong image in the community, and a network of friend to help when in need. Though who joined could also expect helpful tips and tricks on how to navigate the game, have a fair chance at being promoted, and enjoy the game though fun roleplay, serious meetings, and epic parties.

To join you had to be at least level 20 and could not be part of any other guild on any character you were known to play. One of the hallmarks of joining was you lost your ability to be able to publish speak out against people on the forum. If you had an issue, it had to be handled privately, and only guild leadership ever spoke for the guild on the boards. Those who disobeyed received hard punishment as I found out during my time in the guild.

Once you joined you obtained the rank of Numag and would have to collect points which helped you advance to the next rank. Unexcused absences of 3 weeks (no points collected during this time), resulted in expulsion from the guild.

Those points were collected by doing missions sanctioned by the guild. They could be assassinations which earned 2 points for every 4 levels of the target. You would also earn the commission the client paid, minus 10% which went to the guild. Points could also be earned for guiding people in a dangerous area or blackmailing for a client to stop their harassment. Mercs were also often hired for general protection missions like security for weddings, or while they sold heavy lootbags. When Fibula was introduced, tax collecting would be the main point a Numag could collect points. It is unknown how many points was earned for these other activities but likely followed the same principle as the tax collecting which net you 1 point per 1k gold collected. Those who attacked you and were immediately killed were recorded in the blackbook as an IaO (in and Out) kill which earned you easy points. All loot from your victims and money that was collected or owed the guild needed to be sent to various holding NPCs for dispersal to the treasury. Keeping loot without authorization was forbidden.

With Fibula's introduction, the Mercs took over this area and charged for protecting the dungeon beneath the surface. Players below the level of 10 were forbidden to hunt in the dungeon and would be charged 500gp and kicked out if found or killed if they couldn't pay. Anyone over level 10 would be charged 10gp per level per month so it made sense to pay early and gain as many levels as possible as the dungeon was very good.

The Mercenaries model worked very well because of the Merc tool they had which kept tract of players who were online. When an enemy logged in you would know about it from the tool and could immediately go and hunt them which proved a powerful asset. The website also was critical in recording blackbooks, keeping tract of taxes, and recording points.

Though players would grumble about paying for access to a dungeon, no one lamented the profitable nature or safety that the Mercs provided to those inside. Anyone caught PKing in the dungeon would be killed on sight or added to the blackbook if they escaped. The dangerous Demon Skeleton that was found inside was often lured so having a Merc guarding the door allowed for them to lure it back or kill it, helping players remain safe. If you died in the dungeon you could message a Merc to retrieve your stuff. One of the most important benefits was that you rarely needed a Fibula key as the Merc would open and close the door for you, allowing you save that money and not have to carry the risk of loosing the key on the dangerous path back to town. Additionally, every member could invite one person as a guest in Fibula dungeon and I believe the RR were exempt from paying taxes to hunt in Fibula as well.

Though the guild had different structures in the early years, the below is what has stuck around the longest and which exists today. The new structure was launched March 16th, 1999 as the vision of Rawork and Morloch who choose the military style system. The guild leader was called the TorRoshak and could make all minor decisions themselves but had to consult with the council to make any major decision. The council consisted of The Barag (treasurer), The Zokal (diplomat), The PahMakor (quartermaster), and The KaldurPa (magic quartermaster).

The main body of the guild was divided into five groups of soldiers called Sagotas. These were based mainly on time zones and was a mix of vocations. In The early days, had 3 clans, Terra, Might, and Hellfire which was later changed and expanded to the Sagotas were HellCaram, HellHound, ThalionAglareb, HellBringer, FlyingRunes, and later Angrom Shadows. Each Sagota was run by The Barzog of the group, who was assisted by The Verkir who was in charge if the The Barzog was not available. As a full member you were called a Numag and had to pay your respects to those above you. A Numag would take The Verkir's spot any time they had more points then The Verkir, same was true with The Barzog, which drove members to gain as many points as possible to advance.

Retired council who were respected earned the rank of Kobash-Tan, while those who made it to leader could receive the TorRoshak title. Members who had led honourably, upholding the principles of the guild, may earn the honour name Ashak.

One of the honors you could get as a member was a special name of a Tibian monster, called a “Bloodname”. This was earned by defeating the monster and drinking a chalice of its blood. Only one member could hold the title at the same time, and those who wanted the same name had to challenge the other member for the right to take on the name.

The guild was very active, becoming intimately involved with Tibia's power struggles, fighting with chaos guilds like RoA and PoD. "Some attempted a coup, such as the Dark sorcerer, Macavity. Akallabeth and Manostra led a strike team to deal with him in a rather harsh manner; his body was left untouched for him to collect. The knight Arieswar had also attempted to overthrow the Mercenarys during their many battles, taking hold of Fibula for a short time. The guild mobilized and he was seen sprinting off the island under a storm of SD's."

They were a top guild for several years, but being the best took a toll as wars became larger and more costly and roleplay was falling out of favor with the community. The successive wars, namely the fights with Darkside as part of the Alliance led to their decline as most active members grew tired of the constant fighting and left. At the end of this conflict their time as top guild would end, and other guilds would take their place.

The Mercenaries will always hold a special place in my heart as it was one of the first guilds I joined in my earlier years. I enjoyed the closeness of the guild and very much loved the competitive nature of the point system, though I was a horrible PvPer. I mostly spent my time looking after Fibula dungeon, collecting taxes, and defending the new players who came to level. It is in my nature to argue and I got into trouble posting on the boards enough times to make leadership tire of my constant disobedience. We both agreed to part ways as friends, both of us realizing that violence of assassin work and staying silent were not really my style of play. I didn't know it then but my time in the Mercs had primed me for my own guild leadership ambitions, though that would wait until after a stint in the Celebnoli, the least likely guild for a roleplaying Dwarf.