[BlackLynx3]

The Blades of the Promised Land are an adventuring guild, headed by Neron Magnus, a former Onigan-Sigrogana war veteran. It's an organization that prides itself in reliable personnel, a professionally structured and operational system and runs on a system of contracts. As the largest recognized adventurer's guild in the Empire and sponsored by the Imperial Guard force, they have a little more influence than most groups in the public eye, but are fluid enough to let Guard matters stay as that, assist them when called to, and their members free to join and leave at random. Most who enter there will come from a variety of backgrounds but wish to join for similar reasons, and though the interview sessions are thorough, they are fairly forgiving in nature and most appreciate the applicant's willingness to prove themselves.

Essentially, they have an organizational structure that goes like this. Neron, the guild Leader is the Commander and runs the entire operation as smoothly as he can. Typically, he involves himself in only the most dire of threats but also runs occasional training sessions and helps other members to improve. His Head Cavalier and Investigator are below him, the Senior Cavaliers and Investigators are the most direct commanders of the majority of the Guild. And below them, the Cavaliers and Investigators themselves. The Guild Girls/Guys handle secretarial duties, job requests and payment, and there is also a Field Medic subdivision that keeps them patched up or just enough to get the injured to Sanctuary. Most contracts vary from important tasks to the incredibly mundane, some are simple as they are supply runs with a lower base murai value payed by the recipients via the Guild Girls, others are specific bounties, investigations or lower ranked threats with a midline payout, and the most dangerous and high-paying ones are the highest rank missions dealing with specific groups, threats or stuff Guards need their assistance with. They can also be bounties that are more lethal than usual.

Cavaliers are your muscle, the combat oriented troops of the guild with varying backgrounds. Most will serve the Guild's interests and otherwise keep the people safe and stay within decent graces with the law. If someone screws up, they will reprimand them for it.
Investigators on the other hand are the brains, the thinkers and the detective bunch. They help deduce incidents and there are also ways to improve their brainstorming if they get particularly stuck. They aren't often combat focused but can fight and tend to rely on their Cavalier subordinates, both as escorts and reinforcements should something go wrong.

They do have some disadvantages. Because they're so large, communication, even with the messenger birds and PDA system is sluggish at times. The contracts are also not always flowing, and it has a tendency to stagnate and leave the few there snagged up immediately. If the guild gets too bloated or the individuals have their own reason to, some will simply leave the guild and allow others to join, and this insures the Blade's longevity and allows it to shift their gears back into place. They are not guards and are susceptible to vigilantism if they're not careful, and that can lead to complications with their sponsors.

The Blades have many enemies, but also a few good allies with whom they work on a professional, work-standard mindset. Enemies (past and present) include the Black Falcons, Ephemeral, Bloodlust and formerly the Seven Deadly Sins mechanations before they were assisted out of their predicament. Allies include the Imperial guard (for obvious reasons), Los Cazadores and the Black Swans Vigil unit among others. They have a strong bond with Sanctuary as the hospital has saved their members countless times, and there are even freelancers, intel brokers and bounty-hunters (all of whom for the sake of privacy will go unmentioned in this journal) that work independently and occasionally give the Blades a bone. Their own network is fairly good, as the Investigators are among some of the leading investigative and forensic experts in their field and line of work. All secrets in a case they are involved with will eventually end up unearthed or at least referred to and archived by the Investigators, and any delightfully devilish plots will eventually be uncovered.

More than once they have been attacked, and in every single event so far as of this writing, they have managed to wall up and push their attackers back, coming out stronger than ever. Generally speaking it is wise not to antagonize them too much unless you're a madman or a particularly careless criminal. Even former members or capable passerby will sometimes help them fight off adversaries, though how welcome the response is depends on the time, place and individuals. Neron and his subordinates have proved cool-headed and are excellent leaders. In my time as a Cavalier there, I had the pleasure to experience the best and worst of their line of work, and while looking back I realize how silly some of the mistakes I made there, I can safely say I ended up better for it and a wiser person. I still have several friends employed by them and can turn to them if I need their assistance with an issue, and vice versa if I happen to be in the area.

Bottom line, the BoPL are the yardstick most smaller companies are measured up against, and are outside of the guards, the closest to a legitimate, lawful organization within the Empire.