The Meadowrest Corporation

[Loxmardin]

IT'S NOT PERSONAL.
It's just business.

The Meadowrest Corporation has recently begun spreading word of their business around Azeroth. Though word of their activities seem to speak the loudest in and around Cartel cities such as Gadgetzan, Ratchet and Booty Bay. They are a political/economical business dedicated to furthering the development of smaller enterprises through funds, professional advice and favours. Through a clever deal with the Steamwheedle Cartel, the higher ranked businessmen of the organisation are allowed to operate within Cartel grounds in return for funds and a cut share of the organisations profit.

While mainly a political organisation built around charismatic businessmen and women, the Meadowrest Corporation branches out in the mercenary market. They recently established a Taskforce to deal with manual labour and various tasks given to them by the higher minds of the Corporation or the Cartel. Or, any other business or individual looking for a favour.

The Meadowrest Corporation are now looking to establish new contracts with fresh, hopeful entrepreneurs and help the young chiefs to settle into the market on Azeroth and possibly beyond. Funds, favours and professional advice for anyone willing to sign a deal with this growing organisation. Come one, come all!, for everyone and all of you are welcome to enjoy the perks of our service!, is what a brightly smiling face framed by a fancy and evidently expensive tuxedo will sell to you.

This is just the official story, of course. Word is the organisation has been dealing in some nasty business on the side, but... That's just rumour. Right?

THERE'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO DISCUSS...
A friendly OOC disclaimer!

There are a few things I need to clear up before proceeding with the post.

First, a Warning: By involving yourself with this Guild, you consent to possible damage to your character. Be it maiming, serious injury, or even Character Death. While not all characters involving themselves with this organisation will run a direct risk of harm, the chance is there. Beneath the surface, the Meadowrest Corporation is a dangerous and organised criminal organisation (as will be explained further later in this post) and they do have blood on their hands.

And, I would also like to point out that there is a possibility for explicit RP to take place. You will never be forced to participate, but you have been warned.

Next, I will run you through a few of the basic rules I will enforce within this Guild!

Rules regarding OOC interaction and what to keep in mind while RPing:

• Godmoding and Metagaming. This is a server rule, but I will put emphasis on these two words. They are extremely important, especially when it comes to Metagaming. For this Guild to work and remain fun and interesting to everyone involved, you need to follow this rule. What your character doesn't know, it doesn't know. If you have no logical means or reasons to show up during a certain RP session, you shouldn't. No matter how urgently desperate you are to have your character participate for whatever reason. Of course we can settle things OOCly if you absolutely want to, so possibilities can be discussed, but do not take this for granted. Stick to safe waters, friend, and don't dare grounds you have not yet charted without plausible reason to do so.
  
• Respect. Yet again a server rule I need to put emphasis on. Due to the subterfuge that will occur within this organisation, there will possibly be private RP sessions that are strictly off-limits to certain groups of people / anyone who isn't part of a certain group of people. They will be limited for the sake of continuous RP within and around the organisation and it is of vital importance that you, as a member or individual involving yourself with the guild, respect your requested absence. I just felt I needed to make this clear at this early stage. And, due to the explicit nature of certain RP, you all need to respect eachother and listen carefully to what your comrades are saying. If they protest, you stop. There will be no discussion there.

PECKING ORDER.
There's always one of those.

For an organisation like this to work, especially considering the markets they decide to involve themselves with, there needs to be a strictly enforced hierarchy. It requires complete obediance to the rules from all parties involved. Let us begin from the top and work our way down through the chain.

MASTERMIND/"BOSS" - QUEEN OF THE HIVE (Not an in-game guild rank.)
In truth, little is known of the Masterminds identity or true purpose. All that is known to members outside the Inner Circle of affairs is that this person or group is supposedly the chief of the corporation and never meets his or her employees face to face. The Mastermind is the founder and dictator of the organisation and is an incredibly dangerous individual. Whatever schemes she has going, you will never catch wind of unless you are a member of the Inner Circle.

In the end, all words reach the Mastermind. Everyone reports to someone who eventually reports to the Mastermind.

ADMINISTRATOR - BROODMOTHERS (Not an in-game guild rank.)
While the Mastermind is the ultimate dictator of the organisation, the Administrators are the official leaders. They hold on to all the information brought in by the Intelligence Squads and they carefully hand out tasks and assignments at the whim of the Mastermind. They are in charge of maintaining contact with, and keeping tabs on, their allied organisations and are the contract-holders, officially. They are also the most influential members of the Inner Circle of affairs, below the Mastermind.

ENFORCER - CUFFS 'n' CHAINS (Not an in-game guild rank.)
If there is anyone within the organisation you need to be afraid of, it is the Enforcer division. They are the police of the corporation and are known to watch over all lower ranks of members with eyes of a hawk. What makes them so dangerous is that they have the authority to deal with disciplinary actions against members of the corporation at their own whim without passing word through the Mastermind first. They are also members of the Inner Circle of affairs and hold power only surpassed by the Administrators and the Mastermind.

• TASKMASTER
  This is the only official officer rank outside the Inner Circle of affairs. The Taskmasters act as the link between the taskforces and the Inner Circle and all the lower ranks (except the Intelligence Squad) report directly to the Taskmaster. The Taskmaster, in turn, reports to the Administrators. Sometimes, depending on the issue, they report to the Enforcers instead. Taskmasters oversee the taskforces.
  
  INTELLIGENCE SQUAD
  Spies and sleuths. Their job is to track down subjects of interest and gather as much information as possible about them and pass it on to higher ground. They are the eyes of the Enforcers and the Administrators, and are the only ones who are permitted to report higher than the Taskmaster if the situation demands it.
  
  COURTIER
  Charismatic fellows. Their job is to clean up when things have gone terribly wrong for the organisation. If one of the members have somehow screwed up somewhere, or if one of their clients have attempted to sell them out, it's up to the Courtier to use his impressive vocabulary and flashy smile to solve the situation in the favour of the organisation. They deal with politics and public matters and report to the Taskmaster.
  
  HANDYMAN
  A catch-all title for members of the organization that pull the dirty load. They work for the organization and are well aware of their affiliations, but they don't have an official calling or job besides doing as they're told. They enjoy the luxury of a salary and some insight into the organization as a whole and the Inner Circle usually depends on the squad of Handymen to pull a large weight of the menial work, which means this force is in a way invaluable to the machinery.
  
  "KNELTING"
  The scum of the organisation. Slaves and hostages. These are almost always in the possession of another member of the organisation and they may serve different purposes depending on who serves as their master. Usually, they are treated fairly well as long as they follow orders. Again, however, this depends on the owner of each slave or hostage.

This is the basic order of the main organisation. As you may notice, it doesn't have many ranks involved with actual physical labour or the like. The Meadowrest are a mainly political organisation, which reflects in the ranks available to the people who join up with them.

WE WERE ONCE CHILDREN.
Daughter organisations and how they work.

Daughter organisations? Really? Yes, indeed! The Meadowrest is more or less dependant on the lesser groups and corporations who take up their cause and flag their ship in the name of the Mother. One of the business ideas of the Meadowrest is that, through extensive founding, create smaller businesses with hopeful entrepreneurs. If you are a single individual or a smaller group with a business idea that you can't kick off the ground through your own effort alone, the Meadowrest may offer you to take lead of a smaller sub-organisation to the Corporation itself. This comes with a number of benefits, such as;

• Quick exchange of favours with the larger organisation.
  
• Extensive funding.
  
• Exchange of various resources. (Be it food, weapons, raw materials or human(oid) resources such as workforce or slaves.)
  
• Easier communication with the Administration. (An invaluable source of information and intelligence, as well as an easy shortcut into the Enforcer division, should their services ever be needed, and the Intelligence Squad.)

This is not all, however. Even though the daughter organisations are valued and spoiled by the Meadowrest, their members are also closely monitored and controlled. Every daughter organisation must have an Enforcer employed, acting as an agent of the Meadowrest Corporation, and the leadership of the daughter organisation itself is always, always split between two individuals. No more and no less. These two are called the Executives.

• THE EXECUTIVES
  As mentioned above, there are always two of these. Under the Enforcer, these two lead their chosen daughter organisation together with the Taskmasters. They are under heavy pressure at all times, since they are not only supposed to keep track of their members, but eachother as well. If the organisation fails to perform up to par, the Executives will take the blame. If one of the Executives fail to perform up to par, he or she will be punished along with their innocent colleague. They are always punished together, no matter whose mistake it was. The system with the Executives was put into effect in this manner in order to keep absolute, inquestionable order and discipline amongst the higher ranked pawns of the Meadowrest.

There is always a set order of ranks to follow within the daughter organisations of the Meadowrest. In short, it is as follows (from top to bottom);

1. The Enforcer; In any suborganisation, there is always one Enforcer, and only one. Their job is to oversee the work of the Executives and put pressure on the leadership of the daughters of the main organ. They also have the right to carry out punishments at their own behalf without passing by the higher organ.
   
2. The Executives; See above.
   
3. Taskmasters; A Taskmaster in a suborganisation is basically an Officer underneath the Executives. Any members below report to them and the Taskmaster reports up to the Executives.
   
4. Courtiers; See "Pecking Order".
   
5. Taskforce; The workers. They are usually unaware of the shady dealings of the organisation and know only what they need to know to carry out their jobs and get paid for it. Mercenaries, soldiers and whatnot. They are always strictly controlled by the Intelligence Squad.
   
6. Kneltings; See "Pecking Order".

(S)HE KNOWS IF YOU'VE BEEN NAUGHTY.
Rules and enforcement and how it'll play out ICly.

Meadowrest is built on rules and principles, and all of them are strictly enforced. In order for a large organisation like the Meadowrest, such is more or less required. As a member of the Meadowrest, you are expected to know of certain rules and they will, undoubtably, rule or affect your behaviour in one way or another.

• Never speak of the Inner Circle outside of it. If you are one of the lucky few who have the chance to take part in the Inner Circle of affairs, you are absolutely prohibited from speaking of it and its members to anyone who is not, themselves, a part of it. Actually, even if you and another are both members, you should refrain from speaking about Inner Circle affairs outside of the secluded meetings. You never know who might be listening, and should the Circle be compromised... Well. The leak will be identified, located and suitably disposed of.
  
• Tattletales are rewarded. As strange as it might sound. In the Meadowrest, you are encouraged to report about your comrades to the higher-ups. If you see someone acting suspicious, you report them. This is the most effective way to avoid going into the drain with them, in all honesty. If someone within your division or workgroup is doing something suspicious and someone else catches wind of it before you do, you will be punished along with the actual offender. Why? Association. However, if you do tattle on your suspicious comrade and they are proven to be guilty, you will be rewarded their temporary pay and possibly other perks that you weren't able to enjoy before. If it is discovered that you are abusing the system, you will be punished along with the individual you tattled on. Even if you are proven innocent when someone tattled on you, you will still receive punishment.
  
• Never compromise the name of the corporation. When you're out on a mission of some kind, you're on your own. Never try to blame the corporation for your failures and never attempt to connect the corporation to yourself and your objectives. Our Courtiers will deal with the public mess you leave after you and we will deny any and all involvement with you and your task. If you are not taken care of by other enforcement, the corporation will make sure to dispose of you themselves.
  
• Once a member... ...always a member. That's the general principle. Once you decide to join the Meadowrest as more than just a Mercenary, you will be in it until you die or you hide yourself away from the organisation by any means necessary. If you hold valuable information of the workings of the organisation, it's completely natural that we can't let you just walk away from us. Deserters and traitors will be dealt with swiftly and as deemed necessary.
  
• An eye for an eye. If you took something from us, we will take it back. If you humiliated us, we will come crashing down on you. Without mercy. Any and all business partners also fall under this rule, when it comes to favours and services. It is regarded a severe betrayal to not return the favour if you've been given one. The Meadowrest are not a charity. They are a business.

LET'S KEEP THIS BETWEEN US...
The Inner Circle.

It is quite possible to be promoted into the Inner Circle if you're just a member of the lower ranks. The first and most important criteria is that you're somehow aware of its existance. Not just anyone would be able to find out about the existance of the Inner Circle, or rather, what they're doing.

The basic function of the Inner Circle is planning, discussing and brainstorming between the higher minds of the organisation. Here, they discuss their members, the operations, their allies and possible threats and how they should be dealt with. The Inner Circle of affairs is led by the Mastermind, who more or less acts as the Chairman during the meetings between Circle members. During the meetings, they carefully share and go through available information about individuals, organisations and areas in order to coordinate the operations of interest that the Mastermind executes solely on her own whim. (Example: The Kidnapped event.)

It fills quite a simple function in reality, but not just anyone can gain access to the information that is shared within the Inner Circle, and only the members of the Inner Circle will ever be privileged with meeting the Mastermind face-to-face.

In order to become a member of the Inner Circle, you have to;

• Apply. This is one of the possible ways in which you can be granted access to the Inner Circle. This is the, by far, most risky way. If you are aware of the Inner Circle and you wish to be a part of it, you may apply in order to rise through the ranks to either become and Enforcer or an Administrator. By taking on the challenge of applying, you will be able to gain a peek into the workings of the Circle. If you are deemed unworthy after the application process is over, you will be too dangerous to just be allowed back into your old rank and job. If you failed as an applicant, you will be bumped down to Knelting, effective immediately. You will be robbed of your rights as a sentient being and given to another member of the organisation as a servant and slave. If you speak of the Inner Circle or disobey your master, you will be punished accordingly.
  
• Be Recruited. This is the other way of becoming a member of the Inner Circle. There is no way to apply here, but you will be recruited by the members of the Circle personally. If you have the proper qualities that we look for, we will find you.

IT'S A DEAL.
Recruitment and business deals.

ICly, there are three ways of joining up with the Meadowrest. Either by responding to public posters about work - sponsored by the Meadowrest themselves or one of their daughter organisations or allies, by being sought out by one of the pre-established members of the organisation based on your skills and traits that they've watched from afar (possibly by spying on you or watching you for a longer period of time), or by being promoted from a simple mercenary in one of the daughter organisations and instead seeking employment with the higher seats of the Meadowrest corporation. Out of these, the first and the last are the most likely ways in which you will set your foot into the Meadowrest.

• OOCly, you will be able to take recruitment into the Meadowrest by speaking to me, Loxmardin, and contacting me on any of my characters if you see me in-game. The only character who will be able to invite you into the actual guilds, however, is Maria (<Meadowrest>).

If you have a Guild of your own, or possibly just a character or group, who wish to establish some kind of cooperation with the Meadowrest, you contact Loxmardin OOCly to arrange possible IC meetings or to discuss pre-established agreements. The terms and conditions of the contracts will be discussed individually between Loxmardin and the leader(s) of the Guild or group involved.

If you don't wish to carry the Guild Tag for whatever reason, you may want to speak to Loxmardin about it. While it is encouraged that every member of the organisation carry the Guild Tag if they wish to involve themselves with the corporation, it's possible to discuss other options with me (Loxxy). For instance, if you plan on only being a mercenary working on occasion with the Meadowrest while being part of another organisation at the side. There are many possible situations in which I might consider letting you be part of Meadowrest without carrying the tag, but, as I said, I'd strongly prefer if you could be in the Guild itself.

[Kirabo]

This sounds promising...Might join in mah Gnome.

[Loxmardin]

Oh yeah! I'll edit in something about it in the main post when I can, but you can be a member of the organisation without carrying a Guild Tag if you hear with me first. I still need to keep track of all of these people personally. Even though I'd prefer most members to wear the tag, it's fine if you don't if you have reason not to.

[Edgar]

I, Pletious, will be joining.
Ifyoulovemeenoughtoletmejoin

[Xigo]

You have my sword.

[Incognito]

Huh, my rogue's been lookin' for something like this.

[Lugburz]

I'm so glad to have found this! Very much interested in joining, seeing as how I can't contact Loxmardin, who should I talk to about joining?

[Xigo]

... I don't think it's really -happened- yet.

[McKnighter]

Well, Loxi did mention that she was going to start up events for this, Xigo.

viewtopic.php?f=123&t=27942

[Loxmardin]

I did, indeed. And, Lugburz. You have all the means of contacting me about it. Both the guilds mentioned in the opening post (<Meadowrest> and <Meadowrest Taskforce>) are created in-game. Send an in-game mail to either Neisen or Kaith if you want more information of their specific branches, or you can PM me here on the forums. Or!, if you catch me online on Certhis.

That's right, I even have a character in one of your guilds. Noob.

[Loxmardin]

Woo, necromancy.

But no, seriously. This guild is going to start up again in the near future. I'm just bumping the topic so I can easily find it to update anything that isn't correct anymore (though I already edited the most urgent parts).

[CappnRob]

So does this mean we can all roll our own Faceless? 8D

[Loxmardin]

... No. xD The whole deal with Faceless being killed in the last one was because the whole Faceless project was scrapped.

/bonk

Nub!

[CappnRob]

BUT BUT

ROGUE FACELESSES

ON THE LOOSE

LURKING IN THE SHAAAADOOOWS