It was early morning when he made it to Tharsis. A stern man in the robes of a runemaster. He had chosen to devote his life to the quest for knowledge, hanging onto organizations sympathetic to such pursuits, but never actually joining them.

As time passed, he had felt stifled, beginning to wonder if all the knowledge he was collecting would serve any purpose with him. His goal had been to uncover the secrets of the ancients, and use them to improve the world… but on the other hand, hadn't the ancients fallen, and their world with them?

The secrets would lie within their ruins, and the living legacies they had left - Yggdrasil, a name calling to mind legends. A few of their labyrinths had already been conquered, but news traveled slowly, and their secrets were still uncertain. Rumors were flying that at least one had been destroyed, and one enduring story held that there had been a cover-up in the city Etria in the eastern islands.

He had been on the way to Tharsis because while there tales of an Yggdrasil nearby, it was a subject of some debate whether it was genuine, something similar with a different origin, or mere falsehoods. Tharsis was at the edge of the known map, so anything seemed possible. And then the local count had spread the word that he wanted it's secrets brought to light.

"Reach Yggdrasil and uncover the truth!"

Well, with luck he would be the one to find out.

But he couldn't do it alone. Even with the runic spells he had researched, entering an Yggdrasil labyrinth alone was suicide. He would need to hire a company of explorers…

But what sort of person seemed likely to join him?

His first stop would need to be the Explorers Guild.

"So, are you a new explorer?" The old man in chainmail and a breastplate asked, "Welcome to Tharsis."

"Correct. Thank you." He paused to allow the guildkeeper to continue his introductions. With all of the would-be explorers enticed by the count's challenge, he probably said these exact words dozens of times per day.

"This is the Explorers Guild, where your kind pools their talents. It's something like a mutual aid society. Now if you want to operate in this city as an explorer, you have to be part of a guild."

He was well aware of that. And while he disliked being attached to any group, it would be unreasonable to continue as he had been. Which is why he'd decided, "I intend to start my own guild."

"Oh, so you want to create your own rather than joining someone else's?" The guildkeeper seemed pleasantly surprised by this. Hopefully, this would mean he would have a selection of other recruits to work with. "Then write a name in that ledger. Though your guild will be your whole identity in Tharsis, so think it over carefully before deciding on a name."

He picked up the ledger and looked closely. The blanks for names were rather small, and he could see that many previous guilds had needed to abridge their intended names… Well if that was how it was done, he would follow suit.

In cramped script, he signed up as the leader of T-seeker.

"Inconvenient, I know," the guildkeeper smiled as the new guild leader handed the ledger back to him. "The Truth-seeker guild, then. Very well. Here's hoping you can live up to the name."

"It is the goal of the Count's invitation," T-seeker's leader said.

"Speaking of, you'll want this," the guildkeeper quickly filled out another paper and stuffed it into an envelope. "It's a letter of introduction that'll get you into an audience with the count."

The guild owner nodded and slipped the letter into his robe.

"Next, you'll want to register the explorers you want in the T-seekers' guild and form an adventuring party. It's up to you who to recruit, but you can't go wrong with a balanced party."

"And how do I do that?" he asked, "Do you have a list of people waiting for spaces to open up in a guild? Or do I go out on the street and pass out invitations?"

"Heh. A lot of people try both. Of course, you'll want these," the guildkeeper passed along a small stack of cards.

"I, [blank]

of Guild [blank]

,hereby give [blank]

permission to join."

He stowed these away next to the letter.

"And I can look up some likely-looking prospects for you while you're here. Here's something..."