Guild of the Companions
Description
Founding:
Two guilds merged to one somewhat by force after the fallout of leadership amongst an old tribe. Odell and Kenai butted heads about who would be the one to lead the larger group. Kenai eventually won out since being fairly older and wiser while it was agreed upon in an unusual compromise for Odell to provide counsel on matters as an Elite alongside Kenai's mate, Callie.
Not too long after, Kenai stepped down(a year or so). His priority for the guild was high but a near-death experience for his mate Callie during the birth of their whelps changed that. Odell took up the mantel with his new mate Strunrath as his Elite.
Guild Den:
The guild resides mostly in an abandoned underground quarry. The entrance was once huge in order to get large machinery in but over time has grown tight and thick with foliage and partial collapse. The entrance currently is large enough for three tokotas or one akota to comfortably get through and is covered by lichen and low-hanging branches. The entrance walls have since also been given extra support by way of logs and makeshift clay plaster.
As it was a quarry, the walls are very flat with straight lines where the machinery cut blocks out in sections. Square pillars are left at regular intervals in the center of the huge cavern for support. On some walls, there are stairs cut out leading to loft-like levels. None of these lofts are at the same height or have the same depth. The guild uses each one for a different purpose suited for the space. The guild has even carved into some walls to create rooms or storage closets. These spaces are much rounder in shape and the surfaces contain numerous divots where claws and primitive tools had to dig out vs water jet precision.
A corner of the quarry collapsed at one point far in the past providing an entrance to an underground cavern system. After years and years of exploration and use, the nearest caverns have smoothed and rounded over. Rooms once full of stalactites and mites have either broken or become sturdy support beams over time.
One of the closest rooms to the quarry contains a flowing freshwater river that eventually empties out into a huge underground lake farther down. No one knows how deep it goes or how large the cave actually is. This is where the guild receives its water supply. Occasionally the water will contain a fish but it is a novelty and guild members suspect someone puts them there just to mess with them.
Only certain guild ranks are permitted into the further reaches of the cavern system since it is deemed unsafe. As the guild maps and explores, more new sections are added for general access which allows for plenty of growth in the guild.