FACTION
THE WATER GUILD

"Water is memory. It remembers every rock it has touched, every life it has sustained, every death it has witnessed. We are merely its servants, helping it find its way back to those who need it most."

• Water Guild proverb

In a world where clean water is often more valuable than currency, the Water Guild stands as one of the Desolation's most powerful and far-reaching organisations. Their blue-robed representatives move through settlements across vast territories with the confidence of those who control life itself, from the toxic mud flats of old Europe to the endless dunes of the Sand, from the western wastes and mountain passes of Kush to the scorching flats of the Jangwa.

The Doctrine of the Well Mother

The Guild's origins trace back to the desperate years following the Great Collapse, when survivors realised that finding, purifying, and distributing clean water would determine who lived and who died in the new world. What began as loose networks of engineers and chemists evolved into a sophisticated organisation that now spans across a vast area of the known world, united by their reverence for the Well Mother - a deity they believe dwells in the deepest, purest springs of the world.

Central to the Water Guild's beliefs is their worship of the Well Mother, an ancient goddess they claim predates the Collapse by millennia. According to Guild doctrine, she is the source of all pure water, dwelling in sacred aquifers deep beneath the earth's poisoned surface. Her tears, they say, bubble up as clean springs in the most unlikely places, while her wrath manifests as the toxic floods and acid rain that plague the wasteland.

Guild ceremonies revolve around water in all its forms. During the Blessing of the Source, members gather around newly discovered clean water springs, adding drops of their own blood to the first bottles filled - a sacred communion that binds them to the Well Mother's gift. The most solemn ritual is the Sharing of the Sacred Drop, performed when two communities form alliances. Representatives from each settlement drink from the same blessed vial, creating bonds that the Guild considers unbreakable.

The Guild's holiest relics are pre-Collapse water testing kits and purification devices, preserved with reverent care and attention. These artifacts are brought out only for the most important ceremonies, their ancient readouts treated as divine scripture. Master Purifiers can recite water purity standards from memory, their voices taking on the cadence of prayer as they speak of pH levels and mineral content.

Organisation and Hierarchy

The Water Guild operates through a complex hierarchy based on expertise and spiritual devotion. At the ground level are the Water Seekers - scouts who brave the wasteland searching for new water sources, their bodies often bearing the scars of chemical burns and radiation exposure from testing contaminated springs. Above them are the Purifiers, skilled technicians who operate the Guild's precious filtration equipment with the precision of surgeons, usually accompanied by porters and armed guards.

Regional Watersheds are governed by High Purifiers, individuals who have mastered both the technical and spiritual aspects of water management. They oversee territories that can include many settlements and towns, coordinating between local Purifiers and Water Seekers, ensuring that Guild doctrine remains pure. At the apex stands the Circle of Springs, a conclave of senior High Purifiers, led by an elected member who represents the will of the Well Mother herself.

Guild members are easily identified by their distinctive blue robes, the color representing both the purity of clean water and their devotion to the Well Mother. More importantly, they carry multiple water vessels—ceramic jugs, metal canteens, and glass vials—each containing different qualities of water that serve as both tools and symbols of their trade. A Guild member's status can often be judged by the number and quality of vessels they carry, with High Purifiers sometimes bearing dozens of containers representing water from every major clean source in their territory.

Operations Across the Desolation

In the toxic mud lands of old Europe, the Water Guild operates from fortified pump stations built atop the few remaining clean aquifers. Here, their blue-robed technicians work tirelessly to extract precious freshwater from deep beneath the contaminated surface, their equipment humming day and night as they filter out the chemical legacy of the Great Collapse. Guild caravans brave the treacherous mud flats to deliver water to settlements, their armed escorts as much protection against desperate scavengers as the mutant horrors that lurk in the mire.

The Guild's influence is perhaps most visible in Medha, the great trading city of the Sand, where Water Guild officials monitor every liquid container entering or leaving the port. Their blue robes are a constant presence in the bustling markets, their specialised equipment gleaming as they test the purity of merchant offerings. The Guild maintains strict pricing standards here, their rates fluctuating based on purity levels and seasonal availability. During the harsh months when desert storms make travel almost impossible, Guild-certified pure water can command prices that only the city’s elite may be able to afford.

Much further south, beyond the jungles of the Hatari, the scorching Jangwa presents unique challenges, where the Guild's expertise in desert water recovery becomes literally life-saving. Here, they've perfected techniques for extracting moisture from the air itself, their solar-powered condensers working to pull precious droplets from the parched atmosphere. Guild settlements in the Jangwa are oases of both literal and figurative life, their presence often determining whether a community thrives or withers away.

The Water Guild operates as far east as the mountainous western reaches of Kush, where the Guild focuses on protecting ancient spring sites from contamination, working closely with local warlords to ensure these vital resources remain accessible to all who can pay. Beyond that, in the mountains of the Himalayas and southern Kush, water is more plentiful and less contaminated, meaning the Water Guild has little or no presence in those areas.

The Sacred Economics of Survival

The Water Guild maintains strict neutrality in factional conflicts, providing their services to all who can meet their rates while withholding them from those who threaten their independence. This neutrality is both practical and spiritual - they believe the Well Mother's gifts should flow to all her children, though always at a price that reflects water's true value in a poisoned world.

Their pricing system is complex, taking into account not just purity levels but also scarcity, transportation costs, and spiritual significance. Water from legendary clean springs commands premium prices, while emergency supplies during droughts or contamination events can cost a settlement's entire savings. Yet the Guild also maintains charitable operations, providing basic water purification tablets to the destitute in exchange for information about new sources or threats to existing ones.

The Guild's water Seekers and High Purifiers are a distinctive sight across the Desolation, sometimes travelling alongside trade caravans or well funded expeditions accompanied by mercenaries, surrounded by guards whose loyalty is bought with regular access to clean water. These convoys carry not just purified water but also the tools of the trade: testing equipment, purification tablets, and portable filtration systems that can mean the difference between life and death for isolated communities.

Rituals and Traditions

Guild culture revolves around elaborate ceremonies that blend practical water management with religious devotion. The Discovery Rite marks the finding of new clean sources, with Guild members performing complex tests while chanting prayers to the Well Mother. If a source proves pure, the discoverer gains great honor within the Guild hierarchy, their name added to the sacred Registry of Springs.

During seasonal gatherings, Guild members from across territories come together to share knowledge and reaffirm their vows to the Well Mother. Young initiates undergo the Thirst Trial, spending days in heavily contaminated areas, learning to identify safe sources through taste, smell, and the Guild's traditional testing methods.

Dangers and Enemies

Despite their widespread influence and relative neutrality, the Water Guild faces constant threats from those who would seize their resources or challenge their authority. Desperate communities sometimes attack Guild caravans, though such actions typically result in long-term water embargos that prove more devastating than any immediate gain.

The greatest threat, however, comes from contamination itself. Each year, lingering pollution from the era of the Great Collapse or new industrial activities claims clean springs, forcing the Guild to constantly search for new sources.

The Future of the Flow

As the Desolation continues to evolve, the Water Guild finds itself at the centre of every major political and economic development. Their decisions about where to provide water - and at what cost - can determine the rise or fall of settlements, the success or failure of military campaigns, and the survival or extinction of entire communities. In recent years, the Guild has expanded their operations into new territories, driven both by profit and by increasing contamination of traditional sources.

Whether viewed as saviors or exploiters, the Water Guild remains an indispensable part of life in the Desolation. In a world where everything else has been poisoned, corrupted, or destroyed, they alone hold the key to humanity's most basic need. Their blue robes flutter like banners of hope across the wasteland, though whether that hope comes free or at a price only the Well Mother herself might know.