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"We are Thieves, we are Knights, we are Pillagers, we are Protectors. We are the Cartel."
We are the Ashenfold Cartel. We do not align ourselves with any nation or guild - we seek to survive the onslaught of the Dragons while bettering ourselves in turn. All may join the Cartell; all may earn protection and respect within the Ashenfold...
Contacts: Shadowedsin, Toxa Vanschiver, PeriasGift
How we are known depends on where you stand...
There are many guilds within Tyria, so many that few would ever care to glance at their dealings. To theLaw-Abiding Citizen there is simply the Trade Union or the Union, an enigmatic investment firm said to be located in both Divinity’s Reach and Hoelbrak. From their carefully placed investments the Union runs three companies each focusing on a particular object and purpose for their employers. To the Criminal there is the Cartel, an esoteric syndicate that moves throughout Tyria seeking to play the game of thrones and push things in its favor. What both sides to not understand is that this is simply the Ashenfold.
To Those Who Know Too Much the Cartel is a Society said to follow the motto of “Survive, Adapt, Prosper”. A simple code emblazoned on their lips as they aim to not only survive the Elder Dragons, but take what they can and turn it in their favor. Members of the Cartel may be villains, heroes, savants or simply soldiers. What unites them all is the notion of survival and the prosperity that comes in adapting to times haunted by Dragons.
Who are we?
The Ashenfold Cartel is a guild founded to perpetuate and create enjoyable roleplay in a communal atmosphere. We seek to excel in PvP and PvE while creating unique and ever changing storylines that are created and driven by our membership.
How do we accomplish this?
We us a combination of story events and random Roleplay to create an organic basis of storytelling. Every action has a consequence and by mixing in different forms of Roleplay from politics to simple adventure the story is never the same.
Are you heavy or light roleplay guild?
The Cartel may have themes and content which would be at home in a Heavy RP guild, but we do not ostracize those more comfortable with Light or Medium RP preferences from joining. What stories and content a player and their character take part of is left to the player's discretion. As such, we embrace the full spectrum of RP, from Light to Heavy.
General FAQ
What is the Ashenfold Cartel?
The Ashenfold Cartel is a roleplaying guild and community founded with the intent to roleplay on Guild Wars 2.
What does the Ashenfold name mean?
Ashenfold, as a name, was chosen with the word “ashen” to refer to the color gray’s neutral stance. The word “fold” was chosen to mean members within the Cartel are “all inclusive”. We chose the word “Cartel”, meaning a formal agreement between competing firms to emphasize the guilds internal conflict and changin storyline.
What type of Rp guild are you?
We classify ourselves as a community roleplaying guild, a living and breathing in-character community. We require a level of in-character reaction to what you do in game as a means to facilitate random occurrences of Rp.
How are you structured?
Our guild has an active OOC Structure and a separate IC Structure. This means that a player no matter what rank they are within the guild OOC hierarchy they always have a chance through dedication and good Rp to see their character rise to power. Now include the possibility of several different players and their characters gaming for the throne and you have the basis of what we call Dynamic Roleplay.
For this reason we also maintain a separate OOC Structure which represents the management of our community. Unlike other guilds where the Guild Leader and Officers hold power, the Officers of Ashenfold are a voluntary staff chosen to run and administer the community.
What is “Dynamic Roleplay”?
Dynamic Roleplay is Roleplay based upon the simple concept of action equating to consequence. For every action committed within the Ashenfold there is an equal and opposite reaction. Someone rises to power within the Cartel and through their actions carves out a name for themselves. At the same time they might end up alienating everyone and lose power. The result of their actions is completely up in the air as players are encourage to challenge fate and shape the guild through their decisions.
How do you plan to accomplish this?
We will accomplish dynamic change and evolution through the pusage of player driven leadership In Character and by carefully monitored Game Master storyline events. See event questions for more information.
Are you beginner friendly?
Yes, very. Our guild has its own Character Creation Guide and writes several blog entries about Roleplay. We do not reject people from our community and we try our best to help people increase their skill in Roleplay.
We also publish several guides on the subject of roleplay and lore to help newcomers get use to the world of Guild Wars 2.
Why do you have an age limit?
We require a base age of seventeen years or older, because of possible violence and content that might occur in our roleplay. We are not a cyber guild, but we do have elements you would find in an R-rated movie. You may see a lone hero take a beating or a simple villager assassinating a villain. Because of this we require the same base age cinema theaters require for seeing an R-rated movie.
How important is PvP and PvE to you?
Because of the dynamic nature of Guild Wars 2 and the systems built into it, we plan to use PvP (sPvP and WvW) and PvE as a means of enhancing the Roleplay experience. Not only do we wish for an existing presence in World Versus World, we hope to excel in both fields competitively. See event questions for more information.
What is your guild’s home-server?
Our home-server is currently Tarnished Coast. With Stormbluff Isle as our chosen overflow server.
Your guild seems pretty big, won’t I get lost in the crowd?
No, our guild is centered around member voice and player driven storyline. For this reason, although our population is quite large, we actively do our best to include all members who are willing to participate in events or just play with other members. Our guild is very friendly and we don’t limit you for two weeks before you can get into the Roleplay.
General Information
The Ashenfold was founded as a neutral organization that would hold no alignment except for that created by the membership through their actions alone. For the past two years we have continued to not only iterate our own ideas, but create a guild where members have a full say and can truly shape the In Character destiny of the Cartel itself! We are a community of roleplayers who seek to create and perpetuate dynamic Rp in the Guild Wars Universe in the spirit of Guild Wars 2.Guild Features
Comments
Our newest blog is now up!
http://ashenfold.com/2012/01/31/huma...inental-tyria/
The entry for this Human Lore 101 focuses on the condensed history of Humans on the continent of Tyria.
After many hours of work and writing the new update is here!
http://ashenfold.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=706
With the March Update we introduce new lore including the Controller Allegiance of the Lore! Our business system is now fully in swing allowing for the creation of hub supporting RP which we aspire too! Finally we are moving towards synchronizing with our wiki as we introduce the new Unified biography!
Nice
This is a quick update on what to see next in the future!
Our forum themes and front site theme have changed! We've adopted a cleaner more professional look to make the site more accessible The forums can now be found @ http:// http:///forums.ashenfold.com.
On a slightly different note our next Lore and Content update will include the follow:
-New Lore about the Sects
-The official dictionary of the Ashen Cipher Language
-Updated Hooks and information for new members.
-New NPCs profiles
-New Human Lore 101 Blog!
-Much more
Our events officer is also planning a new series of workshops for those interested in expanding their knowledge of GW2 Lore and Rping in the universe of Guild Wars. More information on that can be found on our events page @ http://ashenfold.com/?page_id=185.
This is a mid-month update:
We have just completed a Comprehensive Name Guide which helps with those seeking Lore based names.
Also our April Update is on schedule^^
EASTER UPDATE is Live!
We have just completed our Easter Update which is in part a celebration of Ashenfold's 2.5 year anniversary!
The new update focuses on providing more meat to our guild's background. At the same time we have focused on streamlining and making our guild more accessible. This includes more explanation on how characters can fit into the guild, a selection of new and helpful guides, and we have also updated our FAQ to reflect the guild's information more clearly.
We are planning to be quite active in the April 20th Beta and we will soon be launching our own independent mumble server for members to use (not required, simply to help coordinate dungeons and PvP).
We will have another new blog entry sometime in the coming weeks on the ethnicities of Humanity.
Our Events for RP have been quite active as we run three of them weekly. We are also hosting a large scale Beta Event on the last day of Beta so if you are interested in joining us, please feel free to attend!
Information on our events can be found at on our Events Calendar. Please note that while it is in Pacific Standard Time, we post all of our major events on our Events Page with all other time zones noted.
We have a new Lore entry fleshing out the cultural evolution of the Cartel.
The Three Bosses and Six Speakers tells of the rulers of the early times preceding the time of the Dragons and how the Cartel became it is today!
Info about our beta preparations will be up middle of next week including the time and date for our beta Rp event!
We also were recently mentioned here by Tales of Tyria on youtube!
Hey everyone here is our weekly pre-beta update!
We have set up a plan for the beta meaning we are moving forward with two events we will be holding. Plus expect a blog and several videos from our news feeds.
More information can be found here
Ashenfold Beta Events
Ashenfold is happy to offer two events this beta weekend interested in those wish to explore Guild Wars 2 and what it has to offer for the Rp community!
No Rper Left Behind!
In responseto the event being sponsored by Team Legacy and Tales of Tyria Ashenfold is opening its mumble servers for the April beta weekend! We are calling this event "No Rper left Behind" to signify the inspiration from the "No Fan left Behind" event. However, our event will focus on exploring the game not only from a PvE and PvP perspective, but also from a roleplay perspective. For this reason we are not only opening our mumble servers to our allies, but to all of those who might be interested in the game and those wish to learn more about it!
During the weekend our mumble server will be active 24/7, and anyone wishing to join us is free to join at their leisure! We only ask that you refrain from offensive or violent language and try not to disrupt any discussion going on during the beta. Information about our server can be found here.
This event will start one hour before the beta weekend begins so we have time to deal with any technical issues that might arise!
The Aekart Foundation Banquet
Ashenfold is holding this event on Sunday, April 29th @ 3pm PST / 7pm GMT / 9pm CET on the Tarnished Coast server.
-Written upon a poster found all over Divinity's Reach-
Dear Sirs and Madams,
You are cordially invited to an open air banquet being sponsored by the Aekart Family Foundation in the central plaza. There will be drinks and free food to all comers! A time of dancing and merrymaking to be had. Just make sure to tell the bouncers the word "Aekart" and you will be free to join us!
All roleplayers and those interested in roleplay are invited to partake in one of the first party events thrown in Guild Wars 2!
Ashenfold Updates!
-We now have a newsletter called The Ashen Word and the first edition is already out and includes three reviews of the BWE all written by our members!
-We have a new Dragon Cultist Faction, called the Knazhirim!
-We have a new Guide written for the Charr as well as These Notes from the Wartower Interview!
-We have an update on our ever changing active story event, the Night of the Falling Axe!
Mid-Mady Update
Our new update can be found [url=http://ashenfold.com/?p=333]here[/url]!
Our new content includes:
New piece of technology, the Signet rings of the Cartel.
New secret artifacts, the Rings of Relocation.
The ever increasing guide on the Charr by our own events officer,Glaive.
New phrases in Ashic.
And we've revamped to help unify the sects even more!
Finally we are conclude the first part of our ongoing story saga, the Night of the falling Axe!
Pre-Beta Update!
This is the big update before the June beta next weekend and we have a few things to let everyone know about!
Seeing Ashenfold in the Beta
If you are on Tarnish Coast and you see the [AC] Tag feel free to join up with us or send one of us a PM. We'll be out in force Rping and tearing the game up as we hope to understand all the changes Anet has introduced since the first BWE.
Ashenfold Events
We are throwing 2 events this weekend check them out:
NO RPER LEFT BEHIND!
As a response to the original event being sponsored by Team Legacy and Tales of Tyria Ashenfold is once again opening our mumble servers to all those interested in RP, or Rpers seeking to just chill out and have fun on the beta. This is our way of reaching out to the community and offering a service to every Rper who want's to just discuss lore or the game in general
Lore Discussions!
New to Tyria, feel free to ask any of our local Lore hounds and get a full preview of the vast history of the world we hope to Rp in!
RP Events
Members of Ashenfold and our friends in the Rp community will be actively Rping throughout the entire weekend. Feel free to jump on our mumble and come tell a story with us!
Joining the Server
During the weekend our mumble server will be active 24/7, and anyone wishing to join us is free to join at their leisure! You can download the client for mumble at this link and access the information to join our server at our Chat and Mumble information thread.
This event will start one hour before the beta weekend begins so we have time to deal with any technical issues that might arise!
Ales and Ballads!
-A message plastered on a poster with an ale mug plastered on posts from Lion's Arch to Divinity's Reach states-
JOIN US ALL FOR A BAWDY NIGHT!
Adventurers, smiths and ladies (and gentlement) come one and all to the Maiden's Whisper in Rurikton! For we, the Archer's Bath Service along with the Baron's Pride Service have set up a night of drinking and fun music for all comers! Got a good story to tell, well come tell it. Want to go wenching, we have the wenches!
This will be an event for fun and revelry. Hard drink will be served and music will be played. If you be charr, norn, asura or planty Sylvari, all are welcome to our fine even of debauchery.
Ashenfold is holding this event on Sunday, June 10th @ 12pmPST / 3pm PST / 8pm GMT / 10pm on the Tarnished Coast server.
OOC: OOC: This is a public event all are invited to join us in the Maiden's Whisper in Rurkikon!
Please remember to not spam spells or as this is a public event! Bouncers will be posted in case someone causes a ruckus ICLY
Contact ShadowedSin for more information, Jona Vjargharten In Game!
If you are looking for a guild with a dynamic every changing environment. That is an established name and has a fun mature community then seek us out!
UPCOMING Podcast!
Join us on 06/22/12 at 10PM GMT to listen in and participate with the Ashenfold Cartel's pilot podcast! We will be on Mumble at the following address:
ashenfold.gameopen.org
port 25400
Check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TQs3yp1wqo
for more info!
We hope to see you all at our podcast debut!
For more info about Mumble!
http://www.mumble.com/?OKEY=google_mum_mumble
Hey guys, this is our official MID JUNE update, and one that was a bit unexpected. We added this update after a thorough review of the guild. After speaking with many members and consulting with the Officer team I have implemented a few changes.
Accesibility and Removing Intimidation
Many of you guys love our lore, plain and simple, the issue here is snot everyone wants to read that much lore at once. For this reason we have wrangled and discussed in the Officer Team and I have come up with the follow solutions.
Rules Update
The Guild Policy or the Ruleset has been updated with clear defintiions and new rules dealing with communication in public channels.
We highly suggest you read it and re-familiarize yourselves with it, the new ruleset can be found here.
The Wiki We Go!
Everything in the Expanded Lore forum has been moved to the Ashenfold Wiki, this has been done to remove the large stack of lore that once dwelt on our forum. This also means we have a much cleaner organized set of categories to find everything. What this has let us do is then move a few more things around so that it is clearer what needs to be read and what is therefor for fluff.
We also cleaned up the front page a bit so that things are clearer and links are there. Finally we have added a nice Quick Guide to Joinso people aren't confused any longer about the application process
Legality, Sect Animosity and Rituals
A while back we had a thread about Sect Identification which was a huge eye opener! After that and the following Possible Contentchanges thread a lot was learned. From this we began a slew of changes sthat we hope will shake things up bit.
First, the Five Sects are and Secrets of the Cartel are gone. Yup, gone! Secrets of the Cartel is now a expanded read that details a bit more about the level of discovery one can find as they rank up in the Cartel itself!
Our new Sects of the Cartel has been buffed up with a few new features. Please note that Ashic did receive an update.
Krews and Troupes
These are what some might call Squads and Brigades (all Sects have their own Ashic term for them. These are basically groupings of Cartelites witha Krew being a regional population and a Troupe being a group of 2-5. These we hope will create internal competition and the ability for people to form power blocs that require constant diplomacy to maintain (as it should be).
A thread dedicated to noting your troupes as they form will be posted in the future, so stay alert for the future email with links to said thread!
Legality and Public Face
The Cartel is now called the Ashenfold Cartel publicly and please note this is a "pet name" used by some eccentric noble. Why did we do this? Well we wanted to make it so that people who may leave the guild can still Rp with us and this way now we can say that the big evil Cartel is nothing more than some myth dreamed up by someone.
The new Legality system creates two different viewpoints for the Cartel on the public and Low Tier 3 / Initiate level. One side is the legal point of view and the other is the illegal. With the new Secrets article these areas blend as one ranks up or seeks to discover more. We hope this will provide a much more immersive and enhanced Rp experience as we get into game.
Sect Entry Updates
The Sect Entires have all moved onto the wiki, and they include new information. Each entry now includes a more extensive set of links at the top to all worthy sect info (including the origins) and a comprehensive look at the sects business, standings (indepth with more awesome stuff). The idea here is that the information such as holdings, the current dynamics and alignment with other sects will change over time to reflect how the Sects feel towards each other.
Allegiances and Rituals
As per request there is now a article on Sect Rites and Rituals which includes information on the Initiation Rites for each sect, a Title gainng Challenge and a honor game of sorts. The new Allegiances article on the other hand has all that good internal information many of you like. This includes the History of each Allegiance, their Culture and their Business.
We have also updated the Initiation Guide to include information about the final step in joining the Cartel including the new position known as the Contact.
Podcast!
A while back we began a poll asking if people wished to revive the idea of having a guild podcast. After the poll showed interest in the idea our local IA Officer, Alexandus, began recruiting people for th idea and teamed up with GentlemenOfLeisure. The two are now hosting a new podcast which will be hosted on our Youtube Channel
If you want to discuss topics check out this thread and to help out check out the podcast recruitment thread.
The agenda for this weeks podcast held today @ 2pm PST / 5pm EST / 10 GMT can be found here. Recording for the event will be happening on our guild mumble server.
Late June Update
So we've been working a bit on our forums a bit. Our aim has been to reduce the at a glance amount of forums while providing intuitive organization. As we near launch Ashenfold has begun to buckle down and start discussing our launch plans. We are looking at setting up weekly general events that everyone can attend (this will be like tavern events). Our infamous, Night of the Fallen Ax ends at the end of next month and so for July we'll be running a series of open mini-events for fun on our new Shades of Gray Forum.
Other than that we have a new Lore Article, this one was created as a means to describe the ritualistic basis of conflict in the Cartel. It also provides a basis of intervention and basically is the "Law" of the Cartel itself. You can find out more about the it in the Code of Entente wiki page.
Finally our podcast, Ashencast, will be recording it's second episode this next weekend. We'll be doing a segment on our friends the White Aegis and we are already looking into inviting other guilds onto the cast for the future.
Have any questions just send us a tweet @ashenfoldcartel on twitter or pop on our forums ans ask a question.
Thanks!
Nice to see some RP attempt even in an mmo video game that has very few if any immersive elements that instill a sense of role-playing. But good luck, certainly.
Mid-July Update: Night Ends!
Ashenfold has had a lot going on this summer and with release almost only a month away we've gearing up to have fun in the last beta! Our new update includes the following changed and new content:
Our guild has also added a new Episode on a new Podcast segment we're calling AshenMythos! That can be found here. Please note that AshenCast is our RP centric podcast and AshenMythos is specifically aimed at the guild discuss itself as an entity
The recording of Episode 3 of AshenCast is in the works!
Ashenfold July Beta Experience!
As per the last two beta weekends Ashenfold will be throwing a series of events open to the community so we can learn more about the game we wish to Rp in! Check out more on our Experience Thread.
NO RPER LEFT BEHIND!
As a response to the original event being sponsored by Team Legacy and Tales of Tyria Ashenfold is once again opening our mumble servers to all those interested in RP, or Rpers seeking to just chill out and have fun on the beta. This is our way of reaching out to the community and offering a service to every Rper who want's to just discuss lore or the game in general
Lore Discussions!
New to Tyria, feel free to ask any of our local Lore hounds and get a full preview of the vast history of the world we hope to Rp in!
RP Events
Members of Ashenfold and our friends in the Rp community will be actively Rping throughout the entire weekend. Feel free to jump on our mumble and come tell a story with us!
Joining the Server
During the weekend our mumble server will be active 24/7, and anyone wishing to join us is free to join at their leisure! You can download the client for mumble at this link and access the information to join our server at our Chat and Mumble information thread.
This event will start one hour before the beta weekend begins so we have time to deal with any technical issues that might arise!
Acquiring New Tastes
This is a weekend long event being spearheaded by Ashenfold Officers Ekuman, Fraser, and Ouroboros (Michael).
"The whole things mission is to find fun RP locales in these areas, level our characters (it is impossible not too do it) and have lots of fun. So I ask everyone who plan to be either of those two areas to join Fraser, Michael and me and explore!
To gather everyone I suggest that you try to find the starting area for either asura or sylvari as it is from there we will start. I will playing my asura, Soijj, Michael will play his, Kitt, and Fraser will play Sheavyr, his sylvari. So look out for those names in the Beta and join for fun."
-Ekuman, Events Officer
Look out for members of the Ashenfold Cartel exploring the lands around the Grove, Rata Sum, and Metria Province! We'll be looking for Rp locales and just learning more about the Asura / Sylvari races.
Masquerade of the Docks!
-A message is placed all over -
Lads and Lasses come to the DOCKS!
From the lands of Rata Sum, the Grove, Kryta, Hoelbrak and the Black Citadel join us on the Docks! Sponsored by the Aekart Trade Union! Come race along the fountain at the Piazza and enjoy dancing and singing by local artists. Near the end of the event we will move to the Commodore's Rest nearby for drinks and food.
Thanks for all attendants!
Ashenfold is holding this event on Sunday, July 22nd @ 12pmPST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / 10pm on the Tarnished Coast server.
Ealy Before Launch Update!
Here there everyone! The lands of Ashenfold are a buzz with the excitement of launch! After finishing up the additions of our last big update titled "The Old Way" we have started moving closer to our full launch status as a guild!So this week we have several interesting and fun updates!
See you all next week!
-ShadowedSin, Leader of the Ashenfold Cartel
"Survive, Adapt, Prosper."
The Near LaunchUpdate!
Hey everyone, it's almost here!Ashenfold has been alive and is furious with Rp in our forum,the Ye OldeDragon as everyone waits in ancitipation for the Headstart andLaunch! Over this past weekend, the Cartel has seen a lot of changesas we finish up our preparations for launch.We have:
With launch only five days away (fromthis post) we are revving up for a hard played weekend of fun andglory! If you wish to game with the Ashenfold during the weekend feelfree to jump on our Mumble Server or just look for the [AC] tag in the various zones we'll be playingin according to our LaunchPlan.
October Expansion: The Aekart Fall!
So much has been going on in the Ashenfold Cartel these last few months and because of that we've been kind of quiet. After a bit of silence it is time to update everyone as to the goings on of the community!With our last update we slimmed down the Sects from Five to three to make it easier to manage. After this last expansion we focused on making things clearer and cleaning up some confusion that had arose over the past month.
Here is a full list of the updated features: