We are based in Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs), predominantly those of the fantasy genre. Examples include Shadowbane, World of Warcraft, Everquest 2 and Vanguard. We are not focused exclusively on the fantasy genre, however, with such games as Eve Online and Star Wars: the Old Republic.

We are particularly interested in games that offer or focus on Player versus Player (PvP) and Guild versus Guild (GvG) combat.

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rang·er
noun

1. the keeper of a wilderness   - a warden
2. one of a body of armed guards who patrol a region   - a protector
3. a soldier specially trained in the techniques of guerrilla warfare, especially in rugged terrain   - an elite warrior
4. a person who ranges or roves   - a wanderer

A Ranger of The Sundered Guard is all of these things. To be a Ranger is to combine fitness of body, mind, and spirit with the knowing of the importance of one's environment and community, and the resolve to defend each to the death. A Ranger strives to protect and strengthen their world, their people, and themselves.


In fantasy literature and games, rangers are typically strong and varied characters that walk the line between nature and civilization - protecting each from the dangers of the other, often without thanks or appreciation for their efforts.

Their kind can be found hailing from any world that is threatened by hidden dangers, and from nearly every humanoid race. The similarity between their efforts, even across the sometimes vast differences between worlds and races, makes for a strong bond of kinship rooted in a common sense of duty.

Often represented as skilled woodsmen, trackers, archers, swordsmen and axemen, rangers can be both expert hunters and expert guardians - watching over their part of the world with a vigilant eye, or stalking across the land in search of trouble. Frequently distrusted and viewed with suspicion even by those they protect, there are still many who greatly appreciate their tireless efforts for the good of the world.

In a broader sense, a ranger can be anyone that feels a kinship with nature, has a strong sense of independence, an affinity for community, and a desire to protect and nurture while pushing themselves to become ever stronger. Their independent nature combined with sense of duty typically imparts to them an internally-guiding structure of honor, compassion and wisdom; while their appreciation of kinship and balanced outlook on life will often afford them a freely flowing sense of humor.

Above all, rangers are defenders - protectors of a delicate balance between all the varied forms of life in the worlds they watch over.

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Rangers are often presented as being solitary protectors and wanderers, but in times of great need, their similarity of perspectives and common sense of purpose allows them to rally together into bands called Brotherhoods, with more unity than is frequently seen even in the greatest of 'civilized' nations. Rangers are not the only ones that heed this rallying call, either. Not only do the druids - the stoic and magical protectors of nature - often lend their aid to the rangers when their cause is true, but others do as well. The same intense pursuit of purpose that allows rangers to bind together so effectively also attracts a diverse collection of healers, warriors, rogues and mages of all races and backgrounds from across the world. Any who share the rangers' love of life and their desire for peace and balance are welcomed into the Brotherhood, and are afforded the same respect as any of the wild-kin.

Most Brotherhoods are entities of pure necessity - existing only for the time they are needed, before their members once again scatter to the winds. Others endure so much together during their union, however, that the bonds they develop become near unbreakable, able to withstand the diverging pull of time by the sheer strength of their kinship and a calm understanding of the complexities of life.

The Sundered Guard is the latter kind of Brotherhood. Assembled for the defense of one world during its time of cataclysm, such was our sense of camaraderie and the impact we made there that we endeavored to spread to, and assist, any other world in which the forces of balance were being threatened. By unlocking the power of the Aldarem, or "tree-portals" - the network that interconnects all life throughout the planes of existence - The Sundered Guard has found a way to travel from world to world, searching for where we will be most needed next.

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The Guard is an entity spread throughout a number of games, and as such, it has multiple parts. To organize our diverse efforts and retain a sense of unity, the Guard is comprised of two intertwined membership stages - The Sundered Guard-Proper and The Sundered Guard Chapters.

The Sundered Guard-Proper is the core community and hub of the Guard - existing outside and independent of any game, and supported by the guild forums and other internet-based mediums (commonly referred to as the Glades). These are the members who have shown that their kinship with the Brotherhood extends beyond the artificial worlds in which we play. Those who would truly call Aldalonde their home, and who would say they bleed black and green, comprise this enduring core of The Sundered Guard.

The Sundered Guard's Chapters are the guild's incarnations within the various game worlds. There is a separate Chapter for each game that members of The Sundered Guard are officially active in. These Chapters are autonomous extensions of the Guard, embracing the goals and demands of their game while maintaining their identity and connection to the community through Proper and the Glades. The members of a Chapter are respected as full fledged kindred of the Guard, for they are the life-blood of our gaming foundations, and all are welcome to try for Proper membership if they truly feel at home here.

For more information on the overall structure of the Guard, please visit the Chapters and Proper charters.

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The Sundered Guard was officially launched in mid-January of 2002 as a forum-based guild, dedicated to following the open-ended, fantasy warfare MMORPG, Shadowbane, and was very active in the game's pre-release community. Formed from a combination of real-life friends and members of our predecessor guild - The Auberean Guard of Asheron's Call - the early Sundered kindred hit the ground running and quickly drove themselves into an anticipatory frenzy over a game that would not be due out for over a year...

The founding council was comprised of Lord Protector Voronwe Eldalom and Protectors Featar En'Nole of the Wolf, Daevlin Velkrieg of the Lion, Kirgurth Daerauko of the Hawk, and Avathar Maeglin of the Fox, with Tracker Haliit Ferase of the Wolf as a founding member. The months that followed the Founding would see that initial frenzy of activity only grow, and many of the Guard's most formative and enduring kindred would, during this time, make the mistake of following the trails of madness and black & green breadcrumbs from the Shadowbane forums and wider Aerynthian community to our woods, never to emerge quite the same.

With Shadowbane's launch in March of 2003, The Sundered Guard took its first steps as a complete and active guild in-game. Thanks to the enormous efforts of our members, we were one of the first ten guilds in the entire game to establish a city, and the fourth to be established on our server, Mourning. In a later Age, when control of regional territories would be introduced as a game mechanic, the Guard would become the first guild in the game to secure sovereignty of its homeland and the neighboring fiefdoms, and the first to claim a permanent mine as its own.



During its more than three and a half years on the same spot of Aerynth, the city of Aldalonde would stand at the forefront of many major conflicts, and was even the start of a few, too. Throughout that time, our city's great Tree of Life, never to be uprooted in all the wars it faced save the very last, held witness to both the wild successes and regrettable failures of its people, and watched as leadership of the Guard passed, in turn, first from Lord Protector Voronwe, (when he was called to depart Aerynth for yet an even stranger world with a certain someone), to Guardian Wolfhart Ansoul, then second to Lady Protector Aleta, and on to Lord Feamacar Aegnor, then finally to Lord Protector Tasital Goldeneyes, who, together with the tactical brilliance of Rasmus of the Lion, would lead us through the Solstice Age - the height of our prosperity and influence on Aerynth. Leading a mighty nation against mighty foes, the Guard stood as a bulwark against all enemies of the Mother goddess Braialla, while Aldalonde stood as a beacon of hope and sanctuary during Mourning's most wartorn, and romantic, times.

This Age also saw The Sundered Guard's first and, to date, only gathering of kindred in that bizarre realm under the shattered sky we refer to as "real-life", with some members traveling thousands of miles to meet each other in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July of 2004 - Shattered Sky Reckoning.



Though Aldalonde and its people stood fast through the years, the roots of its Tree undisturbed despite siege after siege ((one slight world-glitching bug of vanishing trees notwithstanding)), no wall nor army could stand against the march of time and the waning life of Aerynth, doomed as it was despite all valiant efforts to the contrary. So, The Sundered Guard of Aerynth, long-time flagship of the now-interversal brotherhood, entered its slow decline.

When the remaining gods of Aerynth threw freely open the 'versal gates to their world in one final attempt at saving it, the Sundered kin of Aldalonde rode forth again on the fields of Mourning in one last resurgence, led by Lord Protector Cydus. The end of the world was upon us all, and the world knew it. Those end of days saw the Guard living up to its former glory in bravery and skill, but not in number. As the total collapse of Aerynth and its always-fragile civilization drew ever closer, the political alliances of the landscape drew ever tighter, claiming once proud independent nations as mere vassals to conglomerate armies in the rolling desperation to hold whatever you had against the inexorable tide of chaos and destruction. In the end, even the last huddle of noble alliances failed to prevent the inevitable, and the Aerynthian sun set for the last time on the great city and Tree of Life, Aldalonde - last to fall of the first Trees to root, oldest of those mighty behemoths to have sunk its silvery roots deep into dying soil and, in spite of it, grow towering over the horizon in open defiance of the unending Death that would, inevitably, claim the entire 'verse.

With the sun setting last on the world of Aerynth itself - not long after Aldalonde's fall - the Sundered Guard's Autumn Age, and the brotherhood's first great story, would draw to a final close.



As the Guard was emerging as a real power on Aerynth during the zenith of the Vernal Age, it was experiencing real growing pains, as well. Outer strength and unrestrained growth concealed a troubled core. Overconfidence and an unshakable need to challenge the enemies of nature combined to commit us to a brutal campaign against a powerhouse of corruption, the Undead Lords. And so the trouble would grow along with us.

Following the necrotic Lords' swift arrival to the fields of Mourning, Guardian Wolfhart made sure their city and its twisted Tree stood no longer than a few passings of the sun before laying bane and declaring war against it, and all the undead filth that dwelt within its blasphemous shade. In so doing, we awoke unawares a sleeping giant, and drew to us - alone - the malevolence it had planned to mete out to the entire world. Our city bore the entirety of their retaliation, forcing hard reality on even the eagerest of minds.

But Aldalonde's lone stand against the Undead horde became a rallying cry, uniting the lands in one of the first world wars in Aerynth's long future of total carnage. Through the struggles and turmoil that ensued, the Guard faced its first crisis. And though the hardening and experience that the ordeal would impart upon our brotherhood was invaluable, the gift took its toll on the kindred. Seeing the devastation his act had brought to our home, despite the valor and rightfulness of it, Wolfhart stepped down as Guardian and passed the helm of the Sundered to Lady Protector Aleta, who lead as only a Fury - storm-caller of Braialla - could during this time of onslaught, placing command with Lord Protector Feamacar when she could call no more. So it was that the Guard's leadership and core was beaten and broken even as the the heart of its city remained standing.

Before long, matters came to a decisive head. A massive victory was won on the fields of Aldalonde, the Tree and her city kept standing against the strongest assault so far launched by the vile Lords. Yet the victory came at a high price, for among the great many friends and honored allies that joined us at Aldalonde that day to protect her, were also the legions of the Temple - hated as much for their blind arrogance and insane crusades as the undead were for their defilement of nature. The Temple of the Cleansing Flame was our first sworn enemy, now here at our gates as our protectors. For some, this was the last straw to bear.

At the very moment of celebration on the heels of the victory, Lord Protector Feamacar emerged to address the gathered crowd - the elven figure of Voronwe Eldalom mysteriously reappearing at his side. The First Lord Protector of the Guard announced to a shocked audience that the brotherhood had fallen from its path, sacrificing its soul for only the security of a place to anchor that soul. The Sundered Guard, Voronwe said, would be stricken from the face of Aerynth. Its name and legacy would be brought to new worlds instead, to seed them against the destruction that was sure to come to this one.

All that the kindred had worked for nearly crumbled from within on that night. An uproar went up amongst the brotherhood; some, welcoming the storm and the fresh life the chaos would bring. But most felt betrayed, mourning the loss of all the order they had built to preserve. Mayhem almost broke out on what had been the fields of victory just moments before. All told, the roots of Aldalonde were struck by a deeper blow than any that an enemy could ever hope to inflict - even the symbolic foundation of the Guard, reflecting our identity throughout the multiverse, was broken in the chaos that followed, the earliest records of our identity lost to the formless void.

But still, the Sundered Guard weathered the storm. For a chaotic few days, the brotherhood roiled with activity, the kindred falling back in this time of great crisis on the one constant throughout the guild's life - community. Balance and peace won the day in the end, Eldalom and many others coming to see reason, to see that everything the Guard had achieved on Aerynth had not been in vain nor in mockery of its true purpose; only that it grew along a gnarled path to reach its goals, just as a plant may do to chase the light when finding itself in hostile shade.

The brotherhood was finding its Place in Aerynth, and doing so organically. Chaos within order, order within chaos. Impossible to follow a singular path, but inexorable in its reach towards an ultimate goal, nevertheless.

So it was decided, in October of 2003 by the Reckoning of the Shattered Sky, that The Sundered Guard would embrace all paths before it. With the roots of Aldalonde firmly planted in Aerynthian soil, its branches could stretch through the void and into all the worlds whose needs called to it - the soul of the Guard always reaching along with it, but never without a Place again. So would begin every new adventure of The Sundered Guard beyond the realm of Shadowbane: the sword that pierced a goddess and shattered a world.

The rest of the Guard's living history can be found in the oral traditions of its kindred, and in the deep part of the forests, where nothing is forgotten. Members of The Sundered Guard may view The Aldacron, a detailed and comprehensive record of TSG's history.

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Game-based roleplaying (or RPing) is a style of approaching and playing story-driven and multiplayer games, wherein you create a character's identity to your liking - one rooted in the knowledge of the world in which that character lives - and use that identity to interact with other players of like-mind (...and sometimes annoy those players of opposing persuasions!). There is a wide spectrum of roleplaying intensity among players, from the casual to the obsessive, but for almost all people who RP, the point of doing it is to increase your immersion in the game worlds you're playing in, and doing so, increase the amount of fun you're having interacting with that world. Though all of these degrees are welcome in the members of the Guard, we are predominantly easy-going, casual RPers, who use our characters' perspectives and ideologies to form a common and creative base around which we can gather our diverse, fun-loving, and at times quite crazy, selves.

Each individual Chapter of the Sundered Guard maintains its own rules as to how strongly it wants its members to embrace roleplaying. Some may have no RP requirements at all, and may simply wish to encourage the RPing attitude. Others may have very strict rules designed to maintain a high level of immersion for the members and appearance towards the other players on the server. Such rules may include, for example, no out-of-character dialog in certain chat channels (or requiring the use of the standard OOC tag: ((double parentheses, to indicate a momentary break from RPing)), restrictions on character abilities or classes (i.e., no use of undead summoning, no slavery, etc.). Please refer to the Chapter leadership for the specific game you are interested in if you wish to know what their requirements are.

Regardless of Chapter rules, all roleplaying (as well as all other community interaction) is bound by the Guard's Code and Bylaws. Roleplaying an antagonist against another player, and including RP as one of your weapons against them in the arena of virtual combat, is perfectly fine, so long as you do not cross the line of friendly, sportsmanlike play and into the realm of harassment, or simply being a dick.

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Throughout these Glades one may find mention of certain names held in highest reverence. Most prominent of these might be Milaia, Braialla, and Raiuna. As with such things, how exactly you interpret these names and who or what they point to, is something you must discover or create for yourself. They have many titles to go along with their names: deity, mother, goddess, embodiment of nature, aspect of creation, and so forth.

The names themselves number even greater than the titles. Braialla and Milaia, for example, are in fact one and the same, just called by different tongues in a different land. The first, Braialla, is the name through which we first came to know her. The second, Milaia, is the name we gave her when we had fully recognized the shape of her. She goes by still more names elsewhere; Ishtar, Breeka, Gaia, Mother Nature, and infinite others.

With each new name given to her by the people who spare her a thought, she is painted with a different brush - described in a different light. No one view is wrong, and no one view is right, save only the view common to all: that it is she who occupies the Space from which all things come and to which all things go, and she that stands astride the Great Boundary dividing life from death, harvest or famine, nothing from everything. Beyond that, she is formless - as weak or as strong as each world and its people allow her to be.

The same pattern of form and formless together holds true for Milaia's sisters, and indeed for her consort and his brothers, too, though their story is for another time; all of them occupying solely their own Spaces but limitless within them, and each reflected endlessly beyond: Raiuna the Wise on the side of Water, and Fiera the Huntress on the side of Fire. Note well, the impression of even greater patterns reflected here - even in this high trinity - for the Mother and her Sisters, together in their Places, map out the Great Cycle of life through fierce youth, bountiful maturity, and consummate age, before flowing into death to be borne again through the Mother. So it is that in the end, it is always Milaia, the Mother of the Great Cycle, whose Space remains.

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We strive to maintain our close-knit sense of community while at the same time encouraging that community's growth and expansion across multiple gaming worlds. We will always endeavor to conduct ourselves with the highest standard of maturity and respectability, while at the same time never allowing our sense of humor and fun to be lost. We are committed to ensuring that the name, The Sundered Guard, is always affiliated with a sense of benevolence, patience and protection on any world it exists, and never with callousness, dishonor, or unfriendliness.

We will venture to establish our home of Aldalonde to act as a bastion of safety and a buoy in the turbulent seas of chaos, in every world we inhabit. We will endeavor to always be:

Nature's Sword, the People's Shield

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