https://f95zone.to/threads/price-of...:text=#2,352-,whichone said:,-If only Masters
With a Guild-type system, at least the people determining who is a Master Hunter are people who have demonstrated a high level of skill in the craft. It could also be that the rank of Master Hunter is conferred by a political entity. In the latter case, the rank of Master Hunter is not granted by someone with as much knowledge of what makes a Master Hunter. I might point out that Doctoral candidates in our society are conferred their PhD's by other PhD holders. So, this concept of "a Master level is conferred by other Masters" is still with us long after the demise of the Medieval Guilds. It is not much of a stretch to consider it surviving the collapse four or five centuries before the time of the story. Certainly, I'd want the people engaged in needed and dangerous work to have been vetted by recognized experts in their field as opposed to some Council member who has never worried about filling his and his village's pot.
The MC's "childhood friend" (default name: Maria) mentions that the MC is the youngest to ever have been made/named/conferred the rank of Master Hunter in the Island. The MC also later refers to himself as a Master Hunter. So, yes, there is an official title of Master Hunter. There is also an official title of Journeyman Hunter, although we don't know how many exist on the Island. Presumably, there may be as many Journeyman Hunters as there are villages in the Island, perhaps more. We simply don't know. The use of craft guild terminology is not limited to Hunters, of course. Maria refers to herself as an Apprentice Explorer, apprenticed to her Uncle Jacob who was called Lord Explorer. It's also worth mentioning that the title of Lord Explorer is granted (or negotiated out of) the political entity on the Island, the Council. Maria, as of the last update, is the Lady Explorer and the MC will become Lord Explorer upon his marriage to Maria.
- sj
In terms of the story presented, yes there seems to be a Hunters' Guild - or at least some form of regulated Hunter system. If I recall correctly, when the MC described his desultory courting of Eve in the past, he mentioned that his time was monopolized by training for his Journeyman "ticket" (my term, not the author's). I seem to recall that there are about a dozen Master Hunters on the Island. Cape Breton Island is about 4,000 sq. miles and only the western portion of the island was populated. If some sort of requirement must be met to become a Journeyman Hunter that requires training to some specification, then someone had to create the specifications and ensure the specifications were met before anyone was conferred the level of Journeyman Hunter. It follows that if there is a ranking of Master Hunter, then someone had to create and ensure the qualifications of subsequent Master Hunters.
With a Guild-type system, at least the people determining who is a Master Hunter are people who have demonstrated a high level of skill in the craft. It could also be that the rank of Master Hunter is conferred by a political entity. In the latter case, the rank of Master Hunter is not granted by someone with as much knowledge of what makes a Master Hunter. I might point out that Doctoral candidates in our society are conferred their PhD's by other PhD holders. So, this concept of "a Master level is conferred by other Masters" is still with us long after the demise of the Medieval Guilds. It is not much of a stretch to consider it surviving the collapse four or five centuries before the time of the story. Certainly, I'd want the people engaged in needed and dangerous work to have been vetted by recognized experts in their field as opposed to some Council member who has never worried about filling his and his village's pot.
The MC's "childhood friend" (default name: Maria) mentions that the MC is the youngest to ever have been made/named/conferred the rank of Master Hunter in the Island. The MC also later refers to himself as a Master Hunter. So, yes, there is an official title of Master Hunter. There is also an official title of Journeyman Hunter, although we don't know how many exist on the Island. Presumably, there may be as many Journeyman Hunters as there are villages in the Island, perhaps more. We simply don't know. The use of craft guild terminology is not limited to Hunters, of course. Maria refers to herself as an Apprentice Explorer, apprenticed to her Uncle Jacob who was called Lord Explorer. It's also worth mentioning that the title of Lord Explorer is granted (or negotiated out of) the political entity on the Island, the Council. Maria, as of the last update, is the Lady Explorer and the MC will become Lord Explorer upon his marriage to Maria.
- sj
