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The Heroic Oversight Guild (abbreviated HOG) is the major regulatory institution in Nua. It is a very bureaucratic organization, not a group that "leaps into action."[1]
History and Purpose[]
The Heroic Oversight Guild has existed for over 200 years.[2] It facilitates the placement of sidekicks and henchpeople with hero or villain partners, oversees contracts between heroes/villains and the kingdoms that employ them, and places limitations on the behavior of heroes and villains to ensure that the system runs as intended. For example, heroes cannot take bribes or hurt people, while villains cannot kill or otherwise cause too much damage, and no parties are allowed to compromise free will with mind control magic.[3][4]
The HOG employs a team of investigators, including Althea Song, that ensure all rules are followed, and look into complaints like the report Leon files about Hieronymous Wiggenstaff's School for Heroism and Villainy. There are also enforcers, who ensure that contracts are followed and people are paid if the investigators uncover a valid complaint, and caseworkers, who set up contracts.[2]
Evil Classification[]
If a professional hero or villain breaks enough rules of the Heroic Oversight Guild, they are branded as evil, and no longer allowed to act as a professional hero or villain. Most heroes or villains that are branded evil find themselves teaching at various schools, but are also allowed to pursue jobs within the HOG.[2][3]
Headquarters[]
The Heroic Oversight Guild headquarters has existed in Prosperity for about 75 years. The building, which takes up the equivalent of a full city block, is covered in art deco-style gold relief panels depicting battles of heroism and villainy, and the guild name is listed over the entrance in platinum letters.
Inside the building is an open-air atrium, home to a café cart run by Chef Mike, and several magical pools of water that hold large trees. There is also a reception desk at the front of the atrium, and visitors must sign many forms and waivers to proceed further inside. There are three aboveground floors, and offices on the second and third of those floors overlook the atrium—administrative offices are found on the second, with investigators, enforcers, and caseworkers on the third. The Shipping and Receiving room, the mail room, and the loading dock are all on the east side of the ground floor, next to the ramp down to lower floors.[2]
Records[]
The Records department is comprised of the three lower floors: Processing, Payroll, and Archives. Contracts are initially written by Administration, sent out to involved parties for signing via Shipping and Receiving, returned to caseworkers in the headquarters, and send belowground to Processing. Processing completes a final check of the contracts, sent through Payroll where payment and currency details are recorded, before the contracts are stored in Archives, the lowest floor of the building, for future reference.
Archives holds 28 cabinets, each containing a pocket dimension full of contracts. The magic of those pocket dimensions creates "exhaust," which is filtered by a particular strain of moss so that it does not interfere with ongoing magic in the area. These levels have an emergency exit system, but it only moves up, to ensure no one can be trapped underground.[2]
Badges[]
HOG employees have badges made of a metal paired with a particular jewel. These are used to show members' level of security clearance.[2]
- Gold represents a senior member.
- Silver represents a regular member.
- Copper represents a junior member.
- Emerald represents full access to the entire headquarters.
- Sapphire represents full access to main levels, and escorted access to records.
- Ruby represents full access to main levels, and no access to records.
- Diamond represents access to the first floor, escorted access to upper floors, and no access to records.