From the introduction: Occupying an odd place among the trades’ guilds of the city is the Most Ancient and Worshipful Order of Roodsmen and Pole-Tenders (called by some wags the Ten-Foot Guild). While other guilds focus on economic and mercantile concerns, the Ten-Foot Guild focuses on the concerns of adventurers. While the guild’s monopoly is on the sale and distribution of 10’ poles, it has developed into an organization of expert hirelings, skilled in a wide variety of abilities useful to delvers.