In 26AFZ, the premature death of Guildmaster Morok at the hands of the Warrior leader Heldar led to a power struggle in the Guild. Under the Guild rules set by Morok, every Guildmaster has to write the name of his successor on a parchment with his seal. The parchment will be placed in the Guild Vault under the guard of the Guild Keeper along with other secrets known only to the Guildmaster. After the death of the Guildmaster, the Keeper will retrieve the parchment and inform the successor of his appointment. He will then lead the new Guildmaster to the Vault where he will introduce the various secrets. One of the secrets is the communication channel with the reigning King. When the King wants to use the Guild, he sends a parchment with details of his assignment addressed to the Vault Keeper. The Vault Keeper will deliver the parchment to the Guildmaster personally. However, Guildmaster Morok died before he appointed his successor.
Master Handlers Krl and Ryl began a war for power. Handlers and Operatives were sent from both sides to assassinate the other Master Handler. Both of them knew that the Guild was working for King Xath in some manner though they were not privy to the information that only the Guildmaster possesses. Unwilling to incur the wrath of King Xath, the war ensued in the shadows away from the eyes of the public. Dead bodies were disposed of swiftly and the scene of the battles were cleaned up to keep the populace out of the know.
With the members of the Guild occupied by the war, the Guild's businesses and operations came to a halt. When King Xath contacted the Vault Keeper, he was told that there is no Guildmaster right now. The Vault Keeper revealed to the king that there is a shadow war being waged. King Xath decided that as long as there is no collateral damage. he will let the war play out instead sending his Protectors or Knights to stop the war. However, he was also unable to utilize the Guild for his own purposes.
Unable to out-maneuver each other, the shadow war became protracted. Casualties mounted and both Krl and Ryl began mass recruiting to grow their armies. However, with little training and experience, these new recruits swiftly joined the casualties tally. Early in the war, Krl's agent Volst succeeded in infiltrating into Ryl's group under the cover of a disgruntled operative who disliked Krl and decided to join Ryl's group. Volst slowly worked his way up the ranks of Ryl's organization, despite Ryl's initial suspicions, and eventually became one of Ryl's trusted handlers. Volst also took time to establish friendships with operatives within Ryl's group. An opportunity presented itself when Volst was alone with Ryl after a meeting concluded and the other handlers left the room. While pretending to whisper secret information to Ryl, Volst stabbed him and took his Master Handler medallion. Despite being a traitor, his close friendship with the Ryl's operatives saved him from swift retribution. Not only that, he convinced them to join him on his personal cause to become the Guildmaster. He returned to Krl with news of Ryl's death. During the dinner to celebrate Volst's success, Krl and his top handlers let their guard down and got drunk. Volst and his friends took the chance and killed all of them. WIth both Krl and Ryl dead, Volst announced himself as the new Guildmaster. The Guild operatives from both groups were already sick of the war and quickly fell in behind Volst.
In 30AFZ, shortly after Volst's announcement, He was brought to the Guild Vault by the Vault Keeper and learned of the secrets that came with being a Guildmaster. By then, Guild membership has shrunk to a quarter of its size before the war. The mass recruitment during the previous years meant that there was now a lack of suitable potential recruits. Thus, the Guild could now only accept the most lucrative assignments on top of the King's own assignments.
