# Notes on RaidGuild Lore
###### tags: `Gitcoin`

If RaidGuild is invited to orate it's own lore, to illustrate it's own image, how will it do so?

We might crowdsource it to let the DAO envision/in-vision itself!

(Has the RG lore already been thoroughly articulated?) Now is an excellent opportunity to research the previous attempts and collate them into a repository of stories, as a public good offering to the Guild and the wider ecosystem for use in brand strategy. Also as a RG contribution to the *technology of imagination* ie: lore.

We should strive for a high-fidelity and intentional articulation of the RG identity as protagonist. Initial references:
* Might draw upon the *Origin Stories* RIP: hear it from the voices of veteran Raiders; full of optimism, hope, integrity, and praise for masterfull skills of others that are being practiced and tempered internally
* Monster Maps RIP: D&D MMORPG LARPing mythos extended into a DAO-space universe. An opportunity to draw upon or shift/shape the lore being articulated there? Discord = labyrinthine dungeons, NFTs as monster/map/treasure all at once (powerul idea!)
* RG's slogan: *A Decentralized Collective of Mercenaries Ready to Slay Your Web3 Product Demons*

### Mercenaries vs Demons
#### Mercenaries
* Evokes WOW, Diablo, Skyrim medieval fantasy world.
* Are we humans or are we orc? All races welcome lol
* Within that universe, what kinds of characters would RG align with?
* If degen = to loot and hoard through an infinite grind of material/wealth accumulation, how do we challenge this association to articulate a community dedicated to cooperating, collaborating, and coordinating to a common goal?
* Take the RG roles and elaborate a caste of characters, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, towards illustrating the interdependencies of battling a common enemy. We would rather go far together than fast alone.
* Need to articulate incentives beyond the material, beyond the *perverse* of economic gain. What is the noble pursuit of the guild?
* We might *incidentally* all get rich, but when the bull market recedes and crypto winter descends upon us again those that are left behind will be the true heros. At that moment it will be more important than ever to articulate the *precise* evil that we are rallying against: Moloch at high-definition.
* Brutish barbarians might think it's ideal to rush into battle, but the demons are too dispersed so careful strategy is required: *away from dark ages lore, toward Renaissance/Enlightenment?*
* Wizards as a bridge between the magical realm of superstition, alchemical realm of empirical experimentation, and the scientific rational mind = *keepers of gnosis, crafters of vision, travelers to the **etheric** spirit world* = the perspective that allows the seeker to unlock their true potential

#### Demons
* Web3 products themselves are not the demons, but the potential tools/weapons
* What is the demonic incentive? To centralize, drag us down into the belly of hell, into Zuckerberg's version of the centralized metaverse:
* Where information is not our own = *to steal our souls*
* To manipulate/distort our perspectives = *to manipulate us against our will* and provoke our adversarial tendendencies
* To capture human imagination and keep us enslaved to our own vices
* The demon icon/image has a very complex history that we might research as part of this initiative
* Demons are ravaged, tortured, desire-driven angels: *demons as amplified human vices*
* Demons as collective/hoard: incessant, unstoppable force that makes humans turn against themselves at the end of times or at wits ends = *against all reason*


### Context and Narrative Arch
* Dungeon crawler! Subterranean, hidden, dank underbelly of civilization
* Discord as a labyrinth of chat rooms lol
* Apprentices get lost and die
* RaidGuild metaverse lore evokes **Plato's Allegory of the Cave as a crypto rabbit hole**
* Delving deep underground
* Mesmerized by the shadow play in the dark: *phantasmagoria*
* We confuse the objects projected on the walls (computer screens) with reality
* RG can break the fourth wall, slay the slavers, to ascend to the light of day?
* The willingness to trace the path of light back to it's source
* Ascension through disbelief, proactive skepticism, questioning what is given, *active learning and skill advancement* = RG as an industrious guild constantly improving itself allows us to gain some slack in the shackles
* When the seer (that ascends from the cave) returns to free the others they are torn apart by their peers! This is Moloch at play. Requires a delicate handling of the "red pilling" of our peers.
* Each member of the raid party brings their strength to support the weakness of the others: technical and non-technical protagonists with complex internal dynamics
* Might be storyboarded through diagrams to discover surprising narrative entanglements from their various incentives
* From perverse incentives to transcendent understanding of how the parts (of Web3) are connected in order to escape the dungeon
* The demonic manipulation of the labyrinth = the infinite generation of new maps, infinite novelty to capture and maintain our attention. *Distraction is the weapon of Moloch!*
* Maybe the **labyrinth as Moloch, is Moloch.** The whole story takes place in the belly of Moloch?
* Like any great fantasy story, the grand reveal at the conclusion is that we were always battling against our own human nature.
* Fear, uncertainty, and doubt combatted through clear, reasoned acuity = *shed light into the darkness to dissipate the demonic hoards*