The Collective of Kind Hands Helping One Another Thrive

Are we not all people? Do we not all deserve food to fill our stomachs? A place to lay our heads at night? And a purpose greater than just ourselves?
This is what The Collective of Kind Hands Helping One Another Thrive stands for.
If you join us, you know the fruits of your labour will go towards your own well-being and the well-being of those around you. Not towards supporting some greedy overlord who society has wrongly decided has more value than you.

— excerpt from a speech by Dotty, the first leader of the Collective


The Collective of Kind Hands Helping One Another Thrive, more widely referred to as the Collective for ease of use, is well known for its generosity and willingness to help its neighbours. It is a society where every member knows they will be well taken care of and have all their basic needs met. While it is not a place where one can accumulate massive amounts of power, it is a place where no one will suffer due to unequal social hierarchies. It is also the smallest of the Labyrinth factions.

The Collective of Kind Hands Helping One Another Thrive was started when the Labyrinth sank and a Muella circle took in some of the people who found themselves trapped within the Labyrinth with nowhere to go. They felt it would be easier to survive the hostile environment of the Labyrinth by working together.

It has also taken in people who have deserted the Allied Guilds and the Legion over the many years.

Its unique system of collective governance came about as the original Muella circle contended with how to best meet the needs of a larger group of people, especially those who are less socially and emotionally connected to one another than is usual in a small Muella circle.

The Collective has an informal leader who is voted into the position every few years. The leader is elected to deal with outsiders who are less understanding of the collectivist politics of the Collective. The leader, however, is not responsible for political decision making.

Actual political decision making is made via debate between all of the adults and then voting on what to do after these long periods of debate.

The Collective of Kind Hands Helping One Another Thrive operates on a culture of community care, where everyone works together to help every member of the society thrive. Members of the Collective have a strong sense of belonging in the society and know they can always reach out to other members for help when they need it.

This sense of community care is extended to the greater environment around them. Members of the Collective understand that just as they help the people around them live their day-to-day lives, the environment helps people thrive as well. Because of this, the Collective is more familiar with the ecosystems of the upper floors of the Labyrinth, and regularly access more floors than other Labyrinth factions. The Collective often trade goods from less accessible floors with other people.

The Collective does its best to avoid conflict with its neighbors, especially the more militaristic Legion. Members use their greater knowledge of the Labyrinth to hide and run away through lesser known passage ways when they encounter more hostile situations. They will similarly avoid harming the monsters in the Labyrinth where possible, since they view them as fellow members of the greater Labyrinth ecosystem.

Starting Point: Most characters from the Collective were born and raised in the society, but some may have defected from one of the other two factions in the Labyrinth or used to be a faction-less resident of the Labyrinth. If they have defected, why did they do so and why did they choose to join the Collective?

In the World: Within the greater Labyrinth community, members of the Collective are largely viewed as idealist hippies with little to no ambition. This is a misunderstanding stemming from the inability of members of the Collective to try to climb a social ladder.

Character Options and Suggestions: Characters of any species can be found in the Collective, and Slimes tend to be more commonly found in this faction than the other two. All magical Paths are practiced, but the Path of the Moon and the Path of the Hammer are more likely to be learned due to their greater ability to be used to help others. Most characters have some Diplomacy skills, since every adult member of the Collective participates in its governance. Other common skills include Pathfinding, Crafting, and Roguery. Combat skills are very unlikely to be learned since the Collective is focused on ethics of community care and tries to avoid fighting its neighbours. When people do become skilled in them, it is more likely from encounters with Labyrinth monsters than combat with other people. Characters from the Collective can only be at Status rank 2 since social inequality does not exist in the society.

There is no standard naming conventions for the Collective of Kind Hands Helping One Another Thrive, but names tend to be short and people rarely use their family names in day to day life.

Clothing worn by members of the Collective is largely practical, with linen most often used for clothing. Since Labyrinth environments can be highly variable, layers are often worn so people can easily and practically change how much insulation their clothing provides them as they move between the different rooms. People wear largely simple shirts, trousers, and skirts as their base layers, with aprons commonly worn for their practicality. People with long hair often have it tied up in a cloth to keep it out of their way.


An example of Collective style clothing