- Characteristics
- Empathy – Guides are able to sense emotions in others. Training leads to it occurring in varying degrees, but it is the defining trait of what makes a Guide.
- Emotion Projection – Once trained, many Guides are able to actually project emotions onto others. They can send out feelings of joy or calm to help relax a fried Sentinel, or help them close their senses down to a manageable level again. It is this very gift that has made them so invaluable to Sentinel.
- Emotion Manipulation – You've seen my face before. No, really, you totally have, I'm a normal not a Guide. Manipulating others into having certain feelings, sometimes used to disguise, is a trait reserved for only the strongest of Guides. Once they understand how to do it, though. . .
- Mental Exhaustion – Because they project feelings or absorb others, Guides will often become mentally exhausted. This shows up in the form of headaches from exertion, but can go so far as to have physical effects.
- Have spirit animal – Exactly as Sentinel have a spirit animal that aids them and is a representation of the self, a Guide also has one. They function in the same manner.
- Have different pheromone scent from Sentinel and Normals – The scent is usually only noticeable when around un-Bonded Sentinel and is their body's natural, chemical reaction to the Sentinel. On a basic, biological level all Guides seek to achieve a Bond, whether they like it or not. . This scent is what many Guide Hunters use to track them during Hunts.
In the Tower
Well ... the Tower isn’t a great place for Guide, even after they’re bonded. Though every Sentinel desperately needs a Guide, the Tower seems determined to make the process of bonding as miserable as possible. Unbonded Guides are held in Guide Housing, a virtual purdah where they are locked in their rooms at night, under constant supervision, and escorted everywhere they go. Most of what unbonded Guides do in the Tower is try and find the least odious Sentinel to bond to via the Tower interview process, and train to serve that future Sentinel. They are usually also assigned menial white collar jobs in various offices within the Tower. Especially talented unbonded Guides may be Guide Trainers, though that’s discouraged. Bonded Guides have a lot more freedom, in a manner of speaking. They are the legal dependents of their Sentinel but may begin to pursue careers, leave Guide Housing and otherwise begin to have a bit of a life - one that is legally and socially centered on their Sentinel, whom they will spend the rest of their life with. The Tower is hard on Guides but many do manage to find a bondmate they love, and a life they enjoy.
In the Resistance
Here, Guides can shine. Resistance Guides are not only taking back their own lives, they are fighting for the freedom of all Guides. Guides in the Resistance are often in leadership roles; strategists, spies, information brokers and the center of a Resistance cell. They often have strong empathic abilities, necessary to keep the Resistance Sentinel around them in line and in their work. Resistance Guides have a variety of opinions about Sentinel - not all of them positive and they certainly don’t tolerate a Sentinel trying to force themselves on a Guide. It’s not uncommon for Resistance Guides to string unbonded Sentinel along, hinting that they might bond, if the Sentinel proves themselves worthy. The Tower really wants Resistance Guides back in their clutches and hunts them mercilessly. Once caught, the Guide can expect the devoted attention of Tower officials who will help them re-learn what it means to be a proper Guide and be bonded to a suitably strong Sentinel who will keep them in line.
Going Rogue
The least safe option for Guides, rogue Guides have neither the oppressive oversight of the Tower nor the safety of a group to protect them. Most rogue Guides are young, and don’t stay unbonded for long - they’re hunted down by the Tower or by rogue Sentinel who forcibly bond them. The key to staying free and rogue, for a Guide, is to stay invisible, unknown and undiscovered so jobs that allow that are good. Some rogues are skilled in the particular types of empathic manipulation that keep them unnoticed, and may work as investigators, spies, con artists and other careers where their unique abilities give them an advantage. Many move from place to place, a few are hidden by friends and family.