So I've been going through the game slaying dragons and violating the dead for their loot and it occurred to me: pretty much everything I do (side quests and favors aside) is for a group of people that I'd never met until recently and now expects me to devote myself to their principles and doctrines to advance. I'm the DRAGONBORN! Why am I always being told what to do and where to go by these puny people that I could shout into orbit without exerting myself? Then, the epiphany came...

What if I could create my own guild?!?! It only makes sense that since I've been traversing Skyrim killing all manner of monsters and acquiring increasing fame that someone, somewhere would get the idea in their head that I'm someone they want to learn from. This person would then venture across Skyrim themselves in search of the great Dragonborn adventurer to seek out his tutelage by popping up in every city they went to. And so the founding of a guild begins.

It could start with your biggest fan begging to come along with you to prove himself. You can agree and have him come along, or tell him to get lost a few times before finally caving and giving him a shot. He has some ideas of a few dungeons, each with a different focus on either sneaking and thievery, the use of magic, or skill with a weapon. Your follower expects you both to fight through hordes of enemies to reach the treasure at the end of the tunnel, but you have better plans. Give your apprentice a few coins to equip themselves (or use a successful persuade/intimidate check to get them out of your face) and send him on alone to show his mettle, and tell him he'd better not bug you again unless he has that treasure.

A few days pass...

And the student returns! He's a little worse for the wear, but grinning ear to ear as he proudly presents you with the treasure you sent him for, and now with a better knowledge of a few skills from the field that the dungeon had it's focus in. Clearly, this guy has some potential. Having proved himself, the apprentice offers another choice of three dungeons (each with a skill focus, of course) for the both of you to quest through. Let's be real here though, getting through one dungeon is nice and all, but this guy is going to have to do a little more than that if he want's to study under the Dragonborn himself. Give him a few more coins (or not, if you've got a high enough speech skill) and send him off again to find the next buried goody.

More days pass...

And another success! If you sent him to a dungeon matching the skill focus of the first one, your student will have learned a bit more about whichever skills he picked up before. If you sent him through a different type of dungeon, his talents will have diversified. He presents you with the prize and sits expectantly, waiting for his next task. Now he's learning. Send him off a third time and see if he's a lucky fluke, or if there's real fire in this guys blood.

More days pass. Strangely, no one finds it odd that you've been waiting in the same spot for the better part of a week...

A third triumphant return! As before, if you sent your student somewhere that focused on a skill set that he already knew, he will have learned more about those skills. Otherwise, he will have picked up some new talents. Okay, so maybe this guy is worthy of your attention after all. Agree to let him follow you around, and let his instruction begin. Just in time, since a pair of dragons have been spotted nearby and are threatening the city walls! Put down the beasts together, and as you're about to put the last of them to the sword, listen as your follower shouts the thing to bits. After asking where he acquired such a skill, the student responds that he thought if he was going to study under the Dragonborn, he'd better learn to shout, so he spent a bunch of time and energy during his travels through those dungeons shouting at everything he came across until he figured it out. He's not you by any means, your Thu'um can knock dragons from the sky, but your student has clearly come about as close to you as a mere mortal is capable.

As a crowd pours out of the city and gathers around the corpses of the nearby dragons, more prospective students - having witnessed your display - come forward seeking guidance. Uh oh, it's one thing to have one guy following you around, but what do you do with a half dozen people clamoring for your attention? You're going to need a base of operations, somewhere in Skyrim where students can gather to live and train. Ever the idea guy, your student knows of a few towers around that would be perfect for the job after a few renovations. The only problem: they're all currently infested with bandits, undead, evil mages, draemora, and/or vampires. As if that ever stopped you! Pick the tower in whatever location suits you best and empty it of enemies. When the task is complete, your apprentice sets to the task of collecting recruits to help rebuild the tower so they can train.

Come back in a few days to find the bodies removed, the mortar repaired, and a creaky new door on the front. Inside is a bit more of a mess. While all the structural repairs are complete, the project left everyone dead broke! You'll need some funds to add proper living quarters, crafting stations (including a blacksmith), a training area, and hire an interior decorator! If you have the coin, you can arrange for the upgrades. Otherwise, follow up on rumors supplied by your students (bigger payout, but then you have to do work) and/or send your followers out to comb through dungeons for treasure to dump into the guild coffers (aka your coin purse). Once you've paid for the upgrades, talk to the decorator to come up with the look and feel you want your guild to have. Do you want the place to be filled with plants and natural stonework or would you prefer chains and skulls? You'll also need to come up with a guild crest to put on the flag outside and serve as your personal sigil, as well as a guild name.

Now make your way over to the blacksmith to choose the appearance of custom weapons and armor for members of the guild, select the types of enchantments you want to be placed on them, and obtain a special leveled set just for you! You can return to the forge to remake your personal equipment with better ratings provided you have the smithing skill to do so (example: if you acquired the items early in the game where they were on par with, say, an enchanted suit of iron armor and an iron sword, but now you can smith orcish weapons and armor, just go to the guild forge, select "orcish," and select your guild equipment. The recipe will call for all the items used to make, say, an orcish sword, but also demand that you sacrifice your guild sword, similar to the draugr weapons made at the skyforge).

Now your guild is complete. Your first follower, who is now the head trainer, will impart on the students the knowledge he picked up when you were sending him through his trials, providing you with a dedicated group of followers who will help out whenever you need them. You can now take jobs for the guild (and/or send your students out to do them instead) that set the tone for how it is perceived by the rest of Skyrim. Murder, thievery, and extortion will cause the general populace to dislike you to the point where you might be notified via courier of an attack on your fortress which you will have to repel. However, slaying monsters, catching criminals, and getting poor kittens to come down out of trees (oh, did we mention that the tree is protected by an army of spriggans? whoops, sorry about that...) will cause people to revere you and send couriers with tributes for all your hard work.

Regardless, Skyrim will have a new faction shaped by your hand; a band of adventurers loyal only to the Dragonborn himself. What this means for the future? Only time will tell...