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The Society class provides accessors for a character’s society membership, rank, and task data for the three major societies in Gemstone IV.

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Overview

Gemstone IV has three major societies:
  • Order of Voln - Dedicated to releasing undead from their torment
  • Council of Light - Focused on combating dark forces
  • Guardians of Sunfist - Warriors dedicated to protecting civilization
The Society class provides a unified interface for accessing society information across all three organizations.

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Class Methods

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Society.membership

Retrieve the character’s current society membership. 
society = Society.membership
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return
String | nil
The society name (“Order of Voln”, “Council of Light”, “Guardians of Sunfist”), “None”, or nil if not a member.
Example: 
case Society.membership
when "Order of Voln"
  echo "You are a member of Voln"
when "Council of Light"
  echo "You are a member of the Council of Light"
when "Guardians of Sunfist"
  echo "You are a member of the Guardians of Sunfist"
else
  echo "You are not in a society"
end

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Society.status

Alias for Society.membership. Returns the character’s society membership status. 
society = Society.status
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return
String | nil
Same as Society.membership.

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Society.rank

Retrieve the character’s current rank within their society. 
rank = Society.rank
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return
Integer
The rank number within the society, or 0 if not a member.
Example: 
rank = Society.rank

if rank > 0
  echo "You are rank #{rank} in #{Society.membership}"
else
  echo "You are not in a society"
end

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Society.task

Retrieve the current task assigned by the society. 
task_message = Society.task
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return
String
The current society task description, or a message indicating no task or no membership.
Possible return values:
  • A specific task description (e.g., “Slay 10 lesser undead in the church”)
  • “You are not currently in a society.”
  • “It is your eternal duty to release undead creatures from their suffering in the name of the Great Spirit Voln.” (for Voln masters)
Example: 
task = Society.task

if task =~ /not currently in a society/
  echo "Join a society first"
elsif task =~ /eternal duty/
  echo "You are a Voln Master"
else
  echo "Current task: #{task}"
end

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Society.serialize

Bundle the current society status and rank into a simple array structure. 
data = Society.serialize
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return
Array<String, Integer>
Array in the format [membership, rank].
Example: 
membership, rank = Society.serialize
echo "Society: #{membership}, Rank: #{rank}"

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Utility Methods

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Society.lookup

Lookup an ability definition using a normalized short or long name. 
ability = Society.lookup(name, lookups)
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name
String
required
The user-facing name (short or long) of the ability to look up.
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lookups
Array<Hash>
required
Array of hashes containing at least :short_name and :long_name keys.
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return
Hash | nil
The matching entry from the lookups array, or nil if not found.
This is a helper method used internally by society subclasses. Most scripts won’t need to call it directly.

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Society.resolve

Resolve a value that may be a static literal or a lambda/proc. 
value = Society.resolve(value, context)
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value
Object | Proc
required
The value to resolve. If it responds to call, it will be invoked.
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context
Object
Optional context object passed to lambdas with arity 1.
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return
Object
The resolved value, or the original value if not callable.
This allows society metadata fields such as :duration or :summary to be defined as either static values or dynamically evaluated lambdas.

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Deprecated Methods

The following methods are deprecated and will be removed in a future version. Use the recommended alternatives.

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Society.member

Deprecated Use Society.membership instead. 
# OLD (deprecated)
member = Society.member

# NEW
member = Society.membership

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Society.step

Deprecated Use Society.rank instead. 
# OLD (deprecated)
step = Society.step

# NEW
rank = Society.rank

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Society.favor

Deprecated Use Society::OrderOfVoln.favor instead. 
# OLD (deprecated)
favor = Society.favor

# NEW
favor = Society::OrderOfVoln.favor

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Society Subclasses

The Societies namespace provides convenient access to society-specific functionality:

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Societies::OrderOfVoln

Access Order of Voln-specific methods and data. 
Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor  # Get current Voln favor
Alias: Societies.voln

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Societies::CouncilOfLight

Access Council of Light-specific methods and data. 
Societies::CouncilOfLight.method_name
Alias: Societies.col

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Societies::GuardiansOfSunfist

Access Guardians of Sunfist-specific methods and data. 
Societies::GuardiansOfSunfist.method_name
Alias: Societies.sunfist
Each society subclass provides specific methods for abilities, symbols, and mechanics unique to that society. See the individual society documentation for details.

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Usage Examples

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Check society membership

if Society.membership == "Order of Voln"
  echo "You are a Voln member at rank #{Society.rank}"
  echo "Current task: #{Society.task}"
else
  echo "You are not a member of Voln"
end

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Display society status

membership, rank = Society.serialize

if membership && rank > 0
  echo "Society: #{membership}"
  echo "Rank: #{rank}"
  echo "Task: #{Society.task}"
else
  echo "No society membership"
end

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Check for society before using abilities

if Society.membership == "Guardians of Sunfist"
  if Society.rank >= 10
    echo "You have access to Kai's Strike"
  else
    echo "You need rank 10 for Kai's Strike (current: #{Society.rank})"
  end
else
  echo "You must be a member of the Guardians of Sunfist"
end

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Wait for society task completion

initial_task = Society.task

loop do
  current_task = Society.task
  
  if current_task != initial_task
    echo "Task updated! New task: #{current_task}"
    break
  end
  
  pause 10
end

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Society-specific logic

case Society.membership
when "Order of Voln"
  favor = Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor
  echo "Voln favor: #{favor}"
  
when "Council of Light"
  echo "Council of Light rank: #{Society.rank}"
  
when "Guardians of Sunfist"
  echo "Guardians of Sunfist rank: #{Society.rank}"
  
else
  echo "Not in a society"
end

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Data Source

Society data is retrieved from Infomon and XMLData, which parse game output to maintain current character state information.

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Notes

  • Society membership is tracked per character
  • Rank starts at 0 for non-members and increases with society progression
  • Task messages are updated by the game and reflect current society objectives
  • The Society class provides a base interface; specific society abilities are accessed through subclasses
  • Name normalization (via Lich::Util.normalize_name) converts names like “Kai’s Strike” to valid Ruby method names like kais_strike

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