Keith Gold

About
Keith Gold is the founder and current boss of the Keith Guild, a guild that offers several paid jobs to adventurers affiliated to it in exchange of money or valuable items. The most notable member of his guild is the great adventurer Rance, who has been a member since the year GI1014. Initially, Rance met Keith after his mentor and mother figure, the Female Warrior, passed away during an adventure, and Keith was an old friend of her, agreeing to keep him under his wing after her departure.

He's the one that usually gives Rance all the missions he takes for money as is his main informant, hiring him as one of the top members of his guild to complete several missions. Rance is greatly annoyed by him, as he dislikes old men in general and finds him bothersome, but he also shows a surprising  amount of restraint when dealing with him, suggesting that he holds a certain amount of respect for him, although he would never openly admit it. Over the years, Keith has represented an important father figure for Rance, and his influence over him is clear. He has a beautiful secretary called Haini that assists him with many of the administrative affairs of the guild. Rance considers her a fine woman but, despite his interest in having sex with her, he's shown a surprising amount of restraint as she's always around Keith.

He founded his Guild in the town of Ice in the Free Cities Alliance, where he managed to make a solid and well established business thanks to his great aptitude as a manager. During the events of Rance Quest, it's stated that he has recently moved his Guild's location to CITY from the Copa Empire, expanding his syndicate even further. It is also mentioned that her secretary Haini got married with Keith two years prior in LP0004, and that is currently pregnant close to the birth. Keith is very happy with the idea of forming a family, and suggests Rance doing the same with Sill, but he refutes the idea saying that Sill is just a slave.

Personality, Appearance and Relationships
A bald headed man with a beard, he's a man that enjoys wearing luxurious clothing, filling himself with grand and ostentatious accessories. Rance is usually very rude and rough with him, referring to him as a "bald bastard" and regularly insulting him with little moderation, but in reality, he still holds a notorious amount of respect and acknowledges him as a skilled businessman.

While he might not look like it, he's a courteous and respectful man that acts like a gentleman and never loses his cool. He's a very easy going and pleasant person that always keeps a largely positive disposition and never shows signs of crossness. He easily handles Rance's verbal abuse and manages to keep him under control to an outstanding extent. Along with Sill Plain, he's the only person that manages to keep Rance's peculiar personality in check. They've known each other for quite a few years, and he understands him very well. He sometimes tricks Rance into doing difficult missions by lying to him about the client or objective of the quest being a cute girl. Sometimes he picks missions like these on purpose for Rance, but half the time, it's just a lie to get Rance to do the job, which only infuriates the adventurer.

While he actively supports Rance and offers him with advice on a few occasions, he doesn't grant him any particular benefits to him as the Boss of the Keith Guild and treats him as an equal to the other members of the guild despite their somewhat close relationship. When it comes to getting a job done, he doesn't provide any particular assistance to Rance that he wouldn't provide to others and is perfectly willing to assign jobs to other adventurers despite the fact that they would be competing with Rance, and gives the reward to the one that completes the mission first. He's, however, also portrayed as a  very shrewd business man who hand picks high paying jobs that he knows Rance will take, and sees a potential war between Leazas and Helman as a good opportunity to make money with little concern over the negative consequences a large-scale war would bring, showcasing a more  unfeeling side of him.

Abilities
Keith is a very skilled businessman capable of founding his notable Keith Guild from scratch and making an excellent and profitable business from it. He's a smart and resourceful man, with a charismatic disposition that allows him to gather several talented adventurers from all over to complete jobs assigned to his guild. With a Business Lv1 Skill Level, he's a professional that can easily handle his group to provide services to several customers in exchange of money and bring a highly profitable income to himself and those that work under him. He's got a clever mind and is very experienced in the line of work, as he's seen a large variety of jobs from his many years getting jobs from adventurers.

He also carries Short Sword Combat Lv1 and an Adventure Lv1 skills, which suggest that he probably worked as an adventurer in the past, probably with great aptitude for it considering his natural and almost instinctive knowledge when it comes to adventuring. He's also a very calm and sensible person that always remains composed in every situation, boasting great skills as a conversationalist as well. His serene and untroubled nature is absolutely impressive and truly showcases his great experience. During the events of Rance 03, he was able to hold a conversation with the notably impatient Dark Lord Satella and remained completely unfazed despite the fact that the Dark Lord could have killed him with no difficulty whatsoever, and even managed to have a total control over the flow of the conversation with little effort.

Trivia

 * Keith is one of the few men that Rance legitimately respects.
 * He is the first man besides Rance to appear in the series.
 * With the exception of Rance IX, Keith has appeared or been mentioned in every game of the series up to date.