Your crew
A gezel is a named AI companion with a role. Each one carries their own character description, their own memory, and their own small carved-wood figure — their poppetje — so you always know who you're talking to.
The Meester
The Meester is your guildmaster: the first gezel you meet, and the one who helps you figure out which other gezellen you need.
When you're not sure who should do a job, ask the Meester. They know every role in the guild, can create a new gezel on the spot, and can set up whole projects for you.
Your gezellen
Every gezel has:
A role — what kind of work they're good at. The Gezel Roles section of this Handboek describes each role and exactly what it can do.
A character — an editable description of who they are and how they work. It shapes how they respond.
A memory — notes they keep about your work together, searched and recalled automatically.
The Voorman
A voorman (Dutch for foreman) is a gezel you put in charge of one project. They triage what comes in, route work to the right specialist, and keep an eye on progress. You don't need one for small projects — but when a project involves several gezellen, a voorman keeps the crew coordinated.
Growing the crew
You can create a gezel yourself, but the easiest way is to ask the Meester: "I need someone who can review contracts" is enough. New companions arrive with a sensible role, character, and toolkit — ready to work, and yours to rename or reshape.