The Guides functioned as priests, prophets, healers, and advisors, and were the dashta eels who had contact with the Cestians. They dwelled in concealed grottos under Ord Cestus in the Dashta Mountains, where they remained until their full development. The X'Ting and other Cestians, who were compelled into servitude by the Five Families of Cestus Cybernetics, sought hope and blessings from the Guides. Subsequent to the Five Families' destruction, the Guides retreated far into the grottos and were never observed again.