Guilds and Mercantiles
Money makes the world turn, or so the timeless proverb goes. Second only to war, trade and commerce have done more to shape the world than any other factor. The following are just a few of the major guilds and mercantiles, but it should be remembered that there are countless more. A Guild is simply an association of people of the same trade formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards. A mercantile is a company that owns resources, property, and often substantial wealth, and may either manufacture and sell goods or trade in goods purchased from one place and sold to another.
The Merchant Consortium
The Merchant Consortium is the single-most powerful guild in the world, and is usually referred to simply as the Consortium. The Consortium is headquartered in Falmore-Glave and accounts for nearly 20% of Glaven's economy. The Consortium is not a mercantile itself, and is thus not subject to the same laws as a legally chartered company. Technically, it is a guild, and nothing more, containing only five hundred to six hundred members. Small as this may seem for such a powerful organization, every member of the Consortium is a major shareholder in or owner of another powerful mercantile. As a result, the Consortium's combined resources are virtually unlimited.Approximately thirty major mercantiles, as well as numerous smaller independent companies, are under the Consortium's wing, but they all operate effectively as one body. The Merchant Consortium "owns" shipping companies, banks, metalworks, shipyards, mining companies, farm trusts, refineries, alchemy and apothecary shops, armories and weaponsmith shops, universities and libraries, and even exploration companies. Though some consider the Consortium's legal maneuvering to be illegal, its political influence has allowed it to maneuver through (or run over) most legal obstacles.
The Royal Bank of Armillia
The Royal Bank of Armillia is the official bank of Armillia and the largest and most powerful bank in the world. It is technically a private company, but because the primary shareholder is House Anthocles, it has effectively become the Armillian Treasury. The Royal Bank holds in reserve 10% of the world's gold, silver, and novarite. The Bank has six massive fortresses where its wealth is held and guarded by a special division of the Armillian armed forces. The Royal Bank operates on a "promise, trust, and honor" system, where it promises to honor the balance of any account with an equal amount of gold or other metals on demand. To this end, the Royal Bank prints "Bank Notes" and "Bank Coins" to represent its ability to honor such balances. Bank notes are used primarily between companies and mercantiles when dealing with huge amounts of money, but the coins find their place in the pockets of individuals, shop owners, and small traders. Most other banks will honor both, since they know they can exchange these notes and coins for gold, silver, or commercial credit from the Royal Bank. Though the Royal Bank tried to establish its own name for the coins, they quickly became known as "guilds" as they were first used as a medium of exchange between merchant guilds that spanned national borders. One guild is valued at 5 ounces of silver and 5 guild is roughly equal to a good week's wage (skilled laborers may receive 10 to 15 guilds a week). Although every country has its own official coinage, the guild has become the new global currency.
Medrean Trade League
The Medrean Trade League, or "the League", operates in the Medrean Sea and throughout the Medrean nations. It is one of the few competitors to the Merchant Consortium, and operates under the same basic system--controlling many merchant companies to strengthen its common economic interests. The League has about five thousand members, all owners or shareholders in a mercantile or trade company, but its companies are much smaller than those in the Consortium. The League is headquartered on Seroa, an island in the Medrean Sea (which the League collectively own in its entirety).The Syndicate of Lethan
The Syndicate, as it is known, operates in a similar fashion to the Merchant Consortium and Medrean Trade League, but solely in Tarrona. Unlike the Consortium and the League, the Syndicate is mostly made up of companies that buy goods in port cities and distribute them across the continent in great caravans. The Syndicate is also the largest employer of mercenaries in Tarrona, whom it hires to protect its caravans. It is also believed to secretly hire and contract bounty hunters, as well as commission pirates in the Sea of Isles. However, there has been no substantial evidence of these activities.In spite of its name, the Syndicate of Lethan operates across all of Tarrona and has thousands of member companies. Most member companies are fairly small, but together they make up an incredibly large organization. The Syndicate is not as well known as the Consortium since people usually deal directly with the merchants face to face. Even so, approximately 30% of all merchants in Tarrona are members of the Syndicate.
Because the Syndicate is headquartered in Lethan, the instigation of the war with the Dark Kingdoms has greatly affected its membership. Nearly 80% of its members had dropped association with it by the year 1040. Ironically, the remaining members have apparently prospered under the rule of the Imperium.
Omniworks Mercantile
The Omniworks Mercantile is the largest single company in the world, and in Valaria alone it employs nearly 20% of the population and support 40% of its economy. Additionally, Omniworks owns factories, mining operations, refiners, and shipyards throughout the Medrean. Omniworks is not controlled by the Consortium, and is in fact fundamentally opposed to the Consortium's business tactics. It has a diverse range of manufacturing, mining, refining, and shipbuilding facilities, but is a single company that is half controlled by a board of shareholders and half controlled by government regulators. The Armillian military is its primary customer, accounting for about 70% of its annual revenue. Omniworks builds the majority of Armillia's naval ships, airships, aerodynes, and juggernauts. It also supplies a great deal of general-issue armor, weapons, and other military supplies. Though there is no single owner of the Omniworks Mercantile, Soren owns a 30% share and House Anthocles (the ruling house of Armillia, who also owns the Royal Bank) controls another 25%. Many of the companies Soren founded over his preternatural lifetime are now part of Omniworks.Capital Foundry and Steel
Capital Foundry and Steel is a major producer of steel, iron, and other metals. It is located in Armillia, with foundries and mining operations across Celania and Mesoria.Geirding Coal and Steel
One of the major mining companies in Tarrona, Geirding Coal and Steel mines and supplies coal as well as various alloys of steel and other metals, including silver and gold. The company is headquartered in Brindel, with major mining operations in Bryland, Dralia, and Kharam.Sturmont Motors and Engineering
Sturmont Motors is the largest manufacturer of steam and ichor motor coaches, and it also builds aerodynes and custom engines of all sorts. Sturmount is headquartered in Falmore-Glave, but has operations in Armillia and Panora.Marlass Aeronautics
Marlass Aeronautics is one of the major producers of both military and non-military aerodynes in Celaphania. The company is headquartered in Abridor, a large city on the eastern cost Armillia. It was founded in 952 by Alaxos Marlass, who invented a practical powered glider. Building on its humble beginnings developing powered gliders and balloons, Marlass Aeronautics now produces hundreds of aerodynes a year and as many as a dozen airships and aircruisers.
Novanus Mercantile
The Novanus Mercantile is not a government, but it might as well be. The company was founded on Nuram shortly after the end of the War of Tyranny as part of the effort to recover from the devastation the war left behind. The company was charged with the task of collecting, refining, selling, and shipping both raw and refined Novarite abroad, as well as purchasing all ships, equipment, and logistical supplies to accomplish that task. At the time, Nuram had its own monarchy, ruled by an Archduke with ties to Armillia. However, within thirty years the Archduke's Household had been effectively "bought out" and the Archduke retired to his own private island. Nuram's then-Governor, a prominent Dworgh, became both the ruler of the island-nation and primary shareholder in the Novanus Mercantile.Today Nuram's government and the Novanus Mercantile are so intermixed that the two appear to be one in the same, though still wound together in a confusing web of aristocracy, bureaucracy, shareholders, company officials, and officers. The Novanus Mercantile Authority controls the entire island-nation, which is now considered to be the Kingdom of Dworghs since 80% of its citizens are Dworghs. Of course, most of the island's population is a "slave-labor" force. The Dworghs who live on Nuram and the surrounding islands are employed in high-paying jobs as officers of the company or aboard company ships.
The Novanus Mercantile has only one product--Novarite--and they have the fortune to be the sole provider of Novarite to the world. As a result, Nuram is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, and the Novanus Mercantile is among the most powerful companies.
Kaffrian Sea Guild
The Kaffrian Sea Guild was established 200 years ago by Kaffrian captains and ship owners for the mutual protection of their business interests, to govern the trade routes, and to help "even out" pricing (for the fairness of all, of course). The Kaffrian Sea Guild is exclusively Kaffrian, and nearly every Kaffrian captain, ship owner, and officer is a member. The Sea Guild helps to make sure competing Kaffrian ships do not end up at the same port at the same time with similar cargos unless demand is great enough. The Sea Guild will also muster all able Kaffrian ships and privateers to combat threats at sea, such as pirates and hostile nations.
The Sea Guild also publishes elaborate pricing charts (one for every port) of which goods can be sold at what prices at each port. These charts are given to all members, but are also sold outside of the Sea Guild because so many charts were being stolen and sold for high prices on the open market that the Kaffrians saw a great business opportunity to simply sell the book themselves. The Kaffrian Trade Almanac is a four-volume annual publication covering pricing and expected demand at nearly 400 ports. It includes detailed charts of these ports, waterways, and coastlines. Nearly 10,000 copies of the four-volume book are published every year and sold for the exorbitant price of 12 guilds for the full set. Practically every merchant ship has a Kaffrian Trade Almanac on board, though some may be several years out of date.
West Azanies Trade Company
The large and powerful West Azanies Trade Company has a history dating back 400 years. Though it was nearly eradicated during the Great Tyranny, the company survived only because the Triclopes did not push all the way to Nanshin and Zhonghua. The West Azanies Trade Company is a joint venture owned by shareholders throughout the Medrean, merchant and noble alike (including Soren). Its fleet of ships makes up the major trading body operating among the islands of the Sea of Nanshin (also called the Azanian Sea), Nanshin, mainland Azcan, and the exotic kingdoms of Zhonghua.The typical trade route calls for the ships to leave their home ports in the Medrean and sail south around Zhonghua, stopping off at various ports along the way. The ships eventually make it to the Sea of Nanshin, then, after stopping at villages on the mainland of Azcan, venture to the ports of Nanshin. The ships then turn around and go back, stopping off at various ports along the way, eventually returning to the Medrean Sea after a three– to five-month voyage, their holds filled with some of the most exotic goods in the world.
The West Azanies Trade Company has recently begun to use airships, but these craft are very expensive to operate and hold only a fraction of the cargo of their sea-going counterparts. Airships are used for special cargo, perishable goods, and passengers. The airships also allow the company to get inland and travel to the exotic reaches of the Shanalyean Mountains.
Eastern Spice Mercantile
The Eastern Spice Mercantile is a Panoran company (though many shareholders are Crethian and Armillian as well), but the Merchant Consortium does not control it. The Eastern Spice Mercantile, as the name implies, was chartered to trade throughout the spice islands of the Sea of Isles, concentrating in the Corel and Tropical Archipelagos, and with Tarrona. The majority of its cargo consists of goods and precious metals to use to barter for spice, but its most valuable cargo is the spices, silks, and exotic plants and foods the ships bring back to their home ports. The company has its own fleet of ships, but mostly hires independent merchants to work for it. Such contracts stipulate that the mercantile will pay the crews' wages, take care of logistics and business matters, and cover other expenses for a cut of the profit. This is often very pleasing to ship captains and officers, who rarely like dealing with logistics and heavy paperwork themselves. The cut the Eastern Sea Mercantile takes is often quite substantial (70% to 80% of the profit), but it does pay the crews' wage and purchase all supplies.North Royale Trading Company
North Royale is a Lethanic Mercantile once owned by the Royal Household of Lethan. Eventually, it grew to become an independent organization with ties to the Syndicate. North Royale trades across the ports of Tarrona, from Kendes to the Commonwealth, around to Suddaea, and up the eastern coast to Ostarh. The company also trades throughout the Sea of Isles, competing directly with the Eastern Spice Mercantile and Kaffrian Sea Guild. It frequently trades with Nuram and the Medrean nations, and some say North Royale has dealings with the pirates of Sculdoria. There are also serious concerns regarding the company's dealings with the Grand Imperium, and it is suspected of slave trade with Nuram.North Royale has a substantial fleet of mostly merchant vessels, but it also possesses a number of warships. It is questionable who the company really needs to protect itself from, since its suspected involvement with pirates eliminates piracy as a potential threat. The largest ship in the North Royale fleet is the Ark Royale, an ironclad merchant-warship with enough firepower to match any ship-of-the-line.
Workers' Guilds
All workers' guilds operate independently and are usually formed for works of a particular company, but they are all basically the same. Founded originally to help the peasantry, Workers' Guilds have since grown to encompass a wide swath of the working class, including general laborers, smiths, builders, and craftsmen of all sorts. Workers' Guilds try to ensure that working conditions are reasonable, workers receive fair pay, and no one is exploited.Thieves' Guild
When compared with the Shadow Guild, which is of much more devious renown, the Thieves' Guild is really quite harmless. Even so, the Thieves' Guild is criminal by nature and is considered an illegal organization. Unlike other Guilds, the Thieves' Guild is very loosely organized. Thus, it could be said that there is not one Thieves' Guild, but countless many. Though many believe the Thieves' Guild and Shadow Guild are related, they are in fact bitter enemies. The philosophy of Thieves is to "take silently from those who carelessly leave property unguarded". Furthermore, thieves do not advocate murder--after all, murder draws more attention than harmless theft. The Shadow Guild, on the other hand, specializes in murder.The largest Thieves' Guild group is located in Kal'khemed, but large groups exist in other large cities, including Valaria, Falmore-Glave, and Duntara. The Thieves' Guild, as the name implies, is made up exclusively of thieves. Many thieves see such an organization as dangerous and want nothing to do with it, preferring to operate alone. Nevertheless, thieves and other rogues often join the Thieves' Guild simply to make underworld contacts. The thieves of the Thieves' Guild will generally come together to trade secrets, learn techniques of thievery, and pair up for big heists.
Gaining membership in the Thieves' Guild is tricky, but not as difficult as it is with the Shadow Guild. Members must first make contact with a Guild member and earn his trust. If the candidate is judged to have sufficient skill, and does not appear to be a lawman or soldier, he will be allowed to join. There are no fees, but all members are expected to help other members and offer to teach their skills and techniques of thievery.
The Shadow Guild
Of all the guilds, the Shadow Guild is the most dangerous. All members are criminals. Many cities consider the Shadow Guild to be not merely a gang of criminals, but a silent organization conspiring to overthrow their government. They may be right. Like a twisted version of the Consortium, the Shadow Guild operates in a diversity of operations including smuggling, gambling, racketeering, and assassinations. Oddly enough, the extent of the Shadow Guild's operations is unknown even to its own members. Operating in decentralized "cells" within cities and towns without a specific leader, few know the true scoop of the Shadow Guild. No one knows where the Shadow Guild is headquartered, who controls it, or even if there is a leader. Each cell has its own members and leadership, but these members can network into cells in other cities through a series of secret code words.Shadow Cells operate in their own unique ways; each has an appointed leader called a Directant or Proctant. These cells are deeply hidden in the city. There is no specific Guild Hall; rather, the members meet in secret, usually in houses, stores, or facilities owned by the Directant or other members.
Joining the Shadow Guild is exceptionally difficult. When accepted, all new members are at the lowest rank. Ranks can only be appointed by the Directant or by murderous succession. Murderous succession is rarely done, however, as the Directant will generally knock-off over-ambitious members who may appear to be a threat to his position.
Higher up are powerful "merchants" who run crime circles, gambling halls, and brothels, and control smuggling operations. Illegal goods and information can often be bought from these crime lords and their henchmen. Every city has a black market or criminal underground, and in most cases these are controlled by the Shadow Guild. Assassins can be contracted from the Shadow Guild, and, though they are horribly expensive, they rarely miss their target.
Some suspect the Shadow Guild has ties to the Dungh'Gar Cult of Kendes. Links to the Dark Kingdoms is likely, but it is unlikely that the Guild is controlled by the Dungh'Gar or are even supported by the Grand Imperium. There are numerous accounts on record of some vicious power struggles between the two groups. Furthermore, the Dungh'Gar operate as a religious cult and the Shadow Guild has no religious affiliation whatsoever. Their only motives are greed and power.