Merchant Guilds

The Merchant Guild are, next to the Nobility and the Church, the most important class within the Virasana Empire. The Guild Council on The Floor, consisting of the 'Big Five'. has been a central political player of the empire for centuries. The Big Five are

* The Crafters Guild (all producing enterprises, from hunter-gatherers over craftsfolk to industries)
* The Traders Guild (every enterprise buying wares with the intention of selling them, unchanged, for profit, including the Slavers Guild and the Procurers Guild)
* The Mercers Guild (all other services, including the Town Criers Guild and the Courtesans Guild)
* The Moneylenders Guild (banking and legal)
* The Psions Guild

## Internal Structures

Underneath the 'Big Five', all guilds - with the notable exception of the Psions Guild - are a wildly heterogenous agglomeration of highly diverse subgroups.

Each guild member can decide on their own which subguild they want to join, or maybe even found. Sometimes, members join to found enterprises, which can easily surpass smaller subguilds in membership and turnover. Local subguilds and enterprises form local guild chapters on different levels who in the end all end up being represented in the guild council.

It is a messy and constantly re-negotiated web of official memberships and less-than-official alliances.

## Taxes and Guild Fees

The tax privilege of the nobility does not extend to guild members, meaning that no noble can tax an idividual guild member. Guilds as a whole have to negotiate with the local noble for the right of doing business in their domain, which always comes at a price - the right of doing business in exchange for money.

The guilds in return collect membership fees from their members, from which the guilds pay the local nobles. Rules for membership fees more often than not are negotiated for each case.

## Crime

While there is plenty of 'Laws' governing the Empire, among the merchant guild, everything is an opportunity - very little rules apply as long as someone pays the bill. There are assassins' guilds, thieves, blackmailers, in short: every service someone else might be willing to pay a good heron for.

When a guild is hired to commit a crime, and the perpetrators are caught *in flagrante*, they are persecuted and punished normally as individuals. If they manage a clean getaway so it's only statement against statement, their guild will step in and declare it official guild business. The harmed party can then try to either buy off the original contract (traditionally for double the price, and it'll get them the employer's name) or appeal via the nobility (though it's rare any noble will go against a guild whose services they might depend on in the future).

Some notable exceptions exist, crimes that are considered such even within the guild, and those cases are firmly upheld and viciously enforced:

1. Breach of Contract - This is the one everything boils down to. The guilds literally live of the fact that once a contract it sealed, it's sakrosanct. Beware the fineprint, though.
2. Not paying guild fees - You can negotiate close to everything, but refusal to pay is worth expulsion from the guild. If you are lucky.
3. Inhibiting a Commoner's right of free movement
4. Inhibiting a Commoner from joining a guild / another guild respectively.
5. Right of Property - While theft is not forbidden *per se*, taking by force from other guild members is almost unheard of.

## Notable Merchant Guilds include

 Assassins Guild Big Five Couriers Guild Courtesans Guild Crafters Guild Engineers Guild Garuda Couriers Guild Council Mercenaries Guild Moneylenders Guild Procurers Guild Psions Guild Slavers Guild Town Criers Guild Traders Guild