Merchant's Guild

The Merchant's Guild is a very old and very well-established guild of traders and merchants that span the entire world. They control prices of almost every commodity and rarity on the market, and thus are known to artificially increase or decrease values of certain goods to influence global politics. This can be beneficial in situations such as cutting off funding for hostile nations or expediting recovery for towns or peoples after wars or natural disasters, but it can also be used to make things harder for enemies of the Guild.

The guild is integral to the world economy and owns most if not all of the trade routes in the world, there are smaller guilds of traders or merchants, but if they want to build connections, they almost assuredly must join or pay off the guild. They have a reputation for being vicious competitors and greedy consumers, with disregard for their impact on nature and people who have no political clout.

The only groups who have any say in the Guild's direction outside the Guild itself is the Great Divination Wizards and the Ivory Sails shipping cartel. Both of which work closely with the Guild to ensure mutual benefit.

Guild members who broker bad deals are often replaced quickly, and the fear of replacement often leads most brokers to strike deals that seem greedy or excessive in terms, giving the guild a bad reputation in some regions where these members own most of the trade business. If a person falls into debt with the Guild, they often will send enforcers to ensure that the debtor does everything they can to pay them back, possibly developing into a legal form of slavery or at least house-arrest.

The Guild's patron deity is Abadar, the god of roads and cities, as well as wealth.

## Structure

The Guild is a large organization, with many branches. At the top is 'the council', a collective of wealthy traders and leaders unaffiliated with the costers, they hold all the power and dictate the rules of all trade agreements. Council members are often direct descendants of the founders of the original guild, though not always - some have gained enough to buy their way into the council.

Also separate from the costers and directly beneath the council, are the council's group of enforcers, known as the 'Stonemen' for their stern appearance and unmoved demeanor as well as their grey outfits they wear to represent the guild. They do the dirty work - and are typically combat trained. They can and will enforce any rulings of the council , including punishments such as embargos against rogue traders or entire costers. These mercenaries sign contracts for years of service in agreement to further the guild's objectives, in exchange for a large sum of pay, as well as bonuses from the council for efficiency and obedience in the face of bribes the size of fortunes.

> "Trying to get mercy from the council's thugs is like trying to get blood from a stone."
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Below the council sits a representative for each coster. Each coster rep reports to the council directly, and has extensive insight regarding their regions of influence and had in-depth knowledge of the routes and risks to ensure profitability.

Most costers have one or two 'heads' who lead the coster and confer with the council rep directly, and may have a small staff of lieutenants below them.

The rest of the coster members are typically made up of Shippers and the Brokers. The shippers are the ones who run the caravans and the Brokers are the ones who speak on behalf of the guild, as well as broker all the deals, at least one from each branch usually travel together on trades to ensure efficiency and success.

## Goals

The Goals of the Guild are to ensure profitable trade in all regions of the world, as it is the lifeblood and livelihood of almost everyone in known civilization. The guild trades fairly according to its own regulations and works to ensure a free market, allowing any competitor to trade in their region as long as they agree to work within the Guild's same guidelines. The guild favors profit above all else, and their guidelines and regulations do not always consider morality.

## Limits

The guild will not allow any rival to grow large enough to become a threat to its profitability and will not allow a deal to be brokered where the guild does not come out ahead. If a person falls into debt to the guild, the guild will accept a favor as payment instead, of equal value as determined by the Guild.