Merchant Guilds

Azgaarnoth has a flourishing middle-class socioeconomic stratum, and a good chunk (perhaps half) of that owes its existence to the hundreds of Merchant Guilds that cross national borders. In general, if there is a product or service market, there is a Guild that is operating within it and seeking to maximize its returns from it.

Relationships

Many mage schools have contracts with Merchant Guilds to sell arcane wares. Such contracts tend to be short-lived, however, as the mage schools will often look to renegotiate better deals for their goods on a regular basis. Many will, in fact, operate several contracts simultaneously, in order to maintain best leverage against the Guilds.

While many Guilds were first formed by (and thus deeply intertwined with) the Dwarven Courts-in-Exile, many noble Houses over the centuries have found that close ties with a Guild can help offset the nobility's constant hunger for currency to finance their operations, and so often marry second or third sons or daughters into a Guild. This doesn't always guarantee that Guilds will finance House operations, or that Guilds will be able to influence court activities, but it does guarantee that the Great Game takes on vastly new dimensions across Houses and Guilds.

A (Partial) List of Guilds

Across the Azgaarnothian continent, hundreds of guilds routinely crisscross the roads and seas, carrying materials, goods, or even providing the simple service of shipping to the various cities and towns. A full list of all guilds would be impossible, particularly since new guilds form every day.

  • General shipping: many Guilds focus primarily on the movement of goods across Azgaarnoth, and so operate a merchant fleet (and guards) of varying sizes.

    • Kaalean Mercantile Compact: One of the first, and largest, mercantile Guilds in Azgaarnoth, it is rumored that the Compact operates over a thousand ships. Whether true or not, Kaalean Merchant vessels have visited every port in Azgaarnoth at least once, and are the best (and most reliable) choice for overwater travel anywhere in the region. Few pirates will challenge a Kaalean-flagged vessel--rumors say that any ship that does so succumbs to a highly-virulent and universally-deadly plague that reduces the pirate to a ghost ship within a week of the attempt.
    • Vekku Guild prices PHB +25%/quality excellent: The Vekku Guild was founded a few hundred years ago by a kobold tribe, and they have been aggressively (but always legally) growing ever since. By focusing almost exclusively on shipping raw materials to kobold artisans in Yithi and Zhi, then turning the finished products around to shops and stores for purchase, the Vekku have managed to create quite the trade network. Numbering about 30 ships, the Vekku have begun to expand their artisan network into Tragekia, and their purchaser network into Liria and Tragekia.

  • Shipwright and Wagoneers: the first Guilds were those that were formed to ship goods; the second Guilds were those that formed to build the things used to ship the goods. The shipwright Guilds are often each formed around a single or small cadre of Artificers specializing in ship design and construction; "cart Guilds" (as they are often called) building wagons and carts are usually much smaller and more informal.

  • Manufactured goods: finished general goods, such as what adventurers would be looking for in shops and markets.

    • Heart's Crossing prices PHB +10% to +15%/quality average to above average: Yithi, Zhi, Tragekia.
    • Donato's prices PHB +25%/quality excellent: musical instruments, in any city of 5,000+ or a Bardic College. Some Donato's instruments have passed into legend as artifacts. Any Bard using a Donato's instrument gains advantage or +1 on any action utilizing the instrument.

  • Weapons and Armor: so long as conflict remains a principal concern with Azgaarnoth, the manufacture and sale of weapons and armor will remain a brisk trade. Many guilds focus on the purchase of raw materials (iron, steel, leather, mithral, adamantine), while others on the manufacture and/or sale of said items.

  • Magical components: though less common, some guilds focus exclusively on the harvest, shipment, and sale of components for arcane and divine use. Some guilds are extremely ethical about such harvest, while others... less so. Note that this trade can range from the sourcing and sale of spellbooks and scrolls to the sourcing and sale of material components.

  • Agricultural: many Guilds work with the farmers of Azgaarnoth, buying their harvest and shipping it elsewhere for resale. This denies the farmers the added markup of selling directly, but also relieves the farmers of transport costs/overhead and storage. Most agricultural Guilds are highly commoditized, and are often looking for any advantage they can get over their competitors.

    • Compact of the Kaze Clan: Liria, Bedia, Travesimia, Travenia, Whaveminsia, Bagonbia, Mighalia. Heavily invested into agricultural products (harvests) and foodstuffs. A smaller, yet highly profitable, portion of the Compact is dedicated to the production of a variety of alcoholic beverages.

  • Entertainment: these Guilds back musician and drama troupes, in return for percentage of the house take. These are generally newer Guilds, and many such Guilds were originally venture-backed by Donato's until they bought their investment back.

  • Banking: banking Guilds are happy to take deposits from adventurers and issue letters of credit. Deposits will generally earn 5% interest each year. Any banking Guild on this list will recognize and honor a letter of credit from another Guild on this list.

    • Flenderwill, Opalin, and Chornda: Yithi, Zhi, Tragekia. Investments are usually low-risk ventures.
    • Smolfont's: Liria. Investments are medium-risk ventures, primarily around exotic trade.
    • Stonegate and Drumhammer: Liria, Travenia, and Bedia. Founded by a pair of dwarven merchants over five thousand years ago, this guild claims to be the oldest banking guild in existence, and proudly claims reserves in excess of 10 million gp worth. They are, however, extremely secretive, and refuse to disclose anything about their internal operations except under extreme duress.

  • Mercenary's Guild: quite possibly the most famous of the Merchant Guilds, either mercenary companies and/or their employers will require contracts to be filed with this Guild. The Guild will hold the contract sum in escrow (minus any up-front payment) until the fulfillment of the contract. Disputes will be heard by the Mercenary Bond Council, which forms a seven-person board of inquiry to investigate using means both physical and arcane. All board findings are final, and mercenary companies or employers that are found in violation of contract risk censure or even outright ban. Nearly every city (that is, population over 5,000 people) in Azgaarnoth has at least a representative of the Mercenary's Guild within city limits. Each individual mercenary company also generally files a guild contract (describing the by-laws, ownership, and operating procedures for the company) which technically makes them a merchant guild, but for the most part any issues around the operation or execution of a mercenary company falls to the Mercenary's Guild for adjudication.