The Greater Heartlands Crafts Guild

The Greater Heartlands Crafts Guild
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Summary

In essence, the Greater Heartlands Crafts Guild is an organization that protects the interests of, and consists of Merchants and the producers of many general goods that the populace relies on. In the Crafts Guild, you can find the people who make your nails, your toiletries, your favorite brand of chocolate flavored condoms, and your cutlery. It is a group that has brought together many of the fine craftsmen of the northern Heartlands region so they can regulate their prices and create a market that can satisfy the economies of the cities that dot the area. The Guild works closely with the local governments to establish prices, and help regulate trade.

The Guild sponsors caravans, and has helped construct safer routes between cities as far East as Surna and as far North as Vale. They are considered by some to be one of the sole reasons behind the reconstruction of the economy in the Heartlands, and why we have any sort of stability today.

Interestingly enough, some controversy also surrounds the Guild. Rumors of illegal trades and shady deals, as well as thievery haunt the organization, although most of it has been dispelled in interviews and questioning of Vorn Tyrr, local Regional Administrator of the Guild. He has assured us that the Guild is a honest organization, built solely on the protection of its merchants and producers. And if any of the Guild's actions seem violent in any way, it is for the greater good of its members, and the entirety of the Heartlands region.

It's reported that nine in every ten businesses in the Northern Heartlands have a connection to the guild, and those that do seem to be better off, as they receive insurance against burglaries and protection, such as daily visits from local guards. Those who don't accept the guild's invitation usually find themselves suffering from burglaries more than those who do, and sometimes lose their shops to fires in these attacks.

The guild asks for a small six percent of monthly profits to sustain the protection.

The Greater Heartlands Crafts Guild is named as such because they operate primarily in the larger, northern swath of the Heartlands, as opposed to the 'Lesser' Heartlands Region, which encompasses the southern regions, including the capital of Sanctimonia. The Guild works closely with it's sister Guild, the Lesser Heartlands Crafts Guild.

Formed decades after Shar's Invasion, it was originally a small Guild dedicated to the regulation of trade and protection of trade routes within the briefly independent Kingdom of Vale. It was only after the end of the Nobles' War and the formation of the Kingdom of Sanctimonia that the Guild came into the graces of several wealthy investors, who helped shape the Guild as it exists today.

Ranks

Regional Administrator:
There are three Regional Administrators, each of which looks over a different section of the Taliberian area and manages all those below them. They are responsible for the cooperation of the Guild and the governments in that area, and of overseeing the actions of the managers below them.

Agent:
Agents are responsible for the movement of money in the Guild. They make sure guards make their rounds, insure that those paying have nothing wrong happen to them, and help pay for the damages that comes to their merchant's property. One is always kept on a Guild caravan, to oversee transactions and run things.

Merchants/Crafters:
The blood of the Guild. They pay the Guild, the Guild protects.