General Information/Organizations/Eneini Merchants Guild

From Westaven

Merchant organization centered in Eneini.  The guild is quite powerful, controlling most economic activity in the city, either directly or indirectly (through tariffs, licenses, etc.). As such, the guild also boasts quite a bit of political clout, which can translate into military influence as well.

The Guild is governed by a group of Selectmen, each nominated and "selected" from within the merchant ranks by other Selectmen and those who hold some sway over these men. Taxes, trade routes, and other decisions of importance are to be decreed by Selectmen in concord, with punishments (usually financial) for those acting outside this authority. Terms are normally 18 months to 2 years, although special elections to remove a selectman (thus prompting a vote to induct a new member) can occur from a 2/3 majority decision.

Of the Selectmen, a chair of importance is occupied by a First Selectman (sometimes called "Head Selectman"), who holds offices within the Guild Hall and makes income not from his own sales or distribution of goods, but from a percentage of the other merchants'. The Head Selectman calls meetings--both among Guild members and the general public--and chairs said meetings, plus he has a sort of veto power over many group decisions; he also largely controls the Guild's sizable guard corp, as well as rubs elbows with major military and political players, including such figures as the lord of Eneini himself. As of 985-986 AE, the Head Selectman is Marnor.

Although the above positions are ideally to be chosen in an almost republican manner, with senior members choosing leaders from among the membership to govern themselves, in reality these positions are bought and sold through the purchase of votes via favors, promised favors, or coin. (Which is exactly how the merchant Shimtalk was able to negotiate his way into the Selectmen [see the 7 June 986 log ].)

The organization, being manned and ruled by merchants, is often torn by inner turmoil, with much political shifting and positioning, backstabbing treachery, and underhanded dealings. As Shimtalk rightly assessed it, "intrigue runs rampant in our organization." A perfect example of this is the rivalry between Shimtalk and Marnor in "A Tale of Two Merchants".