The Crafters' Society
Before the rise of the Council of Kings, many craftsmen had began forming guilds according to their trade. The tradesmen would trade information on prices, clients, and resources with others who practiced their craft in the villages around the kingdoms. Each guild operated separately with varying degrees of success mingled with corruption in their highest ranks. Some guilds, like the baker’s guild, saw new levels of prosperity under the guild system. Other guilds did not fare as well; the farmer’s guild was rife with extortion, forcing farmers to pay exorbitant fees to maintain the rights to farm certain crops. While most farmers could barely feed their family, the guild coffers continued to grow. The guild leaders would then purchase the land from the farmers, promising to cut their crop fees, and instead charging even higher rental fees. This practice ultimately came to an end after the winter of famine, where the recklessness of the guild led to an underproduction of crops for the winter. Dozens of villages around the kingdoms fell to famine.
After the famine, the King of New Meritta created the Crafter’s Society. One guild responsible for overseeing all other guild activities and actions. The existence of the Crafter’s Society has created a lot of extra bureaucracy among the trades, dragging down those who were working quite efficiently under the old system. However, on the whole production has flourished under the Crafter’s Society. Corruption has been routed out and new prosperity has flourished for all trades.
Currying Favor
Player’s who wish to curry favor with the Crafter’s Society should look to negotiate strong deals with the members. The Crafter’s Society has found its success in contracts and negotiation and is unlikely to commit to anything if it isn’t over a bargaining table. The guild, on its face, despises corruption and greed, favoring instead fair and balanced deals; but with all large organizations there are always those still trying to find a way to make a lot of coin at the expense of the organization.
