Council of Guilds
The Council of Guilds is the primary ruling body of Strabridge. While they claim no jurisdiction over the other two continents, the decisions made by the Council quite literally affect the entire known world. Who needs authority when you have power?
The Council has undergone drastic changes in the last two decades. The greatest change is the merger of several smaller guilds into the new Craftsman Guild.
The Council also operates a small guard force, the Silver Guard, for maintaining peace on the island and a massive navy for protecting the island and the shipping lanes. While Guild dues subsidize these military forces, their leaders do not have a seat at the Council of Guilds.
Merchants Guild
About forty years ago, the Merchants Guild was the most influential force in Starbridge. Led by strong and shrewd leader, Beylon cas Ainwright, the Guild led the charge toward the modernization of the world. Cas Ainwright invested heavily in argent mining and produced wonders of artifice that the world had never seen. However after Beylon's sudden disappearance, cas Ainwright had no strong leader to guide them, and quickly fell to infighting and became obsolete. Mysteriously, at the same time, the artifacts produced by cas Ainwright also became inert, no longer able to function. However, the impact on the world had been made; common folk had partaken of the convenience and power provided by the blending of magic and technology and they continue to want more.
The Guild soon followed cas Ainwright. Unable to maintain its momentum due to a string of inept and corrupt maestres, the guild quickly lost all influence on the council. About 5 years ago, Grigor cas Derrin was chosen to be the maestre. A middle-aged, moderate, and methodical man, he has slowly been making progress and reassembling the guild, but the road ahead is long.
Shipping Guild
The Shipping Guild had previously been a strong ally of the Merchant Guild and had riddent its coattails to considerable wealth and influence. In the power vacuum left by the fall of cas Ainwright and the Merchant's Guild, the Shipping Guild quickly rose to prominence. Edvir cas Basileus is the current guildmaestre. A member of cas Basileus has been the maestre of the Shipping Guild for as long as anyone can remember.
Because of their shared expertise and background, Edvin was largely influential in the appointment of Captain Tusk to the office of the Admiral of the Argent Navy.
Craftsman Guild
The Craftsman Guild was formed about 18 years ago. Previously, each major craft (smithing, weaving, carpentry, etc) had its own guild and thus, its own maestre on the Council. However, with the rising interest in and demand for artifice, and the resulting power and resource boon for the Shipping, Merchant, and Lenders Guilds, the individial craftsmen's guilds found themselves with little to no political sway.
Then, Aemon cas Weston convinced the splintered guilds to merge and create one monolithic guild of Craftsmen