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, Grana cas Derrin was chosen to be the maestre. A middle-aged, moderate, and methodical woman, she 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, maestre of the now-defunct Weaver's Guild, convinced the splintered guilds to merge and create one monolithic guild of Craftsmen. Not only did it pool the splintered resources and influence of the splintered guilds, but it also allowed for other smaller, less essential crafts to gain representation where before they had none.

This merger was a massive power swing on the Council. In addition combining the resources of the old guilds, it also added all the resources of other, unrepresented crafts. This massive consolidation of power would've easily taken control of the Council if it weren't for the constant infighting and jockeying for position within the Guild itself. Aemon cas Weston masterfully persuaded and wove the old guildmaestres together into a powerful political force. But now, much of his efforts are focused on ensuring the Guild doesn't collapse under its own bulk. He had forged a sword too heavy to wield.

Mages Guild

The Mages Guild is one of the oldest guilds. Magic has always been essential for ensuring security and prosperity. The current guildmaestre is Jocan cas Pol. He has held the office for over 40 years. While proving to be adept at maintaining order within the guild, no one would ever accuse him ofbeing an ambitious leader. The Guild has grown stale and lifeless during his tenure, neither growing nor dying, but simply stagnating.

There have been rumblings among the younger sets of Mages and Craftsmen of a desire to form a new guild, a Guild of Artificers. Uninterested in political power or the study of dry tomes, these young visionaries crave the excitement and freedom of exploring the frontier of artifice. Previously, magical power was exclusively the right of those gifted in its use. The prospect of putting that power in the hands of the common folk is incredibly popular with the owners of those hands.

Lenders Guild

The Lenders' Guild is a symptom of the rise of the Merchants guild. You have to spend coin to make coin, and as economic empires rise and fall and financial battles are won and lost, someone needs to supply the arms. Estra cas Heremit has been guildmaestre for 25 years. For years, she has danced a dance that didn't vie for control, but simply reacted to each new development in the way most profitable at the time. She is completely uninterested in amassing and consolidating power. She simply seeks influence among the other guilds, usually through manipulation of the houses leading them. Her little black book is possibly the most valuable item in the world.