Factions ‣ Mercantile Guild
Escaping destitution is a dream for many, a reality for only a few. If you make the right trades and create a private empire for yourself, the Mercantile Guild might take notice and invite you to join their ranks. The Guild is exclusively made up of the most powerful merchants and traders in the world. Their experiences, travel knowledge, and broad view of the world are as valuable as their wares, but Merchants also possess a distasteful demeanor. “Everything has a price,” they always say.
Mercantile hail from territories across the world, but they say the first came from the formerly ashen town of Vyshtorg. Now a bustling and opulent city where anything can be bought, Vyshtorg is a dangerous place for the inexperienced—completely unregulated, the city operates solely on the laissez-faire attitude of its inhabitants. Pirates, marauders, and those looking to take advantage of an unsuspecting trader thrive in Vyshtorg. Despite the dangers, many travellers make the journey to the southeastern city to buy. It is a place where new treasures can be found, where the lost can be reclaimed, where vices can be satisfied, and where illegal activities are universally ignored with enough coin.
The ostentatious nature of Merchant-controlled cities attracts many, but their underbellies are seedy and teeming with oppression and disease. No one chooses to stay long in a Merchant town, though it is possible to make an economic misstep and become the property of a local businessperson. Some wealthy moguls suddenly find they have contracted a disease common to Merchant cities called the Red Death. A cure exists, but its seller is unwilling to accept any price offered, a sure way to make an enemy out of the Merchants.
A war-torn world drained of its resources puts the Merchant in a particularly powerful role. A Merchant can choose which side to help or simply reap all the benefits and keep them to him or herself. It’s an ideal time for the cunning businessperson who can simply buy their way to a clandestine getaway and escape the world’s problems—or punish those who have denied their price because, after all, everything has a price.
One of most well know trade ship of Mercantile Guild is Magnate, gilded with gold and studded with precious gems, not only ferries its cargo to port but also protects it handily too.