Author’s note: Hoist the Colors may eventually inspire fiction. Most likely will and I’ll gladly write it. But right now, it’s a role-playing game setting with what I hope is an interesting take and look at an “Alternate History” of Earth. It isn’t really “steampunk”, though I can see how someone would get that impression. For me, it’s more a “flintlock fantasy” set on Earth of 1722 in all it’s historical mess… that I’ve stirred up even more!
So, with that said, this one gets us into another of the powerful guilds in the world. One that is as infamous as it is famous. It is absolutely a faction that characters in the roleplaying game for Hoist the Colors can deal with, and may show up in Legends of the Privateers, a Hoist the Colors serial fiction!
Trade Guild Syndicate
If money is the root of all evil, then they’re the gardeners.
- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer
Some guilds are a like-minded group of people that work hard to practice, and perfect, a particular craft. Others have more commercial pursuits in mind, such as regulating trade in a city or a region. Last are ones that follow an ideal, much like a firth guild for the downtrodden. Then there is the Trade Guild Syndicate. They are nothing like any other guild. In fact, they’re in a category all their own. Just ask them.
The Trade Guild Syndicate isn’t a single guild, but an alliance of guild spread from Europe to Japan and China. While they work together for common goals of commerce, they constantly struggle with each other inside the guild. Where each member works to undermine others for their own gain. All with a goal to gain complete control over the Syndicate itself.
But, rumor has it this is by design to keep the trading company members in line and under control.
Some, like the Kelstani, claim that the Trade Guild is an empire of commerce that has the power to challenge or manipulate monarchies to suit their goals. So far, the Trade Guild has limited themselves to building new trade routes and opening up new markets. But there are whispers that suggest they have greater plans with darker origins and far-reaching goals.
Empire of Coin
Syndicate ships slowly appeared in June 1713. These white hulled, brass trimmed vessels few the flag of the trading company that owned them, but also the colors of the Trade Guild Syndicate. The most prominent trading company among their members was the East India Company, which gave the Syndicate an air of legitimacy when they made their public debut.
The Trade Guild Syndicate was formed from a partnership between the leading trading companies around Europe and the Mediterranean in early 1713. This contract was built out of desperation. The cataclysm had taken place months before at the end of October in 1712. With trade routes disrupted, or impossible to navigate, many trading companies had gone bankrupt in weeks. Meanwhile, the larger ones struggled to survive. This partnership under the banner of the Trade Guild Syndicate was a breath of fresh air for them.
It was the brainchild of Stefan Borta, a trader renowned for his charm, shrewd negotiation skills, and effective cutthroat tactics. Borta, an up-and-coming employee of the East India Company, had been working to build this trade confederation since 1710. It was slow going, with little progress. The catastrophe in 1712 was a surprise that gave him the opportunity he needed. With trading companies in dire straights, those not already bankrupt were willing to listen about this ‘Trade Guild Syndicate’.
Smaller trading firms were eager for help and signed up right away. Borta used this as leverage against some of the larger companies, some of which were rivals of the East India Company. Borta eased their concerns about losing their autonomy and more through careful wording of the confederation’s bylaws. Dubbed the Trade Guild Syndicate, it quickly expanded across Europe, the Mediterranean and into the Middle East.
But there were also dark rumors that followed in Borta’s wake. Stories that claimed that while Borta was employed by the East India Company, he was actually an agent of a dark sect based out of Rome. What some say is the last surviving collegium illicitum, or unlawful collegium, from the Roman Empire. One bent on controlling trade, and through that, the major powers of the world. The rumors continue to explain that this collegium has been working behind the scenes for generations, and may even know what caused the world-wide disaster of 1712.
Today, the Trade Guild Syndicate has built on the success of those deals and the East India Company to gather as much power as any nation-state. But no matter the deal, or how innocent it seems, it’s the Trade Guild Syndicate that reaps the benefits.
Their deals are often at the expense of the locals they claim to help. Improving their quality of life? Rumor is that this is more forced labor than anything else.
- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer
Tally of Rank and File
Like any guild, the Trade Guild Syndicate maintains personal ranks and an organizational structure that allows this trade confederation to operate. Their rank structure is thin by design, which serves the need to coordinate the efforts of their member trade companies. But some believe the structure also is a direct reflection of the shadow collegium that supposedly controls the Trade Guild Syndicate.
These ranks are granted to those ‘hired’ from member trading companies of the Syndicate to work as part of the Syndicate’s administration. Rumors say there are more, but only three are known to the public. They are the Magistrate, Curia, and Initiates.
- Magistrate. A Magistrate is considered the highest rank among the Trade Guild Syndicate. Most believe there is only one, but that is actually not true. In fact, there are three Magistrates who serve the Syndicate as part of a triumvirate called the ‘Augur’. A magistrate keeps their rank until they either die, or are cast out by a vote of no confidence by the Trade Brethren.
These magistrates are selected from among the Curia based on their negotiation, and to a lesser extent combat prowess, skills. As the public face, or faces, of the Trade Guild, their role is to handle the broad strategies and plans of the Syndicate. This includes making deals with monarchies and other governments, especially when it involves working with or borrowing assets from the Syndicate.
- Curia. The bulk of the members who make up the Trade Guild Syndicate hold this rank. They work in various roles across the organization, processing trade paperwork, handling the flow of resources, and more. Curia Syndicate members are also involved in making deals with other guilds, privateers, and even pirates. A member of the Trade Guild Syndicate administration is elevated to the rank of Curia after six months as an Initiate.
- Initiates. Initiates are the basic probationary rank of the Trade Guild Syndicate. While often considered ‘apprentices’, they are nothing of the kind. Initiates are recent hires who have been elevated from a member trading company to the Syndicate itself for a temporary period to evaluate and polish their skills. This can last between three to six months, depending on the talents of the individual person.
At the end of that six-month period, or sooner if they show a keen aptitude at negotiation and trade-craft, an Initiate is promoted to the rank of Curia. At that point, they aren’t assigned to a group in the Syndicate, but may choose where they would prefer to work for the good of the Trade Guild.
A Nimble Organization
The Syndicate’s organization of its ‘departments’ and how they relate to the confederation’s members is less like a guild and closer to a country. Each group is serves a specific role in the guild’s daily activities, from their wide collection of deals to regulating trade in regions they control. But they also monitor and negotiate between the trade company members, ensuring that despite how bloody the rivalry gets, it doesn’t interfere with the Trade Guild’s ultimate goals.
There are many who call the Trade Guild Syndicate and their back door dealings, a viper’s nest. Others are more poetic, calling them a ‘hydra of commerce’.
- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer
- Augur. At the top of the guild is a triumvirate of leaders called the Augur. These are the three Magistrates that coordinate the guild actions, alliances, and business efforts. Out of any group in the Trade Guild Syndicate, this is the most well-known and public. Matters of trade, what to trade, and related items come under their authority.
- Trade Brethren. If there was any group in the Syndicate that could be a ‘ruling council’, it’s the Trade Brethren. This assemblage is a collection of representatives from each of the trading company members of the Syndicate. Each member company is allowed one representative to serve as part of the Trade Brethren for two years.
This council acts as a balance against the Augur. A board of overseers that determine bylaws, rules and even settle disputes between member companies to avoid conflicts of interest. Above all, their most important function is to review and approve Augur deals to make sure they comply with providing financial benefit for the member companies.
Outsiders have often compared the Trade Brethren with a collection of noble houses in a city state. The comparison isn’t far from the truth. Member companies have a seniority based on their own profits. Which has led to more than one trading company to quietly undercut, bankrupt, murder, or even attack and destroy another Syndicate company. Such actions are considered in poor form and not encouraged openly. But privately? It’s their method and means of doing business.
- Centauri. For every guild, there are guards. In the Trade Guild Syndicate, that would be the Centauri. These skilled fighters act as both guards and enforcers, protecting the interests of the Trade Guild and its members. They are a quiet presence hovering in the backgrounds and corners of merchant ships and caravans, protecting the assets and resources of the Trade Guild Syndicate. When they are not guarding resources, the Centauri are sent to deal with anyone, including trading companies, violating Syndicate bylaws on trade.
Outside of their role as guards or enforcers, the Centauri are also hired mercenaries. This company of 100 skilled fighters has fought in some of the worst conflicts seen since the guild’s formation in 1713 to date. Often, they’re hired as military advisers, other times as a full fighting force. But no matter what capacity they serve, the Centauri are feared opponents on any battlefield.
There’s a saying, ‘Worry about the Centauri you cannot see instead of the one you can.’
Wise words, really.
- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer
Webs Of Influence
As guilds are, the Trade Guild Syndicate can be both friend and foe who wields a smile like a deadly knife. The influence of these ‘plain and simple merchants’ reaches well beyond the marketplace. Members of the Syndicate have been found in many courts or governments around the world to broker arrangements or secret deals. Some are for simply commerce, others allow the Trade Guild Syndicate to act on a country’s behalf where they have full rights to act as that country’s agent.
But not everyone is comfortable with the Syndicate’s methods. Some, such as the Liberty Alliance and the Kelstani, see the Trade Guild as a clear and present danger. A secret nation all its own, working in the shadows to manipulate the world for their own gain, no matter who they have to step on or make disappear.
Describing them as spiders waiting in their web for a victim, insults the spider.
- Doctor Pedro Sangre, Alchemist and Privateer
Game Notes
Threat 4
Faction Contacts:
Caterina Sortino. Human. One of the most skilled Envoys working in the Trade Guild Syndicate. She always seems to know what to say to strike a deal in her favor.
T’lena’sor Valeen. Morasu. Quiet and reserved, T’lena is a highly skilled and respected member of the Centauri. Her deadly skills as a duelist are only surpassed by her talent as an assassin who can eliminate any threat.
Tholos’tai Kurenji. Morasu. Tholos has an uncanny ability to understand the value of something, or someone, with only one look. This includes any relic, no matter how rare. He’s often never wrong.
Notable Assets and Resources:
Influential connections with governments and powerful trading companies.
Inside access to Smuggler Markets.
Centauri mercenaries on call to assist, or erase, a problem as necessary.
Exotic, or hard to find, material and other trade goods through their members.
Allies:
Bonewright Order
Marquee Brotherhood
Enemies:
Kelstani, the Covenant of the Coast
Liberty Alliance
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- Kummer Wolfe
Very cool! Reminds me a little of what I'm doing in my fairy tale retelling series with all the different art guilds, one of which is also a front for a guild of mercenaries/assassins.
Bravo!!! Another great reveal from your amazing world!