White Willows pt10

The Guilds of White Willows

Most of the trade and professions in White Willows fall under the command of a guild. These guilds wield massive influence, setting prices, controlling nobles, and issuing regulations for their various industries across the canton. These guilds are established in the laws of the canton and are beheld only to the Lord Viscount himself. He alone has the power to disband a guild and all of the guilds seek to be in his good graces.

There are also a number of ‘illegal guilds’ who function much like a legal guild but do so without the protection of the law. Currently three of the most powerful illegal guilds, the Thieves Guild, the Beggars Guild, and the Assassins Guild are in a three way war that has ground to a stalemate.

Guilds of Note

Slavers Guild

A legal guild, despite the protest of many abolitionists, the Slavers Guild has been losing a public relations war with the abolitionist lately and is in the process of reforming itself. The Slavers Guild is trying to move away from its old ‘whip and chain’ and has begun promoting itself as a safer more humane way to treat criminals and avoid loan sharks.

Mercenaries Guild

The Mercenaries Guild is made of a collation of many Mercenary Companies who operate within the canton. The Mercenaries Guild operates outside of the laws of the canton. Each member of the guild is beheld only to the laws of the guild and to their home country while abroad. The mercenaries themselves are a rough and tumble lot however they are dependable and loyal to the job (a rarity these days!). The Mercenaries Guild special status and its immunity to many of the cantons laws are derived from one clause, that the guild itself is fully loyal to the Lord Viscount and if in times of war will fight for him (paid, of course).

Merchants Guild

The Merchants Guild is by far the most powerful guild in the canton, and rivals in strength that of the nobles and the Lord Viscount himself. As much of the cantons funds come from taxation of the activities of this guild they have gained incredible political clout and power. Few goods come in or out of the canton without the Merchants Guild say so. The leaders of the guild have grown extremely wealthy (as have their sycophants) and have begun to displace the traditional noble class of the canton. The Lord Viscount still retains ultimate control of the guild as their elected council must be approved by him and the threat of disbandment is very real and would be welcomed by many of the lesser merchants in the guild. A number of the Thieves Guild and Assassins Guild are rumored to have infiltrated the Merchants Guild.

Sages Guild

The Sages Guild is made up of the remnants of the White Willows Wizarding College (WWWC). A shadow of its former self the guild is little more than a collection of loosely affiliated mages, experts, alchemists, and scientists. The guild still controls the old Wizarding College’s library of arcane books and is the only reliable source for arcane research in the canton. The current Lord Viscount hold the sages of the guild in high regard and often consults them in making long term plans and changes to the city.

Assassins Guild

The Assassins Guild is by far the smallest and the most secretive of all the guilds and while it is not clear how many members it has, it is rumored to be less than a hundred canton wide. Previous Lord Viscounts had used the Assassins guild much more often than the current Lord Viscount Alba. Falling out of the Lord Viscount s favor has not that detriment to the guild (as nobles and jealous lovers always keep them busy), but the three way war between themselves the Beggar’s Guild and the Thieves Guild has. Local rumor has the Assassins Guild planning an assault on a number of their enemies in the near future.

Beggars Guild

At first little more than a gang of allied beggars trying to avoid persecution and violence the Beggars Guild has grown into a powerful force in the canton. While vagrancy and begging are illegal in the canton the Beggars Guild often acts as the eyes and ears for the Town Guards and has become more like a spy ring and source of rumors within the past few years. The Beggars Guild has a large membership and has many allies and even more enemies. Recently the Beggars Guild has gone to great lengths and risks to ‘narc’ out members of the Thieves and Assassins guild as those other guilds have begun to either poach their members or outright attack them. As the guild is decentralized and lacks a main hall they are always able to bounce back from an attack. Members in the guild must tithe 10% of their beggings to the guild and in exchange get protection, bread if they haven’t eaten that day, access to a safe place to sleep, and the latest Hobo Cant, a secret symbolic language that changes monthly.

Thieves Guild

Next to the Merchants Guild the Thieves Guild is the most powerful guild in White Willows. Long illegal (and proud of it) the Thieves’ Guild is a major source of grief for the other guilds and the government, however many of its members remain either well-hidden or untouchable. The guilds strengths come in many forms, from its intimate knowledge of the City Underfoot, to its many members who have infiltrated the government and other guilds, to its raw determination and defiance to the law.

The Thieves Guild structure is loose and while each gang of thieves is its own independent unit they all swear fidelity to the guild. In a mockery of the government above members of the Theves Guild are granted an honorific title according to their rank. The Thieves Guild is currently run by a counsel of three thieves, “Squeaky” Vito, Lord of Fences and Rackets, Katja the Bitch, hound mistress and the Queen of Broken Knees, and the aptly named mute, Silent, Overlord of the Empty Vault and Pocket. Below them are the dukes and duchesses of various crimes. The guild is entitled to a cut of every crime in the city, up to 50% depending on where one stands in the organization. In return the guild has a network of fences, safe houses, crooked guards, and thieves’ tools at their member’s disposal. Being captured one too many times, crossing the guild, not paying ones dues, or snitching will find one on the wrong end of the guild. The guild is currently engaged in a three way stalemate of a war between the Beggars Guild and the Assassins Guild for dominance of the criminal underworld.

The Thieves Guild has long been a thorn in the side of the Lord Viscount and he has sout to remove them or dimish their power for years. While some steps have been attempted to curb the power of the guild they have mostly been superficial. The Lord Viscount knows how powerful the guild is and if a direct assault was attempted against them, while the Thieves Guild might be destroyed, so would the government. One of the few effected countermeasures to the guild is the slow process of taking control of the City Underfoot by the Guard.