Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce (sometimes known as the Guild of Guilds) is the guild for guilds. The Chamber of Commerce is one of the biggest powers in Capitoleum (and thus the Realms) after the Governors, and they also supply the Stripes with resources and sometimes men.
About
The Chamber of Commerce includes the artisans of masons, thatchers, blacksmiths, shoemakers and just about any guilded profession you can find. The Chamber of Commerce's main power is within the walls of Capitoleum, but the Guild of Guilds is slowly increasing its power over guilds across the Realms, currently dominant in central Midrealms with tendrils in every direction. The general power creep is seen as dangerous by many local lords (and especially many local guilds), which is the main reason of slow expansion of power.
If you are a member you have a lot of perks for it, but there are rules on how many members each guild can have and sometimes arbitrary or illogical rules. The craftsmen who are not in a guild are often pushed out to less profitable areas, or outright bad ones. At times it has happened that unguilded craftsmen have experienced threats, violence or murder even though the Chamber of Commerce has never had a member convicted of such a crime.
The Chamber of Commerce are often at odd ends with the Harbour Master's Office, which represents a lot of other trade in the city.
Organisation
All members of the organisation that spends all of their time with administrative tasks are Master craftsmen in their respective field. A point that the Merchants' Guild has been protesting for decades, having only representation in the large council and no professional merchant on the board.
- Craft King - Elected for life; can be sacked
- Rector of the Board - Board member, one of four; no two of the same guild (including the Craft King)
- Guild Master - The guild master of said guild. Holds a chair in the large council
- Rector of the Hall - Administrator managers of the Chamber of Commerce
- Rector of the Floor - Individual clerks
- Master - Every member of the Guild of Guilds other than Merchant Guild
Drama
The debates between the Harbour Master's office and the Chamber of Commerce is long standing and well known. It's one of the core aspects of the Governor role to keep these forces at bay. In fact, keeping them "at war" is also essential to retain Governor power balance, which is less well known though all the involved factions do realise this (but still can't help themselves).
Behind the scenes, the Harbour Master's office works to pry a wedge between the Merchant's Guild and the rest of the Chamber in order to diminish their economical and political power. Considering the internal struggles between the Merchant's Guild and the rest of the Chamber, there isn't much political room to maneuvre and tensions run high at times.
Military
The Chamber of Commerce has a small military force of about a thousand men who work part time as soldiers to protect important facilities or events as well as conducting extra patrols in parallell with the Stripes, sometimes renting out arms to the Stripes. These soldier spend about a quarter of their time in training or active duty and three quarters on a Fields farmstead.
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