Industrial Guilds

 

The Cartographers Guild

Another

The Copancevic Engineering Company

The Copancevic Engineering Company is an engineering and infrastructure development company operating primarily in central Jumira. In the year 1201, with the Kingdom of Golanicja on the verge of collapse, many Golanicja nobles (and possibly royals also) fled Golanicja for the Eastreach region of Jumira, which was then a part of the Golanicjan Kingdom. After the Golanicjan Kingdom collapsed and the monarch was dissolved, Eastreach considered itself for a time to be the home of Golanicjan government in exile. This was not true in any legal sense, but practically speaking enough wealth had been secretly brought from Golanicja to Port Cevic that Golanicjan Great Houses were effectively ruling the region, at least for a while, but the faux-statehood of Eastreach was tenuous and did not last. As creditors to the Kingdom of Golanicja came looking for Golanicjan nobles, many of them decided they were more loyal to their wealth than their imaginary Kingdom, and 'defected' to Jumira.

One such family, House Copanic, who had served as military engineers to the Golanicjan crown, relocated to Mudinak and changed their name to Copancevic. Once there, they established the Copancevic Engineering Company in 1205, and began bidding on urban development and infrastructure contracts. With a presumably enormous reserve of wealth, they were consistently able to underbid their competitors and win every contract they bid on. But they were not frauds; their skill as engineers enabled them to develop an excellent reputation in and around Mudinak, and over the course of a couple of decades they managed to win total control over Mudinak's sewer systems and waterworks and thereby gain a seat on the Mudinak City Council, re-establishing themselves as a Great House - this time House Copancevic instead of House Copanic.

The Foresters

The Foresters are a world-wide trade organization focused on the harvest, sale and transport of lumber. They have minor interests in hunting and trapping exotic animals, and they have large contracts with many cities and many other companies and organizations. In addition to foresters, lumberjacks, millers, rangers, and a host of other industry workers, many carpenters and construction tradespeople are also members of the Foresters, enabling them to get favorable pricing on wood and lumber. While the Foresters operate on every continent, they are considered to be quite evil by Spriggans, any Forester found north of the White Pine Mountains in Kashdush will meet a grisly end if discovered. This is not to say that wood is not used as a construction material in Spriggan dominated territories - but rather that the indiscriminate logging practices of the Foresters are considered to be genocidal by the Spriggan.

The Guild of Obrum

The Guild of Obrum was formed in or around the year 100 when merchants in the Hidden Sea began to see the value of making trade between eastern Jumira and Marcosta, and eastern Golanicja and western Tulosz more efficient and profitable. At that time sailing around the boot of Odovic was dangerous and time consuming, while passing cargo through the system of lakes, rivers and portages between Povidovija and Miga was complicated and over-dependent on the labour of the Servants of Obrum.

An ambitious plan was put in place to build a system of dams, locks and canals that would allow ships to pass through the Passage of Miga from the King's Sea, all the way to the Hidden Sea, without needing to be unloaded and portaged. From the beginning it was clear the plan would be impossibly expensive and would probably take centuries, but the specific geography meant that construction could be done piecemeal, with each individual construction project adding value on its own.

Over a period of almost 250 years, over 30 dams, 40 systems of locks and 11 major canals were constructed - with several of them being built and rebuilt multiple times to increase their efficiency or utility as the entire project continued to improve. With every new addition to the passage the costs of moving goods went down, and the Guild of Obrum generated more and more income.

The Passage of Miga had already proven its value long before it was possible, in 352, to sail a ship across its entire length without having to unload it and portage it overland. In 311 a similar project was begun between Dovicik and Kran, across the Hidden Sea from Miga with the aim of further shortening trade routes between Tulosz and Marcosta. While this project - the Steps of Dovicik - was less valuable, more difficult, and took much longer to complete and become profitable (it was not finished until 696) it still added to the wealth, prestige and influence of the Guild of Obrum.

Throughout the Imperial Era, the Guild of Obrum benefitted from the alliance between the Kingdoms of Golanicja and Tulosz, undertaking many major engineering and industrial projects and becoming more wealthy and powerful than either of the Kingdom's themselves. With the collapse of both dynasties, the Guild of Obrum acted as a stabilizing force in all the the various regions where it was established, from eastern Ayodesh, and throughout Marcosta, Golanicja and Tulosz. Following the Fire of Shahaifor in 1232, it was obvious that the Guild of Obrum would be centrally involved in the ambitious plan to completely rebuild the city.

The Prospectors

(Iron Ridge Mtns)

Western Metal and Gem Company

After King Gaelan of Golanicja captured Sanek's Gate in Year 709 and Argenta in Year 711, he ordered the formation of new a Crown Company known as the Western Metal and Gem Company that would oversee extraction of gold, silver, platinum and diamonds from mines in the Odeshi Wastes. As Golanicjan forces swept westward, expanding Golanicjan territory toward the Silver Mountains, the Western Metal and Gem Company saw its holdings increase massively. Cities in eastern Ayodesh, at first resistant to Golanicjan conquest, were suddenly benefitting from a huge influx of wealth, as well as from the constant demand for supplies and material to support the Golanicjan conquest.

The Western Metal and Gem Company quickly became one of the most prosperous organizations in the world, and the former Council Families of every city in eastern Ayodesh grew exceedingly wealthy and powerful. But by the last decade of the 12th Century, 'Empire' was becoming a dirty word. The Kingdom of Tulosz was being dismantled, and the Kingdom of Golanicja was also badly overextended and in massive debt. In 1199, the Grain Bank of Bulostioi informed Queen Kosuela II of Golanicja that they would have to hold twenty thousand tons of grain until the Golanicjans could properly service their debt.

Queen Kosuela II ordered the Western Metal and Gem Company to immediately dispatch several ships laden with gold and platinum from mines in Ayodesh to Smoljeno and Miga so she could finance the much needed grain shipments that would keep the population fed. When the ships arrived, their holds were filled with sand, and a letter renouncing her authority. Unable to pay the Grain Bank, the. The Queen and the royal family went into hiding, and by 1201 the Kingdom of Golanicja was dissolved.

After a few decades of internal politicking, where many different factions within the company fought one another for control, the organization finally restablized under new leadership operating out of Goldport. Between Years 1270 and 1273, the Company signed agreements cities throughtout the Kash-Odeshi City States and into the Odeshi Wastes. The agreements were high risk for all sides, with many city states selling mining rights in unproven claims in exchange for the benefits of infrastructure development and future preferential pricing. In many casese, these risks paid off, but in others, they did not. Ultimately, Western Metal and Gem was able to survive this transition and continue to operate and expand.