In the town of Hope's End, the Merchant's Guild is the largest and powerful guild. The guild controls all commerce and trade for the town and also manages all the other minor guilds across town. The Merchant's Guild ensures that all guild members and smaller guilds must comply with certain trade standards in order to ensure that only quality goods are produced and sold. The view of the guild is that poor workmanship reflects on the guild and the town as a whole, and is not an image that Hope's End wishes to portray.
The guild has always been a fair and equitable organization which has looked after the welfare of it's members and the townsfolk of Hope's End. The Merchant's Guild have apprenticeships setup, they control disputes between merchants and control wage standards so that every merchant and worker receives a fair wage for their work. The guild has always had a strong working relationship with both the Lord Mayor and the High Sheriff of Hope's End, and is well respected by the citizen's of Hope's End and many others beyond the walls of the town.
Prior to the War of the Lance, the King of Vantal imposed a hefty and unfair trade tax on the folk of Hope's End. The guild responded by coming up with the idea of defying the king by instigating a revolution and setting up a revolutionary council to combat whatever repercussions arose from opposing the king. This led to an inordinate amount of fighting, however with the aid of the mercenaries of Langtree, the people of Hope's End were able to turn back the forces of Vantal.
The guild remains as the most powerful organization within the walls of Hope's End.
References[]
- Brothers in Arms, p.230