The vast majority of the people who are employed by a dragonmarked house have no blood tie to the houses. Instead, they belong to one of the house guilds. These guilds are vast, sprawling entities that cover a wide range of occupations. Why join a house guild? To begin with, each guild maintains a network of trade schools. The price of education includes a period of service to the house, along with a long-term tithe. Both vary based on the amount of gold the apprentice can bring to the table, but a house always looks for a long-term investment from its students.
Students of a guild school must sign contracts forbidding them from future competition with the business of the house. A would-be magewright can learn his craft at House Cannith’s academy easily enough, but he must swear to serve the Fabricators Guild thereafter. Should he start an independent business that challenges the guild, House Cannith will bring the full weight of the law to bear.
Resources are a tangible benefit of joining a guild. An alchemist associated with the Fabricators Guild purchases exotic components and reagents directly from House Cannith, providing him with supplies that independent competitors might have a hard time acquiring. As such, guild merchants sell goods or services that independents simply cannot provide. The reputation of a guild is also a powerful tool. When people are paying 50 gp for a potion of cure light wounds, few of them will take a chance on any vendor not displaying a House Jorasco banner.
A guild merchant gets more business, but he must pay dues to the house along with a share of his profits. In addition, he must meet the standards of quality and behavior set forth by the house. Observers can appear at any time to audit a guild business, and members who fail to uphold the standards of the house can be penalized or stripped of guild status.
Guild Membership
Each of the three types of guild membership reflects a different connection to a dragonmarked house. The most common type of guild businesses are those licensed by the guild but not bound to its structure. Licensees are trained by the guild and pledge to uphold its standards, but receive no regular direction from guild administrators. A licensed inn is named by the owner and has its own menu, but the Ghallanda seal on the door promises courteous behavior and fair prices. Likewise, a sea captain licensed by the Windwrights Guild is not bound by the routes or schedules of the guild. However, his ship must pass inspections, and he must uphold the honor code of House Lyrandar, in addition to paying the house a percentage of his profits. A licensed business can display the guild seal using black paint or ink.
Bound businesses are those funded by a guild in exchange for a greater share of profits and a controlling hand. Though a licensed Lyrandar captain owns his ship, a bound captain’s ship belongs to the guild, and guild administrators dictate his routes. The Gold Dragon Inn is a popular bound business of Ghallanda’s Hostelers Guild, and an innkeeper who runs one is expected to prepare the same menu as every other Gold Dragon Inn. Licensed businesses often have their own fl avor, but a customer who goes to a bound business knows exactly what to expect. Bound businesses display the guild seal in silver, and the names of many bound businesses are as well known as the houses themselves.
Rarest among the guilds are the house arms: businesses directly managed by blood heirs of the house. House arms are not a separate type of business, but are themselves either licensed or bound. A Sivis scribe might choose to head up a bound house arm (for example, a notary’s office operated according to terms set by the house) while a Tharashk inquisitive establishes his own licensed house arm (a private investigation service that can be run according to the character’s whim). House arms are simply representative of a direct connection to a house’s hierarchy that most licensed or bound businesses do not have. These businesses display the guild seal in gold, and often display the seal of the house as well.
Guild Wars
House administrators seek to squelch competition between guild businesses. House Cannith has fixed the price of longswords at 15 gp across Khorvaire, and every licensed or bound smith is expected to hold to that price.
Though adventurers might encounter licensed artisans fighting economic duels in the shadows, a more common scenario is independents being pressured to join a guild. The houses seek to maintain a monopoly on their trades, and if a master artisan begins to draw significant business away from a guild, its house will take action. A guild representative might appear, extolling the benefits of membership. The merchant might become the victim of a campaign slandering his skills. The local guild viceroy might use his political infl uence to tangle the independent in red tape or strangle his access to supplies. If all else fails, an independent might find himself dealing with burglars, vandals, or even threats to his life.