Frosted Gold Company

"People of Kwilu—do not be afraid! We, the venerable Frosted Gold Company bring peace, prosperity, and civilization!" — declaration of FGC annexation of Kwilu

The Frosted Gold Company, abbreviated as the FGC, is an international joint-stock corporation formally based in the Republic of Solstice and at their Iroan headquarters at Port Equinox. Though based in Auloa, the Frosted Gold Company has outposts and colonies on every continent on Holos. It is the dominant force in global trade, facilitating the extraction and transport of hundreds of types of goods, including cotton, tea, silk, spices, dye, precious metals, salt, and arcane artifacts. Because of this, the Frosted Gold Company has an out-sided influence on political, social, and cultural matters the areas they operate and frequently are connected to the elites on every level. However, the leaders of the FGC are unknown to the public and even to many within the organization itself, and the company has operated under a cloak of secrecy since its inception.

Structure

The Frosted Gold Company is led by a Board of Directors, who serve in their position for life. However, the Board does not disclose who its members are and is shrouded in secrecy. Each director has a call sign and is only referred to by that call sign in all official documentation. The current Board of Directors includes:

• ANGEL
• BONE
• CROWN
• HEART
• JEWEL
• PIECE
• SCEPTER

While the Board of Directors oversees the larger goals of the organization, their subordinates are largely comprised of Colonial Governors and Naval Officers who are in turn in charge of the Company's overseas holdings and their merchant fleets respectively. Below these senior employees are a virtual army of sailors, merchants, manufacturers, mercenaries, and workers. Much of the Colonial offices are run like guilds, but with a monopolistic goal—a Company colony's goods are all manufactured by and for the Company and any luxury goods are then resold outside the colony for a profit.
Unlike other shadow organizations that keep the public at an arms length, the Frosted Gold Company cultivates its relationship with average citizens by encouraging them to share in the fortunes raised by the FGC. The FGC is the world's first truly transnational corporation and also the first multinational enterprise to issue shares of stock to the public. And although it is nominally a Placidian company, its employees included not only people from the Placidian city-states, but also many from other parts of Auloa and from other countries as well. Besides the diverse Auloan workforce recruited by the FGC in Solstice, the FGC makes extensive use of local labour markets, making it an attractive path to wealth throughout the world.

Public Agenda

The espoused goal of the Frosted Gold Company is to enrich its investors and spread the cultural hegemony of Auloa throughout the world. However, the Company is not above integrating itself to an extent with the local population. For consumers, the Frosted Gold Company desires to provide the public with access to luxury and international products at an reasonable cost and make the hassles of doing business a thing of the past through a combination of vertical and horizontal integration.

Assets

It is unclear exactly how much capital the Frosted Gold Company has, but the most conservative estimates put it at taking in several million gold pieces a year, or the equivalent of around 7 billion American dollars. In addition to liquid assets, the Company employs about 50,000 full time workers; 15,000 of these workers are in fact mercenaries that make up the FGC's own private military force. The Company owns warehouses, guildhalls and even fortresses across Holos and a fleet of about 1000 ships; 200 of them being warships that both protect FGC naval convoys as well as hunt down pirates, clear shipping lanes, and enforce "company policies" on unwilling clients and customers.

History

The origins of the Frosted Gold Company are somewhat unclear, although it appears that they first rose to prominence following the Placidian Wars in 117 S.E.. Following the Wars, the new Republic of Solstice's Doge was looking for a way to partner with the growing shipping conglomerates that were beginning to operate out of his influential port city. This began a series of underground conflicts in Solstice's backalleys and canals between the shipping companies. Yet within a few years, the new Frosted Gold Company had won out and was already drawing in investors and capital from across Auloa.
Over the course of the next hundred years, the FGC gained the support of governments across Holos and became the dominant shipping company on the seas. They established their overseas headquarters on a small island off of Iroa's southern coast they renamed Port Equinox and from there continued to diversify their portfolios and grow more aggressive in gaining exclusivity rights to trade with various nations and cultural groups. Around this time, FGC operatives also began investigating obtaining relics and artifacts from the Palladian and Mithril Era, and started to employ archaeologists and historians to track down and retrieve arcane and holy goods to help further the Company's more secretive goals

For the Company, as Directed

Founding Date

Prior to 117 S.E.

Type

Corporation, Conglomerate

Capital

Solstice

Alternative Names

The Company; The FGC

Veterancy Level

Experienced

Demonym

Companyfolk

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

The official currency of the Frosted Gold is their own version of the seed, star, royal, lock, oath system, with the gold royal being replaced by gold pledges, which depict the seal of the Frosted Gold Company on one side and an image of a Qingu fox or monkey on the reverse.

Official Languages

• Vulgate Celestial

Controlled Territories

• Mount Jeharoa: Frosted Gold Company Encampment

Notable Members

• Cato Durthane