Cardinal Merchant

A Cardinal Merchant is an influential individual within the city of Caripreet. Each Cardinal merchant serves as council for the Baron, who is a Cardinal Merchant himself. Unlike other regions like Kala, Caripreet does not divide specific territories or industries amongst each merchant, as each merchant elects to invest in individual shops or franchises.
The political influence of each merchant comes not from their title, but from financial capital and control over each business they have invested in. Loans and investments almost always net them a financial gain thanks to the plethora of bankers and financial experts in their ranks. While those in the position of merchant are typically schooled in several languages, finance, statistics, and areas of the political realm, they almost never engage with the specific businesses they invest in, nor do they interact with the finances themselves. A merchant's presence may be required during an important acquisition, but otherwise, they exclusively act on the Baron's political stage.
The merchants have occasionally been criticized for their messy handling of jurisdiction over businesses. Since certain industries aren't cordoned off to contemporaries as they are among the oligarchs in Kala, business owners have admitted to feeling like chicken feed in a starved pen. Whole neighborhoods may be owned by one merchant, but others may be divvied amongst all of them. Certain areas may have taverns directly across from one another and such businesses often become targets to attack another merchant's downline. One tavern may get an influx of investment, lining their bars with exotic drinks, cheap prices, and new decorations which force surrounding bars to shut down, all in the name of harming a Cardinal Merchant who didn't remember owning the bars in the first place.
Cardinal Merchants tend to ignore controversy, as the red tape surrounding their investments is far too difficult for most commoners to parse and understand. One can easily go on strike or boycott a smithing company, but if you don't realize you're still buying their clothes and fruits at other businesses, it hardly matters anyway. Due to this apparent disconnect the Cardinal Merchants have with their businesses and consumers, political satirists often compare them to J'bar for their selfish and destructive businesses (and lifestyles) that seem to ignore the greater good of the city.