Chogyos Customhouse

Chogyos Customhouse is the headquarters of the Commercial Guilds in the city of Chogyos. Befitting the tremendous influence of the Guilds in the city - of which they essentially form the government - it is the largest and probably wealthiest such office, comprising a compound of well-appointed buildings centred around Chogyos's former temple of Zargyod.

Location

The temple of Zargyod in Chogyos was located on the western bank of the Chondolos River, not far from the spot where the river met the Sea of Jars. This building survives, although post-Wesmodian alterations, mostly undertaken in the last hundred years, have turned it into less of a pre-Wesmodian building than a modern replica of one constructed with an eye to aesthetic impact rather than fidelity to history. It is surrounded by various other buildings and facilities wholly owned by the Guilds, which collectively form a sort of dockside second city within the confines of Chogyos.

Facilities

The Chogyos Customhouse is in some respects the headquarters of the Commercial Guilds across the Sea of Jars, being the largest such institution and housing members whose titles and eminence carry enormous weight within the broader institution. As such it represents one of the greatest concentrations and utilisations of institutional resources in any of the Eleven Cities.
The central temple is now a space for public and semi-public discussion of Guild business. Since the Guilders have for the last century, undertaken the business of actually running Chogyos, this includes any form of public consultations about government policy. The room is ovular, open to the seaward side via a long collonade, and boasts floor tiles of copper and red-glazed ceramic and a spectacular mural depicting the myth of Zargyod and the Sailors along its inner landward wall. Two storeys high and 14 metres long, the mural has been kept in good condition over the centuries and features gold leaf to pick out Zargyod's robes. The care taken of the mural has extended to multiple rounds of restoration and thaumatologists disagree over exactly how much of the original, pre-Wesmodian mural remains (and indeed how relevant that is to their practice).
Attached to the original temple building on the landward side are the quarters of the senior (Gold and Silver-ranked) Guilders for the city. These apartments are highly private, heavily guarded, and said to be among the most opulent private residences anywhere in the Eleven Cities.
Behind the temple are three two-storey buildings. The one furthest inland is an archive where records of Guild dealings and histories are kept. The purportedly original copy of The Book of Favour is kept on display here as a museum piece. The book is guarded day and night, and this regime also dissuades unauthorised visitors to the archives. A Guilder of Copper rank supervises the archives with a staff of Iron and Tin assistants.
Next to the archives is the Hall of Favour, a large building whose richly-appointed bottom storey is a singe large room where business deals can be brokered between Guilders and independent merchants alike. The top storey is divided into numerous private rooms where those conducting sensitive business or sharing privileged information can - at least ostensibly - do so without fear of being overheard. A Copper Guilder is always on duty to control access to these rooms, and a special detail of guards - all Iron Guilders rather than paid mercenaries - provide this clerk with any coercive power they might need. The Hall of Favour is also typically where the Guilders entertain important dignitaries, usually with musical recitals performed by musicians in the pay of the Guilds (though typically recommended for the assignments by members of the Chogyan aristocracy).
Beside the Hall of Favour is a set of apartments for Copper-ranked Guilders, of whom there are usually at least twenty and often many more. The building also houses several well-appointed apartments for Guilder attaches from other cities and similar esteemed guests. Adjoining this building out of its westerly 'back' are the kitchens and, beyond them, a rather larger block of rather more basic apartments for Iron and Tin Guilders.
Inland from these buildings are a large network of warehouses and storehouses, along with dormitories for Lead Guilders, who in Chogyos are without exception indentured labourers. Guards, well-paid by the Guilders, are posted in many places and short sections of wall and fence, mostly of fairly recent construction, close off many gaps between buildings, turning the district into a counterintuitive maze of defiles and chokepoints through which one must pass to reach the central temple. This makes it exceedingly difficult for any crowds to form or move swiftly through the complex, or indeed reach the temple at all. No official statement has ever been made about these constructions, but critics of the Guilders are quick to accuse them of attempts to head off any sort of mob violence against the complex. This also serves as a baffle of sorts dividing the compound from the city at large.
The complex also includes a wharf, across the way from the central temple, from which numerous green-water scows patrol the harbour. It is from the northern end of this wharf that the causeway leading out to the more westerly of Zargyod's Fists departs the mainland, blocked by a checkpoint. The easterly Fist is across the harbour and can be reached by scows in as little as ten minutes. This is the base of operations from which the Guilds control maritime traffic in and out of Chogyos.
The precise location of the Guild treasury in this complex is a closely-guarded secret known only to Gold and Silver Guilders and a handful of their most trusted advisers. This is, obviously, to deter theft, and it tends to work, although it frustrates some thaumatologists as the treasury is rumoured to hold several important artefacts related to the pre-Wesmodian cult of Zargyod, examination of which could advance the science of alchemy in leaps and bounds. Officially, the Guilds deny that alchemy is of any interest to them at all, though some individual Guilders, some of them of fairly high rank, have historically felt otherwise.

Institutional structure and purpose

Because the aristocracy of Chogyos formally handed over the running of the city to the Commercial Guilds a century ago, Chogyos Customhouse is the seat of government in the city. Each morning the large, ovular room of the central temple - once a venue of worship of Zargyod - hosts public sessions in which heralds of Copper rank read statements from the Guilds and either pronounce them as law or call for public feedback on them. Such feedback is generally accepted in good faith and acted upon, but those interested in providing it must contrive to be present when the statements they wish to discuss are read out, which in practical terms limits such debate to those whose mornings are their own. The afternoons are given over to court sessions in which Copper Guilders hear the pleas of criminals and their families and either acquit them or pronounce them guilty, passing sentence as appropriate.
Although the rulers of Chogyos, the Guilders tend to see this work as slightly beneath them. The running of the city is therefore largely the work of Silver-ranked Guilders in the complex, of whom there can be as many as a dozen assisted by large staffs of Copper adjuncts, Iron scribes and secretaries and Tin and Lead menials. These people machinate in an endlessly shifting succession of committees, delegations and working groups, largely without oversight, and are principally concerned with maintaining Chogyos's wealth and capacity as a venue for the creation of more of the same. This involves liaising with the non-Guilder aristocracy and ensuring they are kept in the style to which they are accustomed - and assured that their contributions to this style are being taken into account in official policies regarding the character and direction of the city. Much of what the Silver Guilders do therefore amounts to a sort of high-powered schmoozing, with elaborate dinners and artistic displays taking up much of their time.
The Gold Guilders, meanwhile, oversee what they view as their institution's primary concern - managing and facilitating large-scale trade on the Sea of Jars. Where the Silver Guilders essentially have the job of humouring the local aristocracy, therefore, the Gold Guilders in Chogyos deal with wealthy merchants, delegations of Guilders from other cities, and senior members of the various "member guilds," setting up deals, making introductions and expediting commerce. Although the Commercial Guilds do not operate a unified, society-wide hierarchy as the Keepers of Light do, they esteem success very highly, and the power that these staff have been able to exert over the city of Chogyos lends tremendous weight to their input into matters of trade and industry; a letter bearing the ginger-coloured seal of Chogyos Customhouse will always be accorded top priority by the recipient, and within the environs of Chogyos itself their suggestions carry a near-dictatorial authority. Within their remit, the senior Guilders of Chogyos Customhouse are among the most powerful individuals in the Eleven Cities.
Wieding this power - and indeed managing the associated workload - is a heavy responsibility. While there is technically only one Gold Guilder in the Customhouse, this individual typically elevates a handful of esteemed colleagues to the same rank, over whom they exert the power of the first among equals. As is the custom of the Commercial Guilds the resulting delicate balance of seniority, favour and allegiance is indicated by the machinating embellishments on the Guilder's brass medallions, some of which can become highly ornate and hugely valuable. As is also the custom, senior Guilders politely decline to interpret this unwritten language to outsiders.