Pholyos Customhouse

Pholyos Customhouse is the Pholyan headquarters of the Commercial Guilds who operate in the Eleven Cities surrounding the Sea of Jars. Although one of the smaller such regional headquarters, it remains a respected and influential institution in the city.

Location

Pholyos Customhouse is a complex of buildings centred around that which was once the city's temple of Zargyod, the god of fortune, metals and the sea. The central building is at least five centuries old and retains a significant number of pre-Wesmodian features, notably a large mural depicting the myth of Zargyod and the Sailors on the wall of its central meeting room. Although noticeably less lavish than those found in Chogyos Customhouse or Halumay's House of Brass - a state of affairs that bespeaks the relatively minor status of the cult of Zargyod in Pholyos - the mural is clearly pre-Wesmodian. Very little effort has been made to restore or amend the mural in the last three centuries, which makes it of interest to thaumatologists; conversely, it also means the mural is in fairly poor condition, with much of its lower section having suffered from three centuries of brushing and rubbing by passing Guilders. This has been arrested in recent years by the erection of a small rail which keeps passerby at roughly arm's length from the mural, though significant damage has already been done.
The temple was built on Pholyos's waterfront, on a small stone outcrop at the southern end of the city''s port district, which gives the customhouse something of a commanding presence in the neighbourhood. Subsequent additions to the complex have been constructed inland from this location. It is not clear whether the cult of Zargyod had any grass-roots presence in Pholyos before the construction of this rather imposing structure. There are at least two impluvia in the port district that fit the description of the sort of shrine the cult of the god among the Sailors on the Sea of Jars might have constructed, though these have yet to be examined by any qualified observer to determine whether they are in fact historically significant. The construction of the temple follows Chogyan models quite closely, making it likely that the idea of erecting a monumental temple to Zargyod was imported from the east.

Facilities

The temple building of Pholyos Customhouse follows the models of those of several western cities in being preserved as a semi-public meeting space for merchants, Guilders and members of the government to meet and make business arrangements. The temple is open from sunrise to sunset for this purpose; private rooms in nearby buildings can be rented (for famously stiff fees) to continue discussion around the clock. Either way, Copper Guilders circulate as facilitators and adjudicators. These discussions take place under the mural of Zargyod and the sailors, and the movements of participants in decades past likely caused the damage to the artwork. This has focused thaumatological discussion on exactly how this ritual space was used in the pre-Wesmodian era, a matter on which surprisingly little progress has so far been made, partly due to the academic politics of Pholyos, which privileges discussion of the gods Ynglyas and Krezzan ahead of that related to Zargyod.
As well as providing networking opportunities Pholyos Customhouse also follows the example of its counterparts in Chogyos and Elpaloz by providing financing for business ventures. Their lending rates are generally thought of as stiff compared to Chogyos, though they lack the institutional baggage to engender the sort of bitterness their Elpalosian counterparts suffer. Guild moneylending is much less widely used in Pholyos than other cities, being almost exclusively used by international traders, many of whom are only visitors to the city. As in other cities, the location of the strongroom where the Guild keep the coinage they lend is a closely-guarded secret.
The Customhouse also collects exhaustive information about the coming and going of cargo ships into the harbour, inspecting all cargoes and levying duties where appropriate to finance their activities and further upkeep on the port district. These activities are closely watched by the Governors of Pholyos, and words are sometimes exchanged should they be seen to be getting out of hand. The Commercial Guilds are an important power in the city, and generally regarded as a positive presence, but unlike in Chogyos and Loros they are required to operate very precisely under the laws of the city.

Institutional structure

The Guilders in Pholyos supplement the rank structure laid down in The Book of Favour with Brass operatives similar to those appointed in the northern cities. Ranking somewhat above Copper Guilders, Brass operatives serve as attaches and emissaries; none of the Copper Guilders in Pholyos are sent on international duty except as secretaries to these superiors. At any given time only a handful of Brass Guilders exist within the Pholyan institution, almost all of them on some sort of foreign posting. Indeed Pholyos Customhouse tends to regard conferment of Brass rank as more of an assignment than a permanent promotion; Copper Guilders are typically promoted to Brass only to perform a specific function, albeit often extending into the medium term, and then returned to Copper status once it is completed, perhaps with their medallion embellished to record their service. Generally speaking, these appointments are not deemed worthy of a full version of the ceremony of Conferment of Colour.
Pholyos Customhouse is also unusual in employing no indentured labourers, which in the context of the Commercial Guilds means it engages no members of Lead rank. Tin is simply the lowest rank into which Guilders are admitted in Pholyos, typically serving as assistant secretaries and minor functionaries. The cooks, sweeps and other menials in the Customhouse are waged employees rather than permanent, liveried members of the institution. This oddity can be traced to the long-standing institutional links between the practice of indentured servitude and the Chogyan influence on the institutional culture of the Commercial Guilds, which becomes problematic given the long-standing enmity that arose between the secular governments of Pholyos and Chogyos during the pre-Wesmodian era. Indenture is therefore not practised in Pholyos at all, and the Commercial Guilds magnanimously do not pursue any exception to this rule. Opinion is divided, both within the Customhouse and without, as to whether the menials have a better lot in life in Pholyos than they do in other cities. 
This institutional delicacy about links to Chogyos and Chogyan culture raises the interesting question of why a temple following such clear Chogyan models was erected in such a commanding position in the port district of a city which was at least intermittently at war with Chogyos at the time. The Guilders themselves politely admit this is an oddity but claim no institutional memory of any explanation for it. The cult of Ynglyas, immensely powerful and respected in pre-Wesmodian Pholyos, may have preserved some explanation in its archives, but these were scattered during the Wesmodian Reformation and thaumatologists have yet to present any convincing replacement.