Reef Tower

Reef Tower is the headquarters of the Commercial Guilds in the city of Andymalon in the northeastern corner of the Sea of Jars.

Location

Like most of the customhouses of the Commercial Guilds, Reef Tower is located in the maritime regions of the city; unlike most such facilities it is actually situated offshore, having been built on Tyenqo Reef in the harbour. It is located there because although the cult of Zargyod from which the Commercial Guilds descend certainly existed in pre-Wesmodian Andymalon, their presence was small, marginal, and somewhat late to the party, having been introduced by sailors from Oluz only a few decades before the Wesmodian Reformation. The populace of Andymalon, always the most culturally insular of the Eleven Cities, were suspicious of this new deity and when such sailors sought to build a temple to him they were politely encouraged to do so offshore, the excuse being that an island location might be appropriate to a god of the sea. The resulting temple therefore arose at the westerly end of Tyenqo Reef, which at the time was barely inhabited.

Facilities

Little remains of the pre-Wesmodian temple erected in the last century BWR, which was torn down and replaced 150 years ago. Indeed the only part of this structure that remains is the bottom story of the watchtower which now overlooks much of the cove. The original plan was that this structure would be the foundations of a lighthouse, though this project was never completed. The four-storey tower which now rests upon it was completed forty years ago and allows a commanding view of the seaward approach to Andymalon. The tower is manned day and night in order to capitalise on this view. The Commercial Guilds do not control all of the shipping into Andymalon but they do keep a very watchful eye on it and are commonly supposed to record the comings and goings of ships and report them to their colleagues in other cities.
The customhouse also has quays on both the seaward and landward sides of Tyenqo Reef. That on the landward side are smaller and used mostly to bring in provisions (the Reef being bare rock and incapable of supporting crops). The larger quay on the seaward side is used primarily to harbour vessels of the Commercial Guilds as they visit from other cities. Between the two is a small complex of low buildings housing a small permanent staff and two warehouses (one for supplies and the other for trade goods) and a stronghouse at which money can be changed. This last structure has made Reef Tower a target of thieves, but its remoteness from the city has so far prevented any successful heists.
As the former site of a temple of Zargyod, Reef Tower is of interest to thaumatologists, as visitors to the site report the existence of at least one surviving shrine to the god in the foundation level of the tower. This would be the only such structure known to exist in Andymalon. The shrine is no longer consecrated in any way and the Guilders are happy to honour appointments to view it so long as they are made ahead of time and include a goodly amount of time discussing Andymalon's maritime economy over bowls of tea. Several thaumatologists have viewed the shrine, though none have yet published anything on it; whether this is out of secrecy or because it is not a particularly interesting example of its type is, of course, not yet a matter of scholarly record.

Purpose and organisational structure

The presence of the Commercial Guilds in Andymalon is small, arguably too much so to entertain much in the way of institutional idiosyncrasy. Although the staff of Reef Tower do welcome and expedite messengers from the customhouses of other cities (and indeed guests from Andymalon itself) it is itself less of a customhouse than a listening post of sorts. Its chief purpose is to allow the Commercial Guilds to liaise with Andymalonian society and advance the institution's goals in the city; the staff are more attaches than enforcement officers of any kind. 
There is, accordingly, no office of Gold Guilder at Reef Tower. The head of the office holds Silver rank, and is supported by a handful of Copper Guilders (currently three) serving as undersecretaries and a correspondingly small staff of Iron, Tin and Lead functionaries. Visits from Copper Guilders from other cities are frequent, however, and the Guilds in Oluz and Halumay have a long-standing custom of sending a Brass Guilder from among their number for a year-long secondment to Reef Tower on alternate years. Currently this office is held by a delegate from Halumay.