“The Clerks” - Mercantile Guild

From The Musings of a Wanderer by Bevel Dart

They say draas can’t buy happiness. I can tell you that draas can buy a feather bed, and that’s pretty close!

Colloquially called “the Clerks,” the mercantile guild is at the center of everything but is the center of nothing. The Clerks facilitate trade throughout the continent. They maintain the draas (money) supply, notarize contracts, provide banking services, offer caravan services… Dash it all if this stuff isn’t a bore. This is about the time where you skip ahead to the next page. Well I say HALT! Because if you want a feather bed, I mean, if you want happiness, you ought to rub those eyes clear and give this little section a heave ho!

The Powerfully, Powerlessly Powerful

The Clerks walk the line between having all the draas and having no official power. They maintain the integrity of draas (money on the 4th Epoch) through a rigid adherence to a congruence core standard (think of the gold standard). The guild maintains vaults of congruence cores, against which a set amount of draas are minted. Congruence cores and draas can be exchanged at any Torhiv Bank.

While they control the draas supply, they are a third party to all nations. The Torhiv Council of Twelve knows full well that favoritism towards a nation will ruin the guild within a generation. And nations know that to move against the guild will ruin their nation within a year.

Note to writers: The guild collectively is perhaps as powerful as a single nation.

Torhiv Banks

Torhiv Banks can be found throughout major cities and are common sights on down to medium-sized towns. Here you can change between draas and cores, though normally only the richest of the rich would be able to afford an exchange or possess a core in the first place, the exception would be adventuring parties or monster hunters who manage to bring in a new core and exchange it for a massive payout (thought the Clerk’s transactional cut is more than most would believe). You can inquire about hiring space on a guild-sponsored caravan. You can notarize important documents. You can even ask for a loan for that feather bed you’ve had your eye on.

Congruence Signatures

The Clerks are a necessary fixture of the continent’s business apparatus. The guild specializes in congruence signatures. No contract is complete without a Clerk’s assistance in imprinting the document with each party’s congruence signature. (Note to writers: see in-depth discussion of congruence signatures at the end of the article)

Draas

As mentioned, the guild mints draas based on its stockpile of congruence cores. Each draas is imprinted with the signature of the core from which it is credited against. This imprinting process is a closely held secret of the guild, and its theory is extremely difficult to actually practice. As such, counterfeiting continues to be an expensive, and thus rare, profession.

Structure and Appearance

You can pick out a Clerk by their crisp, black uniforms, cut with simple, clean lines, but not so imposing as to appear militaristic. Upon the left breast is denoted the Clerk’s rank, ranging from zero up to five opalescent stones. The more stones, the more important. A Superior Clerk for a region will sport five stones. An individual Branch Clerk will sport two or three, depending upon the size of the branch. An apprentice begins with just the blank, black uniform.

The Torhiv Council of Twelve

When it comes to stones, the Torhiv Council of Twelve has the privilege of breaking the rules. As symbols of their wealth, council members wear a row of six congruence cores across the left breast in the place of their clerks’ stones. It is rumored that many or all of the members use these cores to power Guardian Blooms to keep their persons safe.

These council members control and maintain the guild’s secret core vaults. They oversee the integrity of the draas, the notaries, and the guild’s caravans.

Notes for writers:

The council answers to an untitled, unnamed leader amongst their own number. No one knows the identity of this leader, not even the members. They operate under the leader’s orders, provided as documents signed by the leader’s congruence signature.

Several attempts have been quietly made by members of the council to study and trace the congruence signature to their leader but have met only failure. The council’s leader is a Hex Adept of the highest order and possesses unique talents in signature manipulation.

The Vaults

It is rumored that each of the council members controls one of twelve congruence core vaults spread throughout the continent. Try to find one and they’ll give you a vigorous wacking. I’m sure that some of the rich and powerful know the locations of some, but to draw the ire of the Council is to spell your financial ruin.

Security

The guild maintains a moderate force for bank security. They are fairly good-natured blokes when off duty, but they’ll stick you full of arrows if you make a move for one of their black, Hex’ed strongchests.

They have been known to have a dark sense of humor by leaving a still-Hex’ed chest behind (empty) to be “pilfered.”

Of course yours truly never had a hand in such a piliferous act. Not a second time, anyway.

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Notes for writers:

• The mercantile guild encourages the label of “the Clerks” to make the guild appear less threatening.
• The Clerks are a catch-all facilitator of business. They specialize as middlemen, for a nominal fee.
• The guild backs major nations. The most recent Torhiv bank branch has been established in the fledgling city of Bello, Karg.
• At the time of our story, the guild as a whole is intended as a true neutral party.
• For clarity: merchants are not inherently part of this guild. In fact, the guild does very little “merchanting” and instead acts as a facilitator and resource for merchants. The guild regularly sponsors caravans, but these are more of a hold-out of the guild’s merchant roots.
• On the darker side, the guild has been known to use Hex’s when making loans when collateral is low. Someone who does not make good on their debts and attempts to skip town could find themselves hunted down by a guild contractor (bounty hunter) and sold to the Slaver’s Syndicate.
• The guild is not involved in taxation.

Congruence Signatures

• Congruence signatures, defined:
  • Definition 1: A pattern unique to each individual person that is a manifestation of their individual will. When ambient congruence is absorbed from the environment into a person, that congruence takes on the individuals congruence signature.
  • Definition 2: A physical and magical imprint placed upon a document or other physical object, used to authenticate and validate. Used like a written signature in our world.
• A signature appears upon a document or other item as a unique set of symbols, shapes, and patterns. They usually carry color and can have minute light effects (similar to how cores will appear to emit light, absorb light, or distort light). In addition to their physical imprints, a congruence imprint is visible to those who can read such signatures, such as Clerks.
• Any individual with ability in congruence can imprint their congruence signature.
• Individuals not skilled in congruence need the help of a congruence user to imprint their congruence signature on documents, etc. Clerks of the mercantile are trained and adept at this task. The Clerk will ask for the individual’s Will (willingness). The individual will grant their Will. The Clerk will assist the individual in channeling a minute amount of their congruence into the document.
• A tether between the imprinted item and the signer is created.
  • This tether can be used to hunt down those who breach their contracts.
• Reading congruence signatures is a simple task and can be done by almost any congruence user regardless of skill. More advanced tasks, such as following tethers, takes training.
• The ability to forge congruence signatures is extremely rare. Perhaps only 5 people in a generation have this unique ability, and they must undergo extensive training to harness the ability.

Draas

• The minting of draas is done using a similar imprinting process. Draas coins are created and designed to accept a single imprint. A specialized Clerk channels a tiny amount of congruence from a core into the coin. The coin shows the signature of the core, as if stamped upon its face. Once the appropriate amount of draas is minted against the core, the core is carefully stored in one of the twelve Torhiv vaults.
• What happens if a core against which draas are minted is used up or expended? The imprint upon the draas coin will begin to fade. For those able to see such things, the tether will immediately vanish.
• Torhiv Banks authenticate all the draas they received. Authentication can be done by anyone with the skill of reading congruence signatures.