The Merchants' Guild

The most powerful body in Skaug, short of the Lord Mristar himself, is the Merchants’ Guild. This is centered in the next to the highest tier of the city, surrounding the capitol compound. Here the wealthy merchants of Skaug gather to talk politics and conduct the business of exporting the fruits of the labors both of the slaves that work in the quarries and fields as well as the craftsmen that produce fine manufactured goods from these raw materials. The merchants of Skaug are, in general, deeply steeped in the politics of the island nation and as such are highly competitive for the favor of Lord Mristar and the Triumvirate, who ultimately control access to shipping and the trade routes. Almost all of the merchants in the Guild were born to privilege and are enjoying the fruits of labors several generations removed from themselves. While occasionally especially bad business sense or punitive measures from crossing the government cause a member of the Guild to be cast out, this is practically a death sentence on the island as few of the members have any appreciable skill other than politics and business. If the party decides to approach the Merchant’s Guild they will by far be the most difficult to sway away from the status quo because they are the ones who most directly benefit from maintaining it. The party’s best hope is to find a political inroad that will help them install a new leader on the island. If they are able to do this with the Merchants’ Guild’s cooperation they might be able to lead an entirely bloodless rebellion on the island.
As with the other factions there are certain influential personalities within the Merchants’ Guild that might be useful in gaining the cooperation of the Guild at large whether that be through persuasion, blackmail or other means. Following is a list of some of these characters.

ROMERO FALOME

Romero is one of the newer members of the Guild, having just inherited the business from his father, Humbra Falone, who died a year ago. Humbra was a longtime fixture in the Guild and as such was one of the most respected and feared of its members. This leads the other merchants to see Romero as potential prey in the marketplace. Romero knows this and believes that he is ready to take his father’s place.
Romero knows the weight of his family’s name and will throw it around whenever it might lend weight to his arguments or dealings. He is always taken aback when—on island or off—he encounters anyone who hasn’t heard the name Falone. He is arrogant and uses flowery speech, usually to confound or mock his enemies and to flatter his superiors.
Romero’s deepest secret is a mental disorder that he works hard to keep secret. As he grew up his father was cruel and extremely abusive. As a result Romero has developed something of a split personality. At any given encounter he could be overly friendly or violent and cruel depending on which of the personalities are in charge. As he has grown more and more responsibility and amassed more and more power, his condition has begun to worsen and he senses that he is losing control over it. As such he almost never goes out to conduct business in person any more but hides in his home, employing emissaries to conduct his affairs.

TAMAN LACKMAN

The ambitious and argumentative Taman Lackman can often be found in the Forum debating on the values of day shares or gossiping about who might be the successor to

the eldest member of the Triumvirate. He is extremely articulate, though he also has a speech impediment that causes him to be the butt of many jokes when he isn’t listening. If he were to catch wind of any of these jokes, Lackman would be furious and violence would no doubt ensue. Taman’s temper is hot and he has been detained by Militia more than once when one of his “debates” got out of hand. Lackman’s weakest spot is his rival, Gardar Vargoba. Gardar has bested Lackman at every turn for the last few months, making inroads with the Triumvirate, gaining an audience with Lord Mristar and securing the most profitable trade route on the seas. Taman would do just about anything to get back at Vargoba, who has been unable to resist rubbing Lackman’s nose in his own success.

ALLYING WITH THE MERCHANTS' GUILD
While extremly unlikely, an alliance with the Merchants' Guild will open many doors to the characters that would otherwise be closed. The Merchants will in no way assist the characters and in fact will have them arrested at the very mention of any kind of uprising or freeing of the slaves. They are the beneficiaries of the status quo. The only exception is that the Triumverate beleives that installing one of their number in the Lord's seat in the palace should something "happen" to Mristar would increase their profits and allow them to turn the taxation on the other guilds that inhabit the island.